5/31/08

Back on May 11th, I was reading Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog where she shared a block construction for Charlotte's Baskets.  I never had been a fan of creating a Basket block, but......well.....Bonnie has a way of bringing out the true best in many of us.

I had many "bonus" half-triangles lying around from my Oklahoma Backroads quilt, so I started piecing them together.  I needed to cut the 2"x4.5" bricks, as well as the 3.5" half-triangle for the basket portion.  This sample came together fast.  For the "background" fabric, I decided to choose this "beautifully ugly" flower stripe from my Grandmother's inherited stash (rather than piecing strips as Bonnie had done.)  It sure would not get used anywhere else, so I figured I'd see where it would take me.

At this time, I have 8 blocks partially complete.  I have been using them as my "leaders-enders" project while I was completing Grandpa's Stars-n-Stripes. 

(Side note:  I can NOT believe how fast these side projects come together with the leader-ender method.  It is a shame to think about the thread wasted, the time wasted, and all the projects that COULD have been make "on the side" in the past, had I ONLY known about leaders-enders!!!  *sigh*)

Now that Grandpa's S-n-S is complete, I will continue working on the Scrappy Baskets as leaders-enders, with the next step for these being to put on the "beautiful" corner pieces.  They will be my leaders-enders as I am finishig up my OC #4 and diving into the OC #5 (since I'm a bit behind at the time.)