Blue Baskets Cheddar Handles ~ A finish

Hi everyone. Hard to imagine but it is now June. Week 14 of isolation. This past weekend was mild and sunny and I was so thrilled to put the last stitch in my Blue Baskets quilt.

This project was begun in January 2019, a sewalong called  "Stringalong", for people to use up string scraps. HEREWe were supposed to finish the quilts we made by November 2019 [oops]. (For non-quilter friends, ''strings'' are long narrow cutaway pieces of fabric that many quilters like to save; I have no idea what generates these strings, not something I get when I do my cutting. But anyway...)

I am well known as a non-scraps quilter, but I had all the leftover blue plaids, thrift shop shirts, from When the Wild Geese Fly and had always meant to use the blue  plaids to make a Basket quilt with cheddar orange handles. So I joined in.

I stopped working on that project in May, because who wants to spend summer in the no ocean view sewing room; it was set aside til January 2020. Of course by then I forgot what I was doing and had to start over with Penny's lifesaving schematic of the layout, to get the top done.

I really love it.

It looks exactly like I imagined it would or could.

You can see it's a big quilt, and not a wonderful shape for a bed. I don't plan to use it on my bed so that's okay.

I  always intended for the background to be made up of many white ''shirtings", white cotton with tiny figures/ shapes.

I love how all the mish mash of prints [the best ones from Nancy!] start to blend as you step away;

..from a distance the effect is a textured white but one's eye unifies all the different patterns and just sees white, as planned..

Cheddar handles and sashing.

A mistake at the end here, the binding was supposed to be the cheddar solid, but I forgot and eked out just enough from my fave shirt. The binding isn't great, lots of bumps and squirms because of the shirt's flat felled seams and shaping. Someday I may redo it in cheddar..

Piano key border, because I was hounding blog friend Julierose to do a piano key border. She said Not on her project! , so I decided I would have one instead. I wish it was 2 " wider but its okay as is.

The fabrics are the blue shirts, mostly. There are two blocks [again, love] that are aqua/ Tiffany blue--just for interest, ''for pretty''.

And here and there I added a few not-blue-plaid fabrics again for interest and sparkle, like the brown fruit print and the Ugly Text.

I also used a black and white text that is a Dr Seuss book's words; I had used the wishes for a baby quilt. It reminds me of dear friends. And I love the idea of 100 years from now, some flea market shopper shaking her head and wondering about the silliness, the whimsy of its inclusion.

The backing is a darling tiny bluebells and daffodils floral sheet, with itty bitty red polka dots. What a find at the church flea, $2.oo; my quilter made it work. [Lori Cangemi, Quilter's Imagination]

As I've worked with Lori C for quite a few years now, I trust her ideas and judgement. I suggested the feathers and a few other patterns---this time I knew I didn't want Baptist Fans!, but let her choose what design to use and how to execute it. I think she did a glorious job, I am so pleased.

When a quilt is done, I like to wash and dry it. They crinkle and shrink a bit which I like, the freshness, the softness, the crinkle that hides all my flaws---though I forgot to measure this time. Here is that scary moment, putting the quilt into the wash--equaled only by the next scary moment, taking the washed quilt out. Yes, disasters do occur. I almost didn't wash Blue Baskets because our water can be randomly brown and it has been the ruin of many white sheets, towels, and tee shirts over the years.

But I'm glad I did!

Coincidentally I received a big envelope of more blue strings from blog friend QB that same day. Her String quilt was also blue and is exceptionally lovely. I plan to use up the rest of the my blue shirts and her blue strings to make a version of her quilt, a spiderweb design, she calls Mama Lou Sings the Blues, mine will be Two. How fun! Mama Lou by QB HERE  Video of the song is at the end of this post.

I am very satisfied with this project, I feel it looks as intended and meets my vision; it looks well-made, a goal I usually strive for and fail at. But it is, in a way, a sad or bittersweet quilt filled with memories and friendships.

I am pretty sure there will be no more church fleas, any fleas or thrift shop outings in my lifetime; no more second hand garments and linens that are safe to joyfully rediscover and repurpose. No Mexican dinners full of laughter and margaritas to celebrate a day of hunting.Those simple pleasures, yes, unimportant but I loved those outings!, are just memories now. How sadly our world has changed,  is unimaginably different.

PS Humble Quilts is giving away one of my little quilts, made with antique blocks and fabric. You can comment on her blog to try to win, if you wish. But hurry because the drawing is tomorrow.

https://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2020/05/little-quilt-giveaway.html

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...