Finished Basket Quilt!!

Just a note:  I published this post yesterday, because I couldn't wait to show it to you!  Then Blogger went and lost it for me and although I was sweating for a bit, it's now been restored.  Only problem is, all your lovely comments seem to have disappeared (unless of course they come wandering back as well)

I'm linking up to the Blogger's Quilt Festival, so follow this link to check out all the other great quilts!

Now back to the original post:

As of today, this is the item that I would grab and run with if our house were on fire (once the kids and hubby were safe, of course!)  Do you ever do this little exercise in your mind?  It's really just a question of what's so important to you that you can't replace?  I think a lot of people say it's their photo albums, but I don't have any of those.

The fact is that I often come up empty when I think of this. It's a good little reminder to me that every ITEM can be replaced.  But people, and the memories you have of them, are a one time deal and you can't go to Walmart for new ones.

Actually, there are a few pieces of furniture that are special to me, and as far as value, I'd be smartest to take my sewing machine!  But realistically, I'm not going to be hauling them around, so I think I'll settle for this quilt!

I can't believe my timing on this one!  I wanted to show it to you today, but I think I'll link up to Blogger's Quilt Festival tomorrow and join all the fun.  For once my complete lack of planning is working in my favor!  How could my favorite quilt of the year (so far!)  be completed TWO days before the beginning of this fun online quilt show?!

Anyways, on to the quilt.  I decided long ago that I was going to do simple straight line quilting on this one.  I toyed with the idea of doing fun designs in free motion around each basket, but I decided the design was busy enough, and I really wanted to add a simple, modern element to this crazy, busy, happy quilt.

I used alternating colors of yellow, pink, and orange thread to quilt it.  You don't notice this unless you look real close, but it's a fun bit of added interest.

Just a note about these blocks:  I know I've gushed about them before, but they are the most.fun.ever. to make.  I'd love to show you how to make them, but I used the directions straight from Gwen Marstons Liberated Quiltmaking #2.  I'm also on a personal mission to make sure this book finds itself in the hands of every quilter!  So go on and buy it, and then make yourself a few of these blocks.  I'm sure you won't be dissapointed!

I don't use borders that often on my quilts, but I decided this one needed a border.  In some ways, this quilt was a study in values for me.  Most of the basket background are medium to light tones (with a few darks just to confuse us) and the baskets are mainly medium to dark.  Since this quilt is made from a huge assortment of colors, this value placing helps the baskets to stand out.

I decided I wanted to border this quilt with dark values, but since I wanted to stay with the scrappy feel I went with strips in darker values.  I wasn't completely sure about this while I was making it, but now I'm happy with it.

I bound it in this Nicey Jane pink stripe.  I would have preferred something dark, like a bright raspberry red, but I wanted it to look nice with the backing, which is a deliciously faded vintage linen (ok, it's an old bed sheet :)  but vintage linen sounds better!

Yes, you may gasp in terror that I would ruin this quilt with a well used kid's sheet!  But I actually was questioning whether this quilt top was special enough for this Strawberry Shortcake yumminess!  I've been hoarding this sheet for a long time, because I love it and it's extremely soft.  I thought of it right away when I was deciding on backing for this quilt.  I was concerned that it would look washed out compared with the brilliant baskets, but it was the perfect size so I decided to go with it.

And yes, it is very soft and snuggly...

So, I won't ask you if you read all my ramblings about this quilt, but if you did, thanks for listening.  And if you make a basket quilt yourself, please send me a link.  I'd love to see it!