1 hour Baskets

I've still been busy working on my Tula Pink Sampler Quilt (It's now ready to quilt) but I need a break from it and wanted something quick and easy to do.   I'd seen lots of people on Instgram making the 1 hour basket so I decided to give it ago and see what all the fuss is about.

It's a free pattern which you can download from Craftsy create by Hearts and Bees (you need to sign up but it doesn't cost anything).  It's a large storage basket made from 2-3 fat quarters.  The first one I made is pictured below, unfortunately as I was cutting the fabric I realised the map fabric for my outer was not quite a full fat quarter so I had to add another fabric in too.

As you can see it fits a ton of fabric in, ideal size for fat quarters.  I used quilting cotton with my first basket (the project recommends home decor weight) and fusible fleece to give it body as suggested in the pattern.  It turned out pretty floppy and struggled to stand up alone when empty.

I had recently been sent some beautiful home decor weight fabrics from Izabela Peters, a UK company who print their own fabrics, so I decided to try them for the next basket.  They were much thicker, I used their fabrics for both the outside and the lining, and used the fusible fleece too.  The basket had more form to it but still wasn't as structured as I wanted, I wanted something that would stand up alone when empty.

Although I filled both these baskets up with fabric and am using them I wanted to have  another go at getting a firmer basket.  I rummaged through my stash and found some super firm sew in interfacing (almost like a sheet of card).  My concern was that it was so thick I wasn't going to be able to turn the basket through at the end, so I left a larger hole at the bottom of the lining (about 6-7 inches) and luckily it turned through ok.  The result was a much firmer basket which stood up perfectly when empty. Once my husband and son spotted the baskets they wanted some too so pictured below are my final 4 that I made using the very firm interfacing.

As they discovered the baskets are not only the perfect size for fat quarters but also for dvds and Xbox games.  I've already had a request from my husband for a few more so I suspect there will be many more in my future!

Have you tried the one hour basket yet?  How did you get on with it?