the not so "lame" Easter basket

My son proclaimed that wicker Easter baskets are "lame". He asked me to make an Easter basket like he had as a boy, only bigger, purple, and the bunny rather than the duck for his daughter's first Easter. 30 years of added sewing experience, a better sewing machine, a bit bigger budget, and better fabric yielded this not so "lame" Easter basket. I agonized over the fabric, for an hour! Not because I couldn't decide, but because the selection of purple fabric was so limited! 10 bolts of purple. I almost gave up and went to a quilt shop but I was worried about not finishing it in time.

It's all in the details.

Other than needing some orthodontic work, the bunny is pretty cute.

The pattern was written many years ago and by someone who believes in hand sewing. I do not like hand sewing and try to avoid it if possible. So I altered the way some things were done. I also enlarged the pattern width and length, interfaced all the pieces, and doubled the batting. I am very pleased with how it turned out. It took about 5 hours but with the improvements I made to the pattern, I could do another in less time. And there will be another, and another, and another. But for next Easter. No time for this Easter. I left the pattern out and will make a few a month I think.

We just got back from a wonderful week in Washington DC. We didn't get to see everything on our list but what we did see wet our appetite to go back and see some more. I'm wading through the almost 700 pictures and hopefully will have a blog post soon that gives a taste of what we saw.

Until then....Happy Easter!