Monday Meandering 9 -- 28 -- 2020

Here we are at the end of September. Really? One third of 2020 is past. Last week I decided I really wanted to get my red basket done so I started on it early in the week.  And, YEA ME! I finished it.  Here's the finished basket waiting on the shelf for me to grab some red scraps from it. 

Notice the small strip of red with white speckles?  That's the handle I added. 

As a base idea I used the pattern Catch All Caddy 2 from By Annie. It was featured on the Craftsy class Sew Sturdy Home Organizers by Annie Unrein. I didn't make the basket as shown. I used the measurements and the techniques as described in the video.  I left off pockets, changed the size, added a handle, and changed the way the top was finished.  Most of the changes were on purpose.  A few were "oops!  Here's how I put this together.

You can see the "made" fabric using scraps here. 

First up was quilting all the pieces. I used Pellon Flex Foam between the lining and the made fabric.  I believe mine was fusible on both sides.  I had several left over pieces from various projects so I might have used By Annie's brand as well as the Pellon.  I chose to do a diagonal row of stitching.  This was a relatively small project so I chose to quilt on my domestic machine rather than my long arm. 

Here are all the pieces quilted, trimmed and ready to be put together. Notice the Wonder Clips ready to be used?  It was much easier to clip at various steps than to use pins. 

Remember me writing I made some changes on purpose but not all? My first change was when I cut the side pieces 1/2" smaller than the pattern called for.  Not a big deal really but I did have to trim the bottom piece to fit.  I also wasn't thinking straight when I sewed the pieces right sides together it should have been lining fabrics together.  The cute binding was suppose to be on the outside of the basket. Oops is right.  I could have made this the outside but I wanted all the scrappy fabric to be the outside. 

My plan was to simplify the basket as much as possible. So I decided a circle of fabric sewn than flipped would work just fine for the top.  Here the clips came in handy as I fitted the top. 

One side of the finished basket.  The handle is on the left side/front.  I wish I could say I made a big dent in the red scraps when this was done but, not really. 

Scraps thrown in the basket and ready to put on the shelf.  (Hum, I wonder what that bright blue fabric is?) 

My new red scrap basket has been working out well. I've grabbed it and found some scraps to use on the snowball blocks I've been making.  I've stashed a few odd ball pieces of red fabric in it easily.  

With the experience of this one I'm looking forward to making some more baskets to hold various other colors.  The one issue I have with this basket is the sides (as shown above and in the first picture above) bulge out.  It does it whether it has any thing in it or if it is stuffed full.  I like that the Flex Foam does a good job of maintaining the shape of the basket.  But it is more expensive than, say batting or other stabilizers.  I wonder if I added interfacing to the top finish it might hold it's shape a little better. 

I have a new basket pattern coming so I will try it and see if it might be easier to make.  I'll keep you posted although I don't think I'll even start it for a few more weeks. 

Are you ready to do some blog visiting?  I'm linking up with my regular Monday parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  Be sure to visit a few blogs to see what people are working on.  You might just get a new idea for your "I Want to Make" list. 

Happy Quilting! Bonnie