the one-hour basket reviewed

I sewed my very first "one-hour-basket" for a friend of ours that was having their first baby back in February/March of this year. I used the Fabric Basket Tutorial from Trina from Will Cook for Shoes for the Fort Worth Fabric company. I thought the pattern went well. The handles were on the front and back of the basket. Then I saw the 1 Hour Basket all over IG (Instagram) with the hashtag #kelbysews. This basket looked a little better, peppier with a little more structure and with the handles on the sides rather than in the middle. Aha...another pattern which must be greatly improved? Kelby also lists her free tutorial Craftsy. (As most of you, I like to find free patterns!) I downloaded her version to see what the difference was and if I would agree with her changes. I read. I practiced. I bought more supplies and wracked my brain about improvements and modifications. Here is my opinion after making a couple of baskets from both tutorials!

The Fabric Basket from Trina is a very nice, tall and roomy basket made from quilting quality fabric that is quilted on the outer shell. The outer shell fabric is fused and quilted which gives it stability on the outside. The inside is also quilting quality fabric (which is rather thin) but reinforced with a medium weight stabilizer. The basket holds its shape nicely. The handles fold to the left and right in the middle of the basket. The inner and outer shells are connected at the top and flipped at the top.

Fabric Basket Tutorial from Trina of "Will Cook for Shoes"

Updated

The 1 Hour Basket from Kelby is modified version. I say this clearly because of the dates of when both were published. The basket from Trina was published in February 2015, and the one from Kelby in March, 2015. What changed in the new basket which sparked the need for a new tutorial?
Although the 1 Hour Basket was as published after the Fabric Basket Tutorial, Shelby assured me she has never seen this tutorial before today. My apologies. What is different in Shelby's tutorial? It is improved and a bit more thought out especially if you don't want to do a lot of quilting.

• the newer version is compact - overall dimensions make it shorter and longer.
• bottom base is slightly smaller.
• clears up the discrepancies for inner and outer shells (inner lining must be smaller to prevent puckering when top stitching the two shells together. The inside was sewn with a 5/8" seam allowance rather than 1/2".) The picture below shows this puckering on the original basket.

• changes the handle positions to the ends
• handles are longer and narrower
• uses home decor quality fabric (definite plus for stability)
• changes the base to be slightly narrower (square base pockets reduced from 3 1/2 inches to 3 inches)
• flips through the inner lining at the bottom rather than the inner shell at the top  (a definite plus for the overall design)
• does not reinforce the inner lining to make a shell

Both baskets look amazing don't they?? I agree, the photos are great!

Fabric Basket Tutorial from Trina

 

1 Hour Basket Tutorial from Kelby Sews

Here is what you don't see or what you see when you put them side by side:

Fabric Basket Tutorial vs. 1 Hour Basket Tutorial

So you can understand, these baskets were slightly modified by me when I sewed them together. Here is what I changed to each basket:

Basket from the Trina Basket

1. Not quilted.
2. No use of stabilizer on the inner lining to make a shell.
3. Handles on the ends instead of side.

Basket from the Kelby Basket

1. Sewed the handles like the first basket by folding in the center once and folding in again 1/4 on each side.
2. Added cotton batting and quilted on the crease lines.
3. No use of home decor fabric on outer shell nor on the inner lining.

What is your opinion? Which one do you like better?

I clearly like the second (improved) version better. But I think it all depends on how you are going to use the basket. If you are going to use it for holding diapers, I would clearly use the tutorial from Trina exactly as she wrote it, but I would flip through the top, because it makes for a better finish. I would also quilt it very tight for added stability. I think the handles on the front and back are just fine, but may need to be adjusted for your purposes. If you want a more decorative basket, I would pick Kelby's which proves to be a quick sew with little hassle. I would adopt the handle size and length from Trina's tutorial though. I think they look better short and stump. But keep in mind, both of these baskets take a while to sew. Make sure you read through the tutorials carefully to understand.

If you are interested in how I fine-tuned the basket for my Christmas gifts, stay tuned.....Part 2 will be posted tomorrow!

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, happy Thanksgiving!! I heard that the Carolina Panthers will be playing today! Yeah, go Panthers!! We will be celebrating our turkey day on the weekend when we have time to enjoy it, without the stess of work and school. Thanks for stopping by!

project sewing room: storage bins and totes

Were you curious to know if this was still an topic with me or that I ditched the subject? Although I haven't posted in a looong time, it is still a part of my ongoing series called project sewing room - "rund ums Nähzimmer." My other posts are about sorting your fabric and making a cutting/project table from an Ikea bookshelf. Today I want to talk about organization in storage boxes and totes.

Free tutorial from Forth Worth Fabric Studio

I recently re-organized my fabric cabinet and bought some plastic totes to store my fabrics. I wasn't totally happen with my fabrics flying around in my cabinet. I get pretty lazy sometimes when it comes to putting fabric back to the right spot. I thought a plastic basket or tote would be a good solution for storing my fabrics away in the cabinet, not getting dusty but could be pulled out easily when I wanted to rummage through a set of colors. I bought a few different sizes and am giving them a try. I should buy about three more, but we'll see how this goes for now.
  
