Remember this pretty basket block made with Drunkard’s Path blocks? I made the blocks over five years ago and they sat. Mostly because, while I love the design which I saw in an older Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine, the instructions for the sashing and border elements are – well, very hard to decipher for one who is used to working with finished element sizes rather than oversized rotary cutting sizes to be cut down to the a different size after sewing.
Over the weekend, I got the blocks out as they’ve always been lurking in the back of my mind plus I think I was in need of the prospect of some curved piecing. Somehow I must have thought the mysteries of the pattern would have been decoded by time alone. But I decided to tackle the problem again and this time I’ve got it figured out – I think. This has been a real challenge possibly because I rarely, if ever, follow a written pattern and because it wasn’t written with finished sizes of block elements. But I think I’ve finally got it sorted out! As an aside, I really, really wish this has been written with finished sizes given as well – I have become very accustomed to thinking about blocks and block elements that way with Inklingo and it makes so much more sense!
Of course – of course! – I didn’t save any of the white on white I was using for the blocks and whatever I had of it left over after this project was used elsewhere. So the next challenge was finding a fabric that was close enough that it wouldn’t stand out too, too much and I pulled a number of choices. Part of the problem is there’s a 1″ sashing of the white on white that goes right around the blocks so there’s no buffer at all between the two whites. And I want to use that 1″ sashing as it really does a lot to help make the design work.
This is my best choice of the white on white fabrics I have that are large enough pieces. But I think it may be a bit too beige.
Then we get to what I thought was my second choice, but it’s far too beige.
Most of my white on whites are very white in comparison to the one used in those blocks and will make the fabric in the blocks look as though it has yellowed a bit, I think. First there’s this one.
Then this one. I had initially thought this was my best choice until I looked at the photograph and realized how yellow the original fabric looked beside it.
Finally, there’s this one.
There’s another possibility and it’s one that I absolutely am open to. I can take the blocks apart and use the pieces with the glorious blue floral print with a new white on white of which I’d have enough for the whole project. I don’t have that much left of the print beyond what I’ll need for the sashing and border elements. I’m sure I’d never be able to find it again, given that it had been in my stash for some time to begin with before I made the blocks. Oh, how I wish I had yards of that print – it is absolutely gorgeous and would be fabulous for fussy cutting/printing for various projects as well!!
The finished piece will be about 50″ square, I think (again, deciphering a pattern and using different size blocks as well as working with finished size versus unfinished measurements), and is definitely going to be a wallhanging. I’ve looked at the back of the blocks and it wouldn’t be difficult at all to take them apart, if I do go that route.
So now I’d love to hear some of your thoughts. Would you go with my first choice, one of the other four possibilities or, accepting that I really do not find this an awful idea, take the blocks apart and remake them with a white on white that will be consistent throughout? I think the floral print is quite elegant so I really don’t want to distract from it.
“Guru say, ‘When in doubt, ribbit, ribbit.'”
Baxter got a new catnip toy on the weekend. At one point, he had it with him in the tunnel. We’re not sure if he was falling asleep like this or just inhaling catnip fumes.
I know my blogging has been a bit inconsistent again but this time I have a good excuse. I’m cat-sitting Nigel, a very cute little black cat with two white toes and a tiny white bib. His person is in hospital and I’m in charge of afternoon and evening visits with Nigel and play time for him.
Quilt Obsession 
Hi Cathi
Love the flower basket block. Can’t wait to see the finished quilt.
Dianne
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Thank you. I’m excited about it as well – which is why I’m finally deciphering the pattern and adapting it to use with Inklingo.
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I guess you could look for an antique white piece at your fabric shop as option 3…. if not then if you want it to really match …rip out😟
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Having only one quilt shop within a reasonable distance, the likelihood of finding anything close to the one used in the blocks is very slim. So I really do think my best option is to rip.
Cathi
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1. Do not rip anything up and start again. You have too much time invested.
2. As you have learned, white on white ages to off white/yellowish on white. I have some worse than what you show.
3. Why not pick another color from your blue floral to make the sashing strips? Putting white against white will just make you pull your hair out, as you already are? Another blue, a green, or I see some pink or dark rose. If you have some white, how about three narrow parallel strips with 9 patches at the corners/intersections (colors on the outside of the 3 strip combo with white in the middle)? That will give a basket weave effect. Fool the eye!
Ah, Baxter. Asleep at last.
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If it weren’t for the fact that the negative space in the design is a big part of it, I’d be tempted by your idea of the three narrow strips of colours as a possibility.
As I really don’t mind the idea of ripping out and, with my love of curved piecing, the idea of having to re-sew the blocks isn’t one that I’m the least bit upset about, I think that ripping out and re-sewing may be my very best hope.
Baxter sleeping with his new toy was a shot I couldn’t resist taking. Of course, he woke up within a second after I took it.
Cathi
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I’m with the guru: ribbit! It’s a fabulous block and a special fabric. Since you don’t find the prospect daunting, make it the best it can be. Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Hope you don’t mind if I borrow that block pattern sometime!
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Thank you – I feel the same way. It’s a very elegant print and I want to ensure I do everything to make this piece as spectacular as I think it will be! It’s not my design – I am making the block as a result of a picture in a quilting magazine, so feel free!! I’m definitely contemplating making some of these baskets using the smallest of the Drunkard’s Path Inklingo collections. The more the merrier!
Cathi
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What about a very pale blue instead of undoing or trying to find a white that fits? Odds and sods, a bit like us down here.
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The negative space in the design is part of what makes it as spectacular as I think it is, so I think I will very likely end up ripping out. And, as I really do love curved piecing, it’s not a real hardship to me to think about making the blocks again.
Odds and sods seems like a relatively common phrase here – or perhaps it’s common to me from hanging around a cryptic crossword puzzle guy.
Cathi
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What an interesting quilt block! I have mever seen drunkards path used like this! I love it!
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That’s part of the reason I was so intrigued by the picture of it in the quilt magazine – I had never seen anything like it either!
Cathi
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OK – here’s my 2 cents. Which is probably only worth a penny. What about using the one that matches the closest and then tea dyeing the whole quilt when it’s finished? You could just do it lightly – enough to make the fabrics match. Control how long it stays in the dye, in other words. It might just give a nice antique look to the whole thing? Of course it would affect the beautiful floral fabric too. But maybe you could throw a small piece of each of the fabrics in a bowl and dye all of them to see what the result would be? Just a thought…..
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It’s an intriguing idea and I am going to try it! I’m really curious what it does to the floral print. I’ll make sure I’ve got what I need for the borders and sashing blocks cut and ready so that whatever bit of it I use to try tea dying isn’t going to be needed.
Cathi
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