Baskets, Baskets and More Baskets

Hello Everyone,

 

I've made my setting decision....and I'll share it with you now.  No matter how hard I tried to line up all of the seams when I sewed the baskets together.....it wasn't working. So, to solve the problem, I put a one-inch (1/2" finished) spacer bar between the baskets.  Works like a charm and gives me more space to quilt little pebbles or whirligigs.

 

This rich, blue fabric is from a Windham line called History Repeated. I'm using it for the setting triangles and borders.  I'll probably put a thin gold inner strip between the triangles and border. Since the border is directional, I'm going to have to pay attention!

Half of the baskets are now together in 9" blocks.  I have a few more baskets to make before I can start putting all of the rows together. The baskets remind me of a new box full of crayons.  I mentioned that to Mr. Joe, and he said I should name the quilt Crayola Payola. That's not going to happen!  I looked at the Crayola website and I was amazed at all the information it contained.  I wanted to name the quilt from a retired color, but Blizzard Blue, retired in 2003, doesn't do anything for me.  What do you think of Bittersweet Baskets?  There is a crayon color called Bittersweet.  Who knew?

 

 

I've been doodling on some Press'n Seal as I think about what I want to quilt in the setting squares.  This is the only doodling that is blogworthy.  The rest are in the trash can.  I have to doodle to get the hands linked to the brain so I can transfer my idea to the long arm.  If I can't draw it, I can't quilt it.  I'll use rulers to make the baskets and the rest will be free motion quilting.

 



If anyone comes up with a brilliant name for the quilt, please pass it on to me.  I'm open for suggestions, and I'll entertain any of your thoughts, except for Crayola Payola!  I'm sure I can come up with a nice prize for the winner......some plaid fat quarters come to mind.

Soon,
Lynn

Ninty-Six Baskets

Hello Everyone,

 

Here's my pile of 96 little baskets soon to be stitched together into a beautiful quilt.  

 

I'm still contemplating the layout.  I could do this, and quilt it with a pantograph.  I've quilted one pantograph in my whole life.  But then if I use black setting squares, what color thread would I use?

 

Or I could do this and do some elaborate quilting in the setting squares.

I may decide on something completely different.....who knows?  I know I don't know yet.

I'm headed in to the shop this morning. I filled in at the shop yesterday and it was a great deal of fun meeting a blog follower. Have a wonderful day sewing everyone.  I won't be able to touch my machine until Wednesday.......oh dear!

Soon,
Lynn

Hello Everyone,

 

I've been working on baskets for the Block of the Week offered by the shop.  These little guys are so much fun to make.

  

It has also been lots of fun selecting the fabrics.

I have to be different, so I'm playing around with different settings.

My vision is machine quilted baskets in the setting squares. 72 baskets done.....48 to go!  I'm making 8 HST at a time which makes these baskets quick and easy.

Today is T-ball Saturday.  We have a great time watching the 5-year-olds hit and run around the bases.  No score is kept.....no record of strikes or the number of outs.  Everyone gets to hit and have a good time.  The best entertainment in town is watching our son coach our grandson!

Soon,
Lynn

Quilt Moving Day

 

Hello Everyone,

 

Yesterday, I stopped in at In Between Stitches to drop off a quilt and took a picture of Butterscotch Baskets in all its glory hanging at the front of the shop with the reproduction fabrics.  Stop on by for the March Madness Shop Hop and visit all of the stores in the hop.

 

Then I saw The House on Edgewood Lane hanging up for a repeat performance in the middle of the shop.  This pattern would be perfect using the new Wintergreen fabric line by Moda coming out this Spring. 

First thing yesterday morning, Mr. Joe and I headed to San Jose to Prairie Queens Quilt Shop to drop off other quilts and I took a picture of Summer's Blush.  I'm teaching this quilt on May 4th at PQ. The information is HERE.

This version of Party in the Garden is now on display at Prairie Queens.

Her sister quilt Winterset is keeping her company.  This quilt would be great in the new Jo Morton blues along with Indigo Crossing by Minick & Simpson.

 Buttonwood is also at Prairie Queens.  This is a fun, little quilt to make.

I also made an Americana version for the 4th of July.

It was fun having "the girls" at our home for a few weeks....but it was also time to move them on to other homes so they can work hard and earn their keep.

Today I'm going to work on my little 4-1/2" basket quilt for the Block of the Week.  These little baskets are so much fun but I'm 3 weeks behind!  I'll be selecting the fabrics for the last three weeks of the program at the shop when I work next Monday, so I need to get in high gear today and get caught up. 

