This is my first basket block ever! The basket is a traditional quilting design with lots of variations. I’m pleased with the colors I chose even though it didn’t come out looking basket-like. It looks more like the bear’s paw block because I chose a dark green instead of a lighter background color for the triangle under the ‘handle’ of the basket.

I wanted to emphasize the whole shape with the quilting, so I echoed it twice. I quilted inside the green and brown shapes, staying close to the edges, then quilted around the edge of the block and decided it was done. I debated adding more quilting to the yellow background to make it recede but in the end decided not to go there. I like the result, but I wonder how it will look alongside some of the other sampler blocks that I’ve quilted more heavily. We’ll see.

Lina’s Gift is block 18 of the Splendid Sampler and was designed by Pat Sloan. Read her beautiful story about the block and how it came to be called Lina’s Gift.