My Basket Quilt

Hey there folks! Today I am going to show you a zillion pictures and chat a bit about this quilt that I have been working on for the past several years and have finally finished. My Basket Quilt. I started this one with Gwen Marston back in 2011 (I think) and finally finished putting the top together at our KCMQG quilt retreat in Hamilton, MO. I LOVE Gwen Marston and if you EVER have a chance to sew with her DO IT. She is brilliant. Truly. Anyway, she came to Dallas When I lived in San Angelo so I made the drive up to her to learn about making basket blocks (her way). I am actually not wild about basket quilts, but I LOVED her technique. It was so fun to make all the blocks just a tad bit different...heck some full blown KRAZY. Some even became flower pots. Flower pots and baskets are pretty similar really.

So I came home with a bag full of baskets and no clue what to do with them or what layout to give them, so they got put away. They were put away for YEARS. I would take them out during lulls...play with them some create some fun spare parts...then get busy with work related quilts and the blocks would get put away again.

Finally I decided to make them into the last border of a medallion quilt. I love a medallion quilt. I make lots of them because they are so fun to build on and really fun to quilt. I made a center block and built on the borders, and made some more appliqué parts.

All the appliqué is needle turn except for one part.

They stars are the only part that I HATE. I really wish I would have just pieced some stars. I love making wonky stars I don't know why I dropped the ball here but I did. I hated this part so much that is sat unfinished for another 2 years. For real.

This funny appliqué sprout is a block I had been working on on and off while waiting in the school pick up line. It was in my purse and I needed another block to make the bottom border long enough. It kinda matched so I added it in. I also quilted a couple extra leaves on the stem.

Some sprouts in a pot. I did figure out the ACU fabric does not want to be forced into leaves. It fought me every stitch. But in the end I won.

Two of my Altura blocks from Carolyn Friedlander went into the quilt too.

I tried really hard to keep the quilting simple...but I decided the trees needed to be snowed on.

Each basket is quilted different. This one has some feathers.

I used two layers of batting in this quilt to make it really heavy and to make the elements of the quilt pop. I used cotton and wool batting from Quilters Dream.

I think this is my favorite basket. I quilted around the spheres and it looks cool.

This is the back. It is all fabric I bought while in Hamilton for the quilt retreat.

This is a process shot, while I was quilting the quilt on the long arm.

And here is fabulous Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company. She was as sick as a dog and still came out to say hi to our KCMQG. She is pretty great.

Anyway, I think that was my longest UFO project. If you have some crazy blocks bust them out and make them into a medallion quilt. It is magic.

xo,
Tia