Say What Fabric Basket

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Thank you to Joan of Moosestashquilting.com. This is another fabulous hop that was fun and educational for me. This time my project can do the talking too.

I made some small fabric baskets years ago but really wanted a huge one for miscellaneous junk lying around the house. I was inspired by the hop to make it with a word in the design. I can’t resist using some repurposed denim for projects, so that happened too. Finally, I’m hoping not to offend anyone here. In our house, we sometimes refer to junk lying around as “crap”. This is why my basket says “crap” on one side.

The basket tutorial I used is from St.louisfolkvictorian.com and is called 3rd Floor Basket Tutorial. The tutorial uses half inch seams throughout the pattern, which was different than usual. I had chosen my fabric before even realizing that there’s a basket on her site with the same low-volume headlines text fabric. (While not a bad tutorial, there are others with clearer directions.)

I used mini FPP (Foundation Paper Piecing) letters from https://littleblackduck.co.uk. While I love a free pattern, this one was a small investment at less than 10 US dollars (or 8 British pounds.) The lettering is quite teeny tiny, (my letters finished at less than 2″ tall.) I almost gave up this wacky idea after the “R” took more than an hour. To be fair, that letter had 3 separate portions to put together, but still!!#$&!!. You need patience for these letters, so keep that in mind.

I learned some things while doing this project:

1) First, the basket needs a sturdier interfacing to stand up on its own. I followed the directions and used a medium stabilizer, but it wasn’t stiff enough. I used Fusible Fleece but it’s not the appropriate material for this job. With a basket this large, it needs something different to make the sides of the cube more stiff.

2) Besides being too floppy, I prefer handles for a basket this size. So next time, two handles will be added for ease of moving the basket around the house.

3) Quilting cotton fabric is nice and I have plenty for scraps, but the exterior of the basket would really benefit from a sturdier fabric like canvas. The addition of denim was wonderful and that is something I would use again, but with other heftier options as well. For the lining, quilting fabric is perfect so fear not.

4) Those FPP mini letters are very time consuming and I would prefer to use larger letters on a next project. If I do this again with words, I will switch to using the 4″ alphabet letters from the tencowsquilts etsy site. The tutorial for these letters, at $10.98, looks similar to the one I used, but they are less dainty to work with.

5) I need to remember on a project with stretchy denim, it’s best to round up the measurements and trim them down after sewing. No big deal, but the half inch seams probably helped me out of a wonky situation.

That’s all for now. Thanks for showing up and please check out the other fabulous blog hop projects.

Monday April 17

MooseStashQuilting

Selina Quilts

Quilt Schmilt

Patchouli Moon Studio

That Fabric Feeling YOU ARE HERE

Scrapdash 

Tuesday April 18

Inflorescence

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Just Because Quilts

BeaQuilter

Joyful Quilter

Wednesday April 19

Quilting Gail

Voormans Quilts

Quilted Delights

The Quilted Snail

Ms P Designs USA

Kathy’s Kwilts and More 

Thursday April 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Karrins Crazy World

crazy’boutquilts

Pinker n’ Punkin Quilting

Songbird Designs

Days Filled With Joy

46 responses to “Say What Fabric Basket”

  1. LOL!! Super cute basket, but I really did laugh when I first saw your word. As far as stabilizer goes, I normally just use appropriately sized batting scraps in my Quilted Scrap Baskets. (There’s a tutorial tab at the top of my blog for the way I make them.)

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    • Thanks. I am planning another one using a different interfacing. I’ll be sure to check out your blog. Isn’t batting scraps not stiff enough though?

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  3. Love the letters. I almost went with paper pieced letters too, but went with embroidered ones instead since I was running low on time. I still want to give these a try on another project.

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    • I also cut time short on this blog hop. It used to be easier for me and I’m not sure if it’s due to holidays, work or just life that’s getting in my way. Either way, I just want to sew all day, every day!!

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  4. Love the basket. Thanks for sharing what you learned making it. Making them is still on my want to list.

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  6. that’s hilarious! I should make one for the bottom of my chairs where stuff gets piled up and the kids NEVER pick up even though they go up and down several times a day!

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    • Thanks. I really do love a PP project every now and then. You have to be in the mood and this time, it nearly outdid me. I’m not giving up but just putting it aside for a bit.

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  8. Great basket, great descriptor. Thanks for the details about construction. I use car head liner for tote bag interlining and that might be what you’re looking for. It’s like Bosal In-R-Form but much cheaper. (I get it at Joann’s.) I’ve used pieced letters by Tonya Ricucci and by Lynne Tyler (Patchery Menagerie) but they’re a lot bigger than the 2″ you made!