Have a great day quilting everyone.

Soon,
Lynn

 

Works in Progress

Hello Everyone,

 

Lots of "Works in Progress" going on here at Sew'n Wild Oaks.  I worked on the Rocking Horse for the Toyland Tree class that I'm teaching tomorrow at In Between Stitches.  I'm having fun making mine on a white background this time around the block.

 

I also made three more blocks for Country Charmer.  This block is one of my favorites.

This block brightens up the mix.

This block adds a touch of Halloween!  Not sure if this one will make the final cut.....we'll see if it plays well with others.

I put three more weeks of fabric together for the Block of the Week program.  It is so much fun to have the whole shop at my disposal and select fabrics for the BOW.

I'm thinking about setting my blocks like this......maybe.  I can just picture some quilted baskets in the open areas.  This is very much a work in progress and is most likely to change at any second.

 

 

I'm off to Prairie Queens in San Jose this morning to teach the final segment of The House on Edgewood Lane.  I'm looking forward to seeing the progress since our last meeting.  I'm expecting to see lots of blocks and applique today.....no pressure girls!  This quilt was my first design.  I jumped off into the design world with this quilt and never looked back.  What a fun, wonderful journey I've had along the way.

 



Soon,
Lynn

Basket Tutorial

 Hello Everyone,

I've had several requests through emails and at the shop for a little basket tutorial.  Your wish is my command!

Cutting directions:  For those of you participating in the Block of the Week, your cutting guide is located HERE for the fabrics you receive in your weekly bundle from In Between Stitches so you can make 12 blocks at a time and maximize the use of the fabric you receive.

Cutting directions for TWO blocks. Mix your lights and darks up for variety within the block.

From LIGHT fabrics cut:
(1) 4" x 4" square
(4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangle
(2) 2-7/8" x 2-7/8" square (cut in half diagonally)
(2) 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" square

From 2 DARK fabrics cut:
(1) 4" x 4" square
(2) 2-7/8" x 2-7/8" square (cut in half diagonally)
(2) 1-7/8" x 1-7/8" square (cut in half diagonally)

STEP ONE:
Make (8) half-square triangles (HST) at once following the tutorial HERE.  For this block use the two, 4" squares, one dark and one light. 

Now that your HST are made and trimmed to 1-1/2" square, you can proceed to the next step.
- Stitch HST together, press in the direction of the red arrows
- Stitch basket center triangles together.  Press in the direction of the red arrow. Trim dog ears.
- Stitch basket bottom blue triangles to light rectangles.  Press in the direction of the red arrows.

 

Next, stitch HST to the right- hand side of the basket.  Press in the direction of the basket.

Stitch the 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" square to the left-hand side HST.  Press in the direction of the square.

 

 

 

Stitch the left-hand side HST and square to the basket.  Press toward the basket.

 



 

Stitch the lower right hand side to the basket.  Press toward the rectangle.

 



Stitch the left-hand side to the basket.  Press toward the rectangle.

If you have a Marti Michell corner trimmer, now is the time to use it and trim off the bottom triangle points at a 45 degree angle.  Doing this allows you to line the triangle up perfectly with the bottom of the basket.  When you stitch this triangle to the basket, have the triangle on the bottom, next to the feed dogs.  Press toward the triangle.  I use this tool all the time and we have them at the shop.

You will end up with a perfect, adorable, tiny, 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" basket. No points were lost in the making of this basket!

 

In Between Stitches is offering this as a Block of the Week.  I've been selecting, cutting and packaging all of the fabrics for you to make 12 blocks per week for 10 weeks.  I have 38 baskets made and on my design wall so far.  The baskets are just stuck to a piece of black fabric.  I haven't decided on their final setting arrangement yet. I have countless ideas that I'm going to be previewing over the next few weeks as I add to the pile of blocks.  The weekly fabric bundles offer a wide variety of color, scale and just plain cuteness! 

 

Have fun and make some baskets of cuteness this week.

 

Soon,

Lynn



Cabin Quilting

Hello Everyone,

 

I put Butterscotch Baskets on the dining room table yesterday so I could start marking it for machine quilting, and it started to snow.

