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Spring Basket -It's a Winner-And it's BEST OF SHOW


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My customer just won First Place, favorite quilt from the guild members and People's Choice at her local guild.  I used So Fine and Bottom Line.  Hobbs 80/20 and Dream Wool.  This is a picture of Shirley and her grandaughter who will eventually receive the quilt.

 

26486807510_6538672473.jpgSpring Basket 031 by Libby G, on Flickr

 

26666221882_1c4650706f.jpgSpring Basket (7) by Libby G, on Flickr

 

26666217192_69c597cce2.jpgSpring Basket (5) by Libby G, on Flickr

 

26692810121_3669ea7d6a.jpgSpring Basket (9) by Libby G, on Flickr

 

26156085283_e3e55e8a8b.jpgSpring Basket (10) by Libby G, on Flickr

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Thank you all for the wonderful comments.  It means so much when it comes from such a talented pool of quilters.  I spent 70 hours quilting and twice as long to decide on a design.  I wanted to use Nemeshing on it, so I contacted Bethanne Nemesh.  She said the space was too big for that technique and I needed to divide it.  She suggested an oval with lines from the sides, but I didn't like that design.  I asked Valerie Smith for another one, which I liked better.  The problem, for me, in dividing the space, was the flowers cascading over the side of the basket.  Finally, I laid it on the floor and placed a large sheet of plastic over the center.  (Shirley wouldn't allow me to use any marker that had to come off with water, so I was trying to use a design that would be very easy to make using a square ruler.) 

 

I drew the design from memory, and then went to the computer to check with Valerie's design.  They were different.  So I started texting Heidi and Vickie to get their input.  Finally I let the customer decide which one she wanted.  She chose the one I made by accident.  Since I already bought NEMESHING, the book from WHITE ARBOR QUILTING, the center was ready.

 

My next step was to figure out how to do the swags in the border.  Linda Hrcka, the quilted pineapple lady, uses them on a lot of her quilts.  I have DeLoa Jones boomerangs and Linda's curved rulers.  They are basically the same rulers, but I bought some of DeLoa's when she first made them, before she extended the sides, so I used some from both of their sets.  I tried to find videos on making the swags, but the ones available were for using other rulers.  My problem was how to turn the corner and keep the swag the same size.  I drew and drew and kept sending pictures to Heidi Merrill so she could tell me which size looked better.  You would think that was an easy thing to judge, but it wasn't for me.  Finally, armed with all my information, I knew I had to load the quilt.

 

I measured the inner borders and decided the swags would measure around 10 inches each.  That meant that five inches on each end would be used to make the first turn, which turned out beautifully.  When I tried to turn the next swag, I couldn't get it to work, so I made a template of the first one and used it for the rest.  I'm sure there's an easier way to make it, and I'd love for someone to tell me!!!

 

One other design mistake turned out to be a good decision.  When Valerie drew the division for me on the center part of the quilt, she put feathers in the design.  They looked gorgeous, but were going to be hard on the lower right hand side where the applique cascaded.  And, they were going to have to go around the butterflies, where Vicki Maloney suggested some swirling to look like they were in flight.  When I was working on the upper left hand corner, I simply forgot to put in feathers.  Once the Nemeshing started, I knew they would have detracted from the look.  

 

So, with the help of all my forum friends, SPRING BASKET turned out beautifully.  Thanks again.

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Today I mowed literally all day and I took my bath and decided I would see what inspiration I could find on the APQS site.  I was not disappointed again!  I love to find new Libby heirloom quilting pictures to devour after a hard day of work.  Of course I look at the current one which is outstanding...and then I keep going back and back and back through all of the pictures of the gorgeous quilts on her Flickr site.  Amazing!  Thanks for the quilt show again, Libby!  You are so inspiring!

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