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  11. Great fabric basket! I need about a dozen. I have stuff everywhere!! I liked the notes you made about the construction process. It is helpful to understand what works and what would work better.

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    • Charlene, thank you so much. It’s helpful for my own memory to have the tips, but I always hope it saves others making the same mistakes. I will be making more baskets at some point so this is still a project I’m coming back for again.

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    • Scrap or crap, it’s all useful. I really need another room for all my stuff but that won’t happen! Appliqué is cool too. Enjoy the process and thanks so much for stopping by.

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    • Thanks so much. I was glad to stick it out but you know how it is…now I need to make another one that has a better result. First step is to research interfacings.

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  14. That is a basket I definitely need…I have a lot of crap around here. Love it! With letters that small, I probably would have needed another crap bag to throw it in to. You need a medal for persevering to the finish. It looks great!

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    • Thank you so much. Not a medal, just my head examined. The truth is that I would love to make more baskets but the lettering is fun…and a little off putting right now.

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    • Karrin, that word works as well!! There will be more baskets in my future…who knows what may show up!

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  16. Love, love your basket with the word on the outside. I, honestly, use the word way too often. Your ‘mistakes’ were well put and will be most helpful. “Crap” is what I’d say as I worked on the ‘R’ so the word is pefect.

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  17. As soon as I saw your basket, I knew that is something I should make! I have made hundreds of fabric baskets before, but not with the word, CRAP on it, lol!!! That is hubby and my word for everything! “Get that crap out of here. Put this crap away. What did you need with more crap?” you get the picture. Not offended in the least! I think I will make a large basket and appliqué the word on as I am not a paper piecing fan (I like looking a PP, just not making it myself). You could take those little letters and just enlarge them and print out bigger so you wouldn’t need to buy larger ones. Have you ever used a foam stabilizer, such as byAnnie’s Soft and Stable? You can squish it and it springs back to shape. It’s easy to sew through and gives structure without being heavy. I prefer the sew in kind as the fusible sided stuff can wrinkle and hard to remove wrinkles once they are fused into place. Just make sure it has a tricot material over the foam so it doesn’t cling to the machine bed. That “naked” foam is Crap to work with! Plus it’s too thin. If you use fusible fleece again, make sure you use a double layer of woven cotton fusible interfacing first and then add the fleece. That works well too. Take it from me, I am a bag tester for several designers, a bag maker and I have done it and tried about everything out there (except Decovil because it’s too pricey)!

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    • Daryl, Thanks so much for the helpful response. I have never used Annie’s Soft and Stable or other foam stabilizers. I figured foam would bounce back to form but would it be stiff enough to help the basket keep its shape? It could be just what I’m missing. What do you mean by using a double layer of woven cotton fusible interfacing then fleece? Do you mean that 2 sheets or a regular interfacing would help my fleece application appear stiff? So much to learn…so many questions. Thanks for letting me ponder some things. Finally, you’re right about those letters being enlarged…a great idea. I thought of it but really wanted a tinier word this time.

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      • Yes a foam stabilizer like Soft and Stable does keep the shape of bags and baskets. If you want to use fusible fleece, to give it more structure to the basket or bag, then first fuse 2 layers of a cotton woven fusible interfacing (like Pellon SF101 or similar) one on top of the other and then add the fusible fleece on top of that. It will give more structure than just one layer of each.

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  18. Thanks for sharing! I love that you shared the ups and downs. We all go through the good and the bad sewing and seeing it spelled out lets everyone know that it is ok to talk about it and everything doesn’t have to be perfect. I love the basket and need some in my house!

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    • Thanks, I appreciate your supportive comments. I really feel that I learn something each time I sew. It’s the educational surprise that keeps me fascinated with this hobby.

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  19. Oh Elana, you made my day with your crap basket. Actually it’s a scrap crap basket! HAHAHA Who doesn’t have crap that needs a home, and this is perfect. I use deco-bond interfacing sometimes. That might help. I’m so inspired that I might just give it a try here. I will let you know how it goes! Thanks for starting my day with a laugh!

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    • Joan, I’ve never heard of deco-bond and will give it a search. I definitely need something else to make the basket stand up better. Yeah, I was worried that the word crap would offend, but it’s about all the stuff in our house.

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  20. What a great idea for collecting the CRAP lying around. Appreciate the tips on the pluses and minuses of your letters and the stretchy denim. Great finish.

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    • Thanks, the tips are always both to remind me next time and to help anyone else setting out on this journey. I was surprised at how many things I learned this time…quite the unexpected curve.

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