Saturday, June 13, 2015

Baskets in Blue

I have been surprised at how few light blue remnants there are in my stash. The light blues I have found have not lent themselves to Ohio Star blocks either, in my opinion. I mean, one could certainly make Ohio Stars out of them but I wouldn't find them very interesting. Fortunately another option presented itself this week. The pattern for our monthly lottery block in my local guild is a 10" Basket block. That seemed a much better fit this time around.


Obviously the light blue basketweave print had to be the body of a basket. The flower print I thought I would use didn't really do it for me in the end. Sewing notions seemed like a good alternative though! That started me thinking about what else might be found in baskets. Or what about an empty basket? Maybe one that hadn't been used in a long time?



It's almost easier to make these blocks in pairs than singly so it wasn't long before I had this on my design wall:



And the rest of my design wall currently looks like this:


I haven't done much else with the light blue that was suggested for the RSC for June but I did find a teal from which I made a couple of 12" Ohio Stars. After I made them it occurred to me that I'd had the same print in dark green and made stars out of it a month or so ago!


I'm coming to understand why some of these prints have not been used until now. The scale of the prints or the values within them didn't coincide with the way I work. Of course, when I was buying many of these prints I didn't know what I would be making or how I preferred to work. I just bought what appealed to me. I still do that to some extent but now I know myself better and can avoid those prints that might prove difficult. Well... that's my story and I'm sticking with it. ;- )

I'm linking up with the other RSC bloggers. I appreciate all those who take the time to stop by and see what I've been doing. I do try to get around to all the blogs too but can't always make it. And for those who may be aware of my commitment to the Hands2Help challenge, I did manage to get the binding all sewn down on the African Stars quilt. I just have to ink the label and find an appropriate box for shipping. Hurray!

11 comments:

  1. Using up some of the oldies is a great way to understand what we enjoy using now. Love the basket-weave fabric for the basket. Perfect choice.

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  2. Your blocks are looking really good. I'm have trouble finding LIGHT BLUE in my scrap stash, too. Best wishes for scraping the bottom of the (scrap) barrel!!

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  3. Neat sewing notion fabric in the basket block and love your design wall with all the projects!

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  4. Love the idea of filling the baskets with different things for a child's quilt. Where can I get the pattern? How big is the triangle that fills the basket? I would like to check my novelty prints to see what I can find. Thanks for getting me on a new track.

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  5. Love love love the baskets! You've inspired me with a use for all those floral prints in my stash that just don't work with my more modern fabric choices. Like you, my fabric purchasing has evolved, and I no longer buy fabrics which have bold floral prints interspersed with empty space.

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  6. I always love a basket block of any kind. Your basket of cobwebs gave me a chuckle!

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  7. Lovely baskets. I know what you mean about some fabrics. Such a good idea when you buy them but when you get them home they just don't work with anything else you have so what do you do? They just hang around until rainbow scrap challenge happens along.

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  8. Beautiful blocks. I've started sewing colorful scrappy quilts which allows me to use whatever color and prints I buy or am gifted. People seem to like them.

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  9. Congrats on meeting the deadline and I, too, am finally maturing in my ability to resist the "love" fabrics unless I know I can/will really use them.

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