Tiny Basket

This basket is so tiny, I just had to photograph it with my small Fiskars embroidery scissors.  The kit is one of Sharon Klusmann's featured basket kits right now, and is called the Mahogany Cross Stitch in Black Ash.  While you might think making a tiny basket would be quicker than a large basket, this one took me all day, as I had to figure out the easiest way for me to complete the cross stitch rows.  This is the first time I've made a round basket, so there was a lot of new techniques, and of course, I had a few issues with following directions Yes, I read the instructions, but didn't completely follow them, and realized the difference at a point that I refused to rip back, so the bottom is a bit different than hers, but it works!

Mail and Magazine Basket

My husband wanted a basket for his mail and magazines, so I used a slotted wooden base and adapted a weaving pattern to fit (with a little artistic liberty).  The pattern I started with is called the Shelf Storage pattern and is a free pattern at N.C. Basket Works, but it is designed to be a larger basket with a woven bottom, so I had to do some figuring and made a sketch to make sure the dark verticals would be placed as planned.  As soon as I gave it to him, he started filling it up!

As you can tell, the interior pattern looks a bit different.

Beautiful Basket

What a find!  My brother-in-law found it in a second hand store and I think it's beautiful and had to share!  It's a large picnic basket that has a divided, quilted insert tied inside (note to self: take a picture of the insert next time we visit).

Stray Threads Show

Last month, I was the featured artist at the Stray Threads quilt show "Hollywood Encore", here in Woodinville, and I thought that those of you that couldn't make it to the show might like to see what my space looked like.  My area was in the front entry of the old Woodinville schoolhouse, so quilts were split between the two sides, leaving the center open for the quilters to pass through to come or go upstairs.  While it seems strange to have it split this way, it worked out very well!

Some friends in the guild helped me set up and we tackled the challenge of working around the furniture, because we weren't allowed to move it.  Luckily, I brought some of my baskets to hold patterns, as well as a hinged quilt ladder and pop-up shelving.  The guild let me use some of their standards, but we even used the stair railing, piano and other furniture, fitting quilts and products everywhere.  It's a good thing my table wasn't any larger!

Ready for quilters...

Thank you Stray Threads and everyone who helped and visited my booth, it was a fun show!!!

Dresden flowers

Have been busy working on this quilt top, as well as other projects.  After seeing a friend's blocks in progress, I couldn't help starting one from my stash!

A close-up of one of the central blocks:

Hoping to get it layered and pin basted this weekend...