Flower Basket Quilt Pattern

Well, my flower basket quilt is finished (except for binding).  I promised a pattern and here it is.  Now, bear with me here.....I have never written a pattern before.  Come to think of it, I have only ever followed one or two quilt patterns.  I have made one particular quilt several times, but now that I think about it, it is only one of two patterns for a quilt I have ever used.  

I usually just come up with my own, but never write the directions down.  I get inspiration from all sorts of places and when I think of a quilt I want to make I sit down with excel or graph paper and figure out how I am going to make it.  I cut all the pieces and put them on my design wall, then figure out what order I am going to sew the pieces, what direction I am going to iron my seams and how to assemble the rows.

That being said, here is my first attempt at writing down how I made a quilt!  Please feel free to email or comment with any questions and I will do my best to answer.

Here are a couple of shots of mine quilted:

You will need:

41 5" X 5" Charm Squares (I used Moda Coquette)

100  2" X 5" Rectangles (Mine are white).  This is 3/4 Yard of fabric.

60 2" X 2" Squares of an accent color (Mine are yellow).  This is less than 1/4 yard. 

8 6 1/2" X 6 1/2" Squares for the sides of blanket or end of rows (Mine are white.  Yours need to be the same color as your rectangles).  This is less than a 1/4 yard.

1 7 1/4" Square for corners.  This is less than 1/8 yard.

This quilt is assembled on the diagonal and I worked from bottom right corner to top left corner.  This is certainly not the last word on how to assemble this quilt, this is just my method of doing it.

Each odd numbered row begins and ends with a 2" X 2" Square and each even numbered row begins and ends with a 2" X 5" Rectangle.

Row #1 - 2 Squares / 1 Rectangle

Row #2 - 2 Rectangles / 1 Charm Square

Row #3 - 4 Squares / 3 Rectangles

Row #4 - 4 Rectangles / 3 Charm Squares

Row #5 - 6 Squares / 5 Rectangles

Row #6 - 6 Rectangles / 5 Charm Squares

Row #7 - 8 Squares / 7 Rectangles

Row #8 - 8 Rectangles / 7 Charm Squares

Row #9 - 10 Squares / 9 Rectangles

Row #10 - 10 Rectangles / 9 Charm Squares

Row #11 - 10 Squares / 9 Rectangles

(Rows 9-11 are "segmented" from the other rows for a reason.  Explanation coming up!)

Row #12 - 8 Rectangles / 7 Charm Squares

Row #13 - 8 Squares / 7 Rectangles

Row #14 -  6 Rectangles / 5 Charm Squares

Row #15 - 6 Squares / 5 Rectangles

Row #16 - 4 Rectangles / 3 Charm Squares

Row #17 - 4 Squares / 3 Rectangles

Row #18 - 2 Rectangles / 1 Charm Square

Row #19 - 2 Squares / 1 Rectangle

Assemble each row ironing seams to the dark on each row.  On even rows, this means you will iron your seams toward your 2" X 2" Squares and on odd rows you will iron your seams toward your Charm Squares.

Next, assemble the rows in this order:

Rows #1 & #2

Rows #3 & #4

Rows #5 & #6

Rows #7 & #8

Rows #9, #10 & #11

Rows #12 & #13

Rows #14 & #15

Rows #16 & #17

Rows #18 & #19

Iron your seams toward the Charm Squares on each row.  Now, I actually ironed mine toward the rectangles and small squares, so please, Quilt Police....don't come get me!  It really should have been ironed toward the Charm Squares, but some things can only be seen in hindsight!

So, you should end up with 9 rows total.  

Now that you have those assembled, cut your 6 1/2" squares corner to corner.  These will be sewn to the end of 8 of your rows to complete your strip.  The longest side of each triangle should face out.  I find it easy to get confused on these and would suggest you lay it out so that you can get your mind clear on which edge you are sewing to your strip.

Sew one triangle to each end of rows:

#1 & #2

#3 & #4

#5 & #6

#7 & #8

#12 & #13

#14 & #15

#16 & #17

#18 & #19

Do not sew these onto your row that is made up of strips #9, #10 & #11!

Now that you have your rows complete, sew each together in any order you like.  I assembled each half first and then attached each half to my large center strip (#9, #10 & #11).  

Now cut your 7 1/4" Square from corner to corner and again from corner to corner on the opposite corner.  You will have 4 small triangles.  Sew each triangle onto each corner.  There is not much room for error with these measurements so I suggest pinning so your corners don't slip on you!

And, wha-la, you are finished.

This quilt measures 42" X 42" finished.  You could certainly add a border to make it larger, but I liked the absence of a border.  Quilt however you like.  I love the simplicity of the straight lines on mine, but I think this quilt would be beautiful stippled as well.

There are a few pictures of this quilt in varying stages on this blog, so I would suggest using them for reference.  I take a photo of it on my design wall and have to use it often when making a quilt.