Summer baskets from my friends

I love this quilt!

It reigns as my most favorite quilt that I have ever made, seriously.

This sweet red basket quilt is a "Buck-a-Block" pattern from Thangles. Last summer, when I was visiting my friend, Mary (MB) Hayes, the creator of Thangles, she gave me the pattern and the fabrics to make it. Her sample was made with red baskets and had a very Christmasy feel. Sara Hochhauser, who was also visiting (she was my ride from Chicago), decided to make green baskets for her version. 

 

I confess, I originally planned to do blue baskets, but quickly switched to red (due to lack of diversity and number of blue fabrics - Mary, buy more blue!). Now I had a goal to not duplicate Mary's quilt, nor Sara's, as we were all using many of the same fabrics. My additional challenge was to create a quilt that did not feel too Christmas-y nor Valentine-y either. 

When my vacation ended and I flew home, Sara returned to Mary's without me.  It was hard not to be able to extend my stay, so I drowned my sorrows by stitching up my twelve baskets.  They went together super fast, which is the joy of using Thangles.

Next, I pieced the six setting squares and the entire top was soon finished, one of the fastest tops I have pieced. Then there was a lull of several months as I was puzzled and stymied over how to quilt this sweet quilt which I already loved.

Eventually Sara finished her green baskets (long after I did) and had her top quilted. Fortunately for me, Sara shared images of the quilting design used on her quilt and I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Do you see the feathered square wreath quilted in the center of this setting square?

This image shows the triangulated feathered quilting.  Both of these images are from Sara's finished quilt.  I have permission to 'copy-cat' the quilting designs used on her quilt and to share them with a local friend who is beginning a new long-arm business.

Pam Biswas of Katy (her business is Pam Quiltaholic, found at http://www.pamquiltaholic.com/) did an exquisite job working her free-motion talents on my basket quilt.  Feathers abound swirling along the borders, and squared inside the setting squares and triangled in the setting triangles.  Take particular note of the individual tight quilting in the background of each basket.

Each is as unique, just like the twelve baskets are each different from one another.  The baskets are left un-quilted, just an outline stitch-in-the-ditch.  The wool batting makes the baskets really poof up, too.  Oh, how I love this quilt!

Thank you to my friends! To Mary for the original gift, to Sara for the quilting design ideas, and to Pam for the free motion quilting! I think I will name this "Summer Baskets From My Friends".