As you can see, It looks like I have almost no fabric!! Do you believe that? I do, because my stash is slowly getting smaller and smaller. I am finding projects to help me de-stash. Of course, I did get rid of a lot of more "country" or traditional fabrics last fall by donating to another patchwork friend. She really appreciated them too. Now I am generally working in fabric collections and rarely pull from my own stash.

Colder colors are on the top shelf and warmer colors on the second shelf. My larger pieces of fabric are located on the bottom shelf. I keep most of my pre-cuts in other totes where I can grab at them easier for quick projects.

One option to get more organized is simply to buy cheap plastic totes. My new ones are stackable without lids. Since they are hidden in the cabinet, I thought that would be an overkill. I just wanted more of a quick in/out solution.

Another creative way to organize is to make your own totes or boxes. I have always loved the Ikea boxes and wanted to make them for the top shelf of my bookshelf/cabinet. I had this really great modern fabric in my stash which is a heavy woven made in England. I thought my shelf could use a bit of color and pulled it out. I managed to make my box with the dimensions 9 x 9 x 15 inches. It should have been 9 x 15 x 15, but the designer screwed up!!

It didn't seem as stable as it should have been, so I looked around the house and found my milk container box that holds 12 cartons of milk. It fit perfectly for more stability! I completely winged this pattern "freie Schnauze." But there are loads of great patterns out there!

If you are looking for some storage for holding your different types of fleece, wadding or batting, you can make this upright basket! We made it in our patchowrk group meeting this past month. You can find free directions with pattern here. The directions are in GERMAN! Die Anleitung ist in deutsch geschrieben, juhu!

I found this great little tutorial from the Forth Worth Fabric Studio for portable fabric tote.. I have honestly never made a basket tote, so this was very exciting for me! I did a pretty good job too, if I am allowed to say that.

I think if I make another one, I will either put the handles on the ends, or sew them down in the top stitching seam. I don't really like how they flap around. Check out my perfect side seam! ;-) Don't look at the quilting lines, just the green part. ;-)

I thought this could come in handy when a new baby is around...maybe for diapers, wipes, talcum powder/creme, etc. It matches the quilt in the background that I have been working on. The top is finished, I just have to quilt it. I am looking forward to that next week.

Have you made any good storage totes or boxes that you would like to share with us? If you have please drop us a note so we all can profit! Thanks for stopping by.

What did I learn this week? Making boxes and totes can be a lot of fun!

what's your favorite online fabric store?

As my Stoffvorrat slowly comes to an end, (not really, but it seems that my fabric is going quickly), I was thinking about ordering some more. Where to buy? Unfortunately, there is no fabric store around me that offers the most current collections from big name companies including precuts.

When I buy fabric, there are usually two ways I do it. I either buy according to a project, or I buy what I like, usually within a collection, so I don't have to figure out if it matches or not. I LOVE precuts! - strips, charms, layer cakes, and fat quarters.

I used to buy loads of reduced fabric, because by the time it gets to me, it won't be current anyway considering transport and Customs. I stopped this simply because I was buying too many country and civil war fabrics. Most of them have been weeded out.

In the early years, I didn't really know where to find pretty quilting fabric that was "up-to-date" or modern. I am not really into flower prints. I prefer tone-on-tone (TOT) or geometrical fabrics. I like a range of print scaling too - large, medium and small or no print aka solids. I remember buying up some Berenstain Bears fabric called "Welcome to Bear Country" and thought the artist didn't get the memo on designing fabrics for quilters who need a range of different scaling. The collection consisted of primarily medium prints with one large scale. It helped by bringing in alternate solids.

I made a really nice pattern using the prints from the main characters by stacking them, slicing and sewing back together. If anyone has sewn together this quilt, I would love to see it. You can get the pattern free on Craftsy. There are directions for two different sizes. Brigitte Heitland did the most beautiful job at quilting it too especially with "Berenstain Bears" text at the top!

Back to fabric stores...I found a couple of really nice online fabric shops over the last few years. If you are a big online fabric shopper, these are probably not new to you. If you are new, this will be a good starting point. They are in no specific order.

• The Fat Quarter Shop - good for most current fabric - great for precuts, not so good for yardage unless you are willing to order full yard cuts.
• Hawthorne Threads - great for up-to-date fabrics. Great service. They run a very professional company; it usually takes six weeks for me to get my fabric due to Customs. They have a great design board which really helps to match up fabrics! Sign up for their weekly newsletter for your chance to win fabric!!
• fabricworm - fresh modern fabrics. I have never ordered from them, but think they have a great store.
• The Quilted Castle - good prices, good service!
• Creative Quilt Kits - very nice kits. I have found some really nice children's fabric there.
• Keepsake Quilting - they publish an awesome catalog featuring current collections and "medleys". It costs a little bit more for shipping but no problems. I was at their shop once in Center Harbor New Hampshire. I was in HEAVEN and started to daydream about retiring there next to the water in a lake house. Girls, if you have access to this shop, go there directly in person. They have summer closeouts too! >>screaming<<

Within Germany:

• Quiltmania by Ines Khasani - a wide range of current products, lots of precuts and magazines. Good service on time!
• Stoffsalat - good quick service - yummy fabrics!
• Quilt et Textilkunst - I first discovered this one at the convention in Karlsruhe

In Switzerland:

• Cotton & Color - I have never been disappointed with this company. They are timely and correct. The prices are great too. Their website is in English, French and German!

