At my local quilt guild we were presented with a President’s Challenge that lasted the whole year. Each month we were to bring in 40 – 5″ charm squares (all the same), then the next month we would pick up our packet of assorted 5″ charm squares. The challenge was to create something with the charm squares. While I did not participate in all of them I did choose three: Halloween, Christmas and blue. I missed purple month…boohoo)
I created the totes on the left and right with a tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Co.- you can get three totes from one pack of charm squares! I was amazed! The tutorial is quick, easy to follow and she offers some great tips.
The basket in the middle is aptly named Charm Baskets.( 20 charm squares). This pattern came from a quilt store I found on a shop hop in 2010. Threads That Bind is located in the small town of Maxwell,Ontario.
I have made a few alterations on the original pattern. The pattern calls for fusible fleece for both the lining and outer fabric. I used soft & stable foam stabilizer for the outer and nothing for the lining. What I liked about the foam stabilizer is the ease of use. I intentionally quilted “stitch in the ditch” at the parts of the basket where it would fold, this helps the basket keep it’s shape.
Next time I will try a lightweight stabilizer for the lining. While it is fine without, I feel it would give the inner basket a bit more stability and the lining would have an overall smooth clean finish.
I was left with 4 charm squares, so I created the mug mat. This was a fun challenge…stay tuned to see what I made with the Christmas charm squares.
Creatively Yours!