October 12, 2011

 It’s finally cold and the weather more seasonal. The furnace is on, the blankets are out of the closet and there was snow on the ground - briefly. It seems silly to be making baskets, aren’t they for the spring? I do have some Longaberger pumpkin baskets and come to think of it, one for Christmas. So why not pieced baskets?

Basket fragments have been at archeological dig sites dating back 12,000. I took an unofficial poll and couldn’t find one person who didn’t have a basket of some kind. So let’s piece some basket blocks.

There will be six in all and all the blocks are 10 inches finished. We’ll do two each week instead of just one. Here goes.

Block 1 – Fruit basket #1 and Fruit Basket #2 are very similar. The only thing different is the first corner – the upper left corner. In basket #1 there’s a half square triangle unit and in Basket #2, it’s a solid square. Both baskets use only two fabrics but feel free to make it scrappy.

                    

For these baskets, here is another way to make the triangle units and the one I prefer. If your finished size will be, for instance, 2 inches, cut the squares 1 inch larger or 3 inches. Draw a diagonal line, corner to corner, on the wrong side on the lightest colored unit. Stitch a quarter inch on either side of the line and cut the unit apart on the drawn line. Now there are two triangle units that are slightly larger. Press the unit open and trim to the desired unfinished side, in this case 2½ inches. I find that this method makes a much more precise unit.

Cutting Requirements

Quantity

Fabric

Size

Basket Number

1

1

7 inch square (for a 6 inch finished or 6 ½ inch unfinished unit

1 and 2

2

1

6 ½ X 2 ½ inch strip

1 and 2

1

1

2 ½ inch square (Bottom right corner

1

2

1

2 ½ inch square (Top left and bottom right corners)

2

5

1

3 inch squares (for 2 inch finished or 2 ½ inch unfinished units) For basket 1 there will be 1 half square triangle unit left over.

1

4

1

3 inch squares (for 2 inch finished or 2 ½ inch unfinished units)

2

 Sewing directions:

  1. Construct the half square triangle units including the center 6 ½ inch square.
  2. Sew three 2 ½ inch square units together lining them up vertically. (See the three units to the left of the 6 ½ inch square. Sew these units to the left side of the 6 ½ square.
  3. For Block 1, sew 4 - 2 ½ inch triangle square units horizontally. (Note the top row of 4 in Block 1.) Sew this unit to the top of the block.
  4. For Block 2, sew 1 - 2 ½ square and 3 – 2 ½ inch triangle square units together horizontally. (Note the top row in Block 2.) Sew this unit to the top of the block.
  5. Sew a half square triangle to the 6 ½ X 2 ½ inch strip. (Make 2)
  6. Sew one of these units to the right side of the block.
  7. Sew the remaining 2 ½ inch square of fabric 1 to the remaining strip and sew that to the bottom of the block.

If you get stuck email me, kathy@sugarloafdesigns.com. Stay tuned next week for two more blocks. 

Save the Planet, Use Your Scraps
Kathy Meyers

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