Trick or Treat Baskets on Design Wall Monday

This morning I have my Trick or Treat Baskets from the book When the Cold Wind Blows by Barb Adams and Alma Allen for Blackbird Designs up on my design wall. 

These are the baskets that will finish at 4 inches.   These are smaller than the pattern in the book. 

Here are the small baskets and some that are a bit larger than those but still not as large as the pattern in the book.  I down sized the pattern from the book so that my template would fit on a charm square with enough seam allowance to turn under for applique'.  The larger baskets will finish at 5 inches.  None of these have been trimmed yet.

I was going to make a separate quilt with the smaller baskets that I have finished and the dozen or so that I have prepped and then make a larger quilt from the larger baskets.  But I could use the smaller baskets as the center and then finish the quilt with the larger size.

Here is what I use to do my applique'.  I trace with the Sewline pencil and use the Sewline refillable glue stick.  I applique' with straw needles in either a size 10 or 11 using Mettler Size 60 thread in a color to closely match the color of my basket fabric.  Last week I found this 5 1/2" ruler at my local JoAnn fabrics.   This ruler will make it so much easier to trim all of the baskets, and I had a coupon.

I forgot to include one of my favorite tools in the picture.  I always keep a few toothpicks in with my applique' supplies.  If you have used your needle to turn under your fabric at corners or other places where you have clipped and the threads begins to fray, a moist toothpick will grab onto the fibers so that you can sweep the fabric under easily.

Below is my basket template. 

I just hold the plastic template on my basket fabric and trace around it.  Then I put a couple dabs of glue on the back so it stays in place on the background.

When I get to a corner where I have clipped, I bring my needle up and then go straight back down at that point maybe even a couple of times to anchor that corner. 

I clip the little square in the basket center first and then begin to applique'.  I anchor my stitches at each corner to help square up the center. 

Here is my finished basket.  After seeing the two photos above, I fixed the upper right corner of the basket.

After I got a good look at the enlarged photo of all of my baskets up on the design wall, I thought about just not posting today.

I know my baskets aren't trimmed, but they sure look "wonky" to me.

It could be because my template isn't symmetrical, or I have the handle taped onto the basket bottom crooked. Or maybe my template slipped when I traced it or some of my fabrics were directional or maybe I just plain don't applique' on the line. It could be "all of the above". As some of my friends would say, "Noone will see it from a galloping horse."

I think that quilting should be something that you find fun and low stress. Whenever it becomes a chore then you should give it up and move on to something else. These little baskets are very portable, make great TV work in the evenings, and I'm enjoying them.

Now I'm off to look for some graph paper so I can redraw my template, but these baskets will all go in the quilt just as is.   Even some of my best Longaberger baskets have imperfections and are not perfectly square. 

Thanks to Judy at www.patchworktimes.com for hosting Design Wall Monday.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.