 

The trees looked like a large sifter was suspended above, dispensing a gentle dusting of powdered sugar.  I got so preoccupied looking outside, I had to force myself to concentrate on the job I started in the first place.  This is a BIG quilt. A quilt which is going to take me forever to machine quilt and bind.  I guess that's why I've been procrastinating for so long.  I would love to put this quilt on the table at Thanksgiving......but the first person that drops a greasy turkey leg on it would be shot at sunrise. (Except for the grand kids, they can do anything they want!)

In the morning I made 12 more little baskets for the BOW program.  It's a good thing it wasn't snowing so I could concentrate on what I set out to do.

This is my favorite block.  I may decide to use a green background when it comes time to set the blocks.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend getting distracted by Mother Nature.

Soon,
Lynn

Hands

Hello Everyone,

 

These hands of mine have been keying in at the computer, holding a rotary cutter or holding a rake this week.  That is quite a three-some!  We've taken advantage of the lack of rain and snow to do some much needed yard work.

 

I left the rake and computer behind yesterday afternoon and concentrated on making HST for the basket block of the week and turned this.......

 

 

.......into these.  All of the components are ready to be sewn together for 24 more little basket blocks.  Once you get to this point, the baskets go together very quickly.

 



I would rather rake than write patterns...PERIOD! It is so much easier to make the triple-mitered borders than it is to write about it in the pattern.  I do all my own graphics and writing......and it takes me forever!  I'm teaching this class in March so I have to finish the directions soon.    Just a few more hours of writing, then I can email the directions to my pattern testers for review.  When the girls make this quilt in class, I'll give each of them a red pen and I'll immediately make any changes necessary to make the pattern better.  I found this is the best thing to do before I release the pattern to the public.  There's always something that needs to be changed or clarified.  What I think is crystal clear, usually isn't.

My hands will be busy today, raking before the snow arrives, sewing, cooking, and cleaning.  When did my hands start looking like my mother's?  Did it happen overnight? Did they turn into my mother's since we enjoyed doing the same things?  Sometimes I catch myself staring at them, and marvel at them.  They are the best tool we have in our toolbox.....once we work the stiffness out of them!  Occasionally I need to give mine a shot of oil......where's the Tin Woodsman's oil can when I need it? 

Soon,
Lynn

Basket Blocks

Hello Everyone,

I'm loving my baskets!

Nine baskets grew in the night to 24 baskets!  They are proliferating in my sewing room.

All of these 5" x 11" strips will make another 24 baskets......if I don't make any cutting mistakes.

The Block of the Week is available HERE at In Between Stitches.  I selected the fabrics in the top row yesterday, and got them all nicely packaged in between waiting on customers at the shop.  All I want to do is make these little cuties.....but I have other things on my to-do list first.

I'm still contemplating an attractive way to 'set' the blocks.  There are endless possibilities.  Just as there are endless possibilities on how you choose to spend your day.  Choose wisely......today is a gift to be enjoyed!

Soon,
Lynn

Block of the Week

Hello Everyone,

What can I say, I'm a sucker for a basket quilt.  This is the new Block of the Week program that just started at In Between Stitches.

 

After choosing some of the fabrics and packaging them up, how could I not start this quilt? I don't want to get behind.  We are only two weeks into the program, so I was playing catch-up yesterday.  I combined my 2-weeks worth of fabric and finished half of the blocks.  I'll make 10 a week, and by the end of the 12 weeks I will have 120 of these little beauties just waiting to be put together.

The baskets are 4-1/2" unfinished.  They are adorable!  I'm using a method that makes 8 half-square triangles at once, so these little ones go pretty fast once all of the pieces are cut out.  There is a HST tutorial located in my Virtual Class at the top of the blog.

The program is available to view HERE.  You know me, I can't stick with directions so I will probably put mine together in a whole different way than Edyta Sitar suggests in her Scrappy Fireworks book.  I'm seeing some applique in my border!

Those of you that follow my blog know that I'm supposed to be machine quilting Butterscotch Baskets this week......that was at the top of my to-do list.  Well, I have to get my machine quilting mojo back.....it has left the building and I can't find it!  Instead of machine quilting I'm doing accounting, writing pattern directions, and making cute little baskets. I'm also preparing another tutorial for the Country Charmer Quilt Along tomorrow, and I'm getting ready for The House on Edgewood Lane class on Saturday.  Maybe I should just go back to bed. Maybe my dog Zinnie can be pressed into service......Golden Retrievers are Service Dogs you know. 

Well, I can't put this off any longer.  I have to start my day.......I think I'll start by having another cup of coffee.

Soon,
Lynn