My English Basket

Can you believe it? I finished my appliqued basket of flowers inspired by that antique quilt I talked about recently. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back. I'm very proud. I rarely do applique but this was so easy and so much  fun I couldn't stop.

The antique English basket quilt

My basket. Something's missing though . . .

 

Ahh, that's better! I added a little heart near the top.

I found out that Corliss Searcy has created her own design based on this quilt for those of you interested in making her version of the quilt. And a little search showed that EVERYONE seems to be making this quilt in one form or another. While I would love to own the original, I have no desire to make a reproduction of it, I just wanted to make a few little baskets in that primitive style. Wish we knew something about the quilter. Oh well, another one lost to history.

A small wall hanging is good enough for me right now. The important thing is that I finished a little applique block fairly quickly with a new-found (to me) technique. I really love using this Templar and starch method and it has made applique so much easier for me. It's not  a lot of fun if you have to struggle with a technique that everyone else seems to do easily.  Much better to find what works for you.

A friend told me that Karen Kay Buckley uses this method and that she had a wonderful DVD available on her website explaining it in detail. I highly recommend this DVD if you are afraid of applique (like I was), tried needleturn and freezer paper applique and found it just wasn't right for you and yet you still want to learn how to applique. It's almost like taking a private class with Karen. Glad I did not give up - it sure simplified it for me and overall I think my basket of flowers turned out quite nice. This was my first attempt with the no-melt plastic for the templates. With a little practice I'll get those points even pointier.

There are some You Tube videos on this technique  that are also quite helpful, although not as clear and detailed as the DVD.

So, for all of you non-appliquing quilters out there, I'm telling you, there's hope! If I can do it, you can too. What should I make next?? I couldn't resist this lovely book by Nancy Brenan Daniel when I stopped by Ye Old Schoolhouse in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. Just looking through it inspires me to pieces.

Maybe I'll start my own little applique club for newbies like me . . . Wouldn't that be fun? I could call it something like - "Applique for the feeble-minded and non-nimble fingered" . . . . But first I think I need to get a few more Dear Jane blocks under my belt. I've been putting off the applique ones for so long. I know how to do it better now so these should be a piece of cake, right?

Although, it looks like Jane did rather well considering she never had Templar, LOL.