Do you have a favorite online fabric store for quilt and patchwork? Or do you prefer to visit a fabric store in person to touch, feel, caress the fabric the way all of us do? I would love to hear from you! Don't forget to sign up for post updates via bloglovin, Google or email on the right. Happy patching...

sorting your fabric

In preparation for Project: Sewing Room, I cleaned up my own sewing room and sorted out my fabric. I usually sort it out once a quarter or every six months. In the beginning, it is so nicely folded and organized. Do you know what I mean? When I start to dive into my sewing projects, sometimes (just sometimes), I get lazy and just start to throw things back in without folding and color coordinating. My fabric cabinet has doors for a reason! Out of sight, out of mind.

How to sort fabric? I have sorted by color, by size, by project, by collections. What is the best way? Honestly, I haven't found it out yet. I have read books about it and didn't really understand why one would sort out by color. I usually sew in collections.

Every time I sort, I seem to do it different to see what works better for me. The last time I sorted, I folded everything nice and neatly into about 3" x 8" fabric-fold stacks. This optimized my cabinet space to fit a lot more in and stayed relatively flat instead of towers of fabrics. This time, I folded my fabric into quarter bundles. I put all of my colorful fabric on the top shelf, where I will see it and use it more often. I also put the contrasting colors in front, because I like a lot of contrast. The neutral blacks, white, brown, grays got put on the middle shelf. I hardly use these anymore.

I keep the larger pieces separated - pieces 1/2 meter and more go into their own groups. You can see these at the bottom. I will usually use these for backing fabrics.

Honestly, it doesn't look like I have that much fabric looking at this picture! But I also sorted out fabrics for special projects I am working on. My Hasenbach, North Pole, Kitschy, and Mod/Mod Block Lotto all got new project totes. I bought these at our local home improvement store - Bau V-Markt; they fit great into my cutting table shelves. I also have a few smaller collections of fabric stored in plastic bags in the other cabinet. I store my scraps, other projects, batting and notions inside that one.

Now, I really don't think I have a lot of fabric, but who ever really has enough? How do you organize your fabric and why? I would love to hear from you!

my philosophy

I like to work according to the SEP approach - simple, easy, practical.

simple
Simplicity seems to be the catch word of our decade especially when it comes to making quilts. You will find countless number of books on this subject. Slow down, enjoy life, make it simple, there's no rush. I like simple designs and like to make use of a little bit of color. I have never been one who collected a lot of things and this is carried over to my designs.

I like to balance even if it is an asymmetrical design. A good quilt is like my daily outfit - a good pair of modern dark jeans, a neutral long sleeve t-shirt, a knitted sweater jacket and a bright print scarf and of course, my shoes always have to match my purse and belt. Make-up is optional, of course.

easy

If it is too complicated, I just don't want to do it! I am sewing a sampler with my other patchwork friends in a "real time class" for 2012. Almost every week I go to class and try to work on a block. If you have ever worked on a sampler, you know that it just gets frustrating after a while. It is time consuming to cut out the templates and sew it all together and that twelve blocks times over. I think we all need a "quickie" every now and then just to put a spark back in our lives. I find myself avoiding the sampler and finding everything else to do instead. 

practical

Okay, I am just practical by nature. My mother drilled-in to me to just do something right and do it once. No hassles. Since I am basically a lazy person by nature, I trained myself to find the most practical way to do that with the littlest amount of effort and carried this principle over to patchwork. Shortcuts are great when they produce the same results. I mainly make blankets because they are practical and are always used. Table runners might be only used once in a year. Purses might only be used for three months and then discarded.

Here, in Germany, patchwork is "back to the roots." Quilting fabrics are not that easy to come by. When you are lucky enough to find a gem of a fabric store, be prepared to spend a pretty €uro cent. Why? The large manufacturers produce their fabrics in Asia, have then sent to the United States for sale, and are bought from EU importers and imported to Germany. Everyone has to have their cut and import tax is high. Basically, a meter (a little more than one yard), costs about 16,50€; that includes a German sales tax of 19%. A basic quilt has about 8 meters of fabric equallying 130€! I am so impressed when I see my German patchwork friends coming up with stunning quilts, table runners, pillow cases, etc. just from old bedding or even worn out jeans! Now that is patchwork! Here in Germany, those scraps are VALUABLE! So, when I see a wonky cut block or a technique that scraps a lot of my fabrics, I shy away. I am half German from my mentality and am a GO GREENer! I separate my trash and buy organic when it is economical, i.e. not imported from Australia but rather produced in Austria or France.

Keep patching and thanks for stopping by. Next time, grab yourself a cup of warm coffee before you start.