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The 13 Cent Quilt Block using the
GO! Bountiful Baskets

By Katrina Kahn of Sunshower Quilts

Do you love the look of the Postage Stamp Basket as much as I do?
It looks great in vintage fabrics but also in bright fabrics or batiks. Did you know that the Postage Stamp Basket block is a historic block for quilters?

Let’s Get Started

Bountiful Baskets Blocks

In 1978, the current quilt revival was just starting to take off in the United States. The U.S. Bicentennial was on July 4, 1976 which brought a resurgence of traditional crafts. Luckily for us, quilting was one of the prominent crafts featured. Only 18 months after the Bicentennial, USPS issued a stamp featuring a quilted basket, our Postage Stamp Basket. This helped to spread the love of quilting across the nation. As a result, the Postage Stamp Basket block became a popular block among quilters.

Bountiful Baskets Blocks

Postage Stamp Basket

At one time, quilters used templates or rotary cutters to construct this block. Now the AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter has made it easier to create this amazing block using the GO! Bountiful Baskets die. The versatile Bountiful Baskets die works on both the GO! and GO! Baby Fabric Cutters. This die is perfectly designed to cut the handle on the bias. You can cut the basket and the basket feet at just the perfect angle so that there is less fabric waste than rotary cutting and greater accuracy leading to better basket blocks.

AccuQuilt’s Bountiful Baskets die is perfect for those 5" charm squares since the basket portion of the block can be completely made from just one 5" square! Since the block is only 4½" unfinished, it makes it a great charm exchange quilt or an adorable scrappy quilt.

The Postage Stamp block looks great with a light background or a scrappy or black background. Choose what appeals to you the most.

Bountiful Baskets Bountiful Baskets Bountiful Baskets

Bountiful Baskets Block

Bountiful Baskets Quilt

Bountiful Baskets Place Mat

You can set the baskets in a variety of ways, but the most traditional setting is four baskets with the handles all facing in or out. Either option is lovely. If you want to try this block without committing to a whole quilt, simply put four baskets together with a border around the outside. This makes a wonderful pillow or table-topper in a variety of colors or seasonal fabrics.

If you would like another quick and easy project, using the Bountiful Baskets die, you can check out my quick place-mat project here Bountiful Baskets Place Mats

Helpful Tip

The Postage Stamp Basket is really an easy block to construct after you have cut it out using your GO! Fabric Cutter. Simply attach the handle to the background triangle, add the basket body triangle, add the footers to the little squares, and finally add the bottom triangle. It really is a simple and straight-forward block to construct once it is cut.

However, the handle of the basket is constructed a little differently than other handles. It is constructed so that you machine-sew down one side and flip over the handle. Either hand or machine appliqué down the other side for ease of construction. Some quilters are confused on exactly how to work with the handle so I made the video above to help you along if you need more instruction.

About this Blogger

Katrina is an award winning quilter and author of the Sunshower Quilts blog. She enjoys sharing her love for quilting and sharing tips and tricks to help people quilt better and more efficiently. Since acquiring her GO! Fabric Cutter, Katrina loves using the GO! to cut out quilting pieces and enjoys sharing tutorials and projects featuring the GO!

You can find Katrina at http://sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com
sunshowerquilts.blogspot.com

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