Tidy Up Tuesday - Doubly Challenged {Quilted Basket}

Welcome to another edition of Tidy Up Tuesday!!  Most of you know that Judy @ Busy Hands Are Happy Hands and I have been challenging each other for most of the year.  Our Quilted Basket Challenge has been SEW much fun!  When it wasn't busy being infuriating.

What can I say???

November's basket was of the latter variety.  It happens.  I was thisclose to throwing in the towel.  In walks LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color with a challenge of her own!

Let me explain...

I began piecing basket bits right along with my other RSC projects:

One Kitchen Quilt and one Gallery Wire Mini later, I was DONE with the LIGHT Neutral thing!!  In my head, I was going to knock out that basket in no time.  In reality, the end of the month was fast approaching and that basket was kicking my butt!

I had gotten a good start on it at the beginning of the month:

I tried again near the middle of the month:

I had every excuse in the world and a project list a mile long...

The longarm loaded and divested of it cargo several times during November.  I had donation quilts and client quilts coming out my ears.  I wanted to PLAY!!  Maybe I was whining to LeeAnna about the basket.  I presented her with the following options:

There are a whole bunch of maybes on my list, but I have yet to determine which items will catch my interest.

1 Deliver quilt to Joanna.

2 Load the next LWR quilt.

3 Piece that BLEEPING basket!

4 Try to take a layer off the cutting table.

5  Break bad and play with my multi colored prints!

What would YOU do?!?!

To which LeeAnna replied:

I'd force myself to do the basket. then check it off the list and my mind.

My offhanded response elicited a laugh from my challenger:

Further evidence that I am SEW not you.  :P

I loaded the next LWR quilt on the frame and took a Craftsy class while turning the heel of my sock.

I guess I'm on the naughty list!

Well...

I resisted still.  Suddenly it was the LAST day of the month!  Did I REALLY want to fail at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge?

I made it through half the day without caving to the pressure and then found that I was FINALLY up for the task.  I made additional units to fill in the gaps:

The basket panel was arranged and rearranged:

Then, like magic, it practically pieced itself together:

Off-cuts from two of the most recent quilts off the longarm were auditioned for basket lining:

A scrap of batting was located and layered with top and back:

Pin basting...

... Was followed by quilting:

As my family was starting to ask about dinner, I was squaring up the quilted basket panel:

By the time I went down to make dinner, the basket was all but done.  Only the binding remained:

Here is my completed LIGHT Neutral Quilted Scrap Basket:

I even remembered to add my label on the inside:

It's already stuffed to the gills...

Just as a Quilted Scrap Basket SHOULD be.  :o))

** Sending out special thanks to all the quilting friends who contributed materials to the making of this project.  Jean, Candy, Ella, Joanna, and Ruth S., in particular, will notice various components.  Cheryl K, Dee Dee, Diane, and Maggie might also spot some of their remnants.  Ruth, I really appreciate that your most recent scrap bag included a binding off-cut that was JUST the right color AND length!  (Only a 6" section remains.)  My only question is HOW did you know the amount of prepared binding I would need for this finish???

Quilted Scrap Basket TUTORIAL now available.

Whooping it up with Sarah

@

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Until next time...

Resistance is futile.

Just MAKE the basket!!!