Yes, these Coiled Baskets and Coasters can be washed!

Yes, Yes, Wash those baskets, bowls, pet beds, trivets, coasters, even the tote bags.  Ok, yes I only use 100% cotton, so they will shrink some.  I have washed mine in the washing machine on cold and delicate.  I AIR DRY all of them!  Any of the above items are easily reformed and air dried.
Sometimes the baskets get smushed on one side, just gently reform and let it air dry.  Or make a new shape,  like this little aqua bowl which I turned into a little dish.

After washing in the machine, I reformed my large tray and let it air dry!  Looks great!

Yes, this is the same aqua teardrop fabric, the left tray is done with a royal blue thread and the little basket with aqua thread.  I love them both! 
Have some fun!  Enjoy!

Beautiful Layer Cake Basket

Layering a basket with many fabrics can be tricky just like borders on a quilt.  These pictures show the difference between the two types of baskets.

 All Over Basket uses one fabric for the whole basket.   I made this wonderful basket for myself! Yeah!  I just loved this bold floral fabric.  Yes, it is the same fabric as the table rug in last month's post.  I also made myself another oval table runner and might even treat myself to a matching tissue box cover.  It is so nice to have a matching set.



The lovely aqua basket is a custom order for a wonderful customer who sent me the most gorgeous fabrics to make this "Layer Cake Basket".  I enjoyed making this basket with all the special layers.  Usually I have two or three layers, but his one has a least 8, so that was a challenge to make all these lovely fabrics work together.  I just love how it turned out! 

What color thread to use on a table rug?

I was teaching a friend how to make a coiled basket and the question of of the day was...
What color thread to use on multi colored fabrics, which can be a tough decision.  If the fabric has lots of wonderful colors then I sometimes use invisible or clear thread, but it is not cotton.  Here is a table rug that has so many bold colors and depending on your color thread choice, you can change the shade of the finished table rug.  Many times I make coasters just to try out different colors on a specific fabric.

I just love this bold floral fabric and made this 16" table rug for great protection. 

This has so many colors it's amazing!
Usually I use the background color for the thread choice, so that it blends in.

 But here I used dark purple for a couple of rows, then I use a dark green, then a lighter kelly green and then a lime green.  It is hard to see them in this picture, but you can see that there are different shades.

Can you see the navy blue section, then the royal blue section and then even lilac?

I wish I could take better pictures.  This is the reverse side of the table rug where I only used dark purple embroidery thread to add to the highlights and I love it!  I will use this side!

See how even the colors look now that only one shade of purple is used.  I plan to make myself a matching basket, but I will use green this time, since the room is painted green or maybe not!

Good luck choosing your thread!
Thanks for visiting!
:)

Cozy Crazy Cat Beds

A friend asked me to make her a cat bed basket out of some funky material she had.  It was great fun to see how it would turn out.  I found some other funky jungle material and made another cat bed.
I just love it!  Yes, it could be used for magazines or fruit.... I might just keep this basket!  My cat loves it! Funky Brown Zebra!

I found more fun cow material for a cat bed.  I can't wait to see how it turns out.  I'll post it here in a couple of days!
Thanks for visiting!  Have a great day!

Quick update on the funky cat beds, how is this crazy pink one!

Bread Basket Handles

Good Morning!
Here are 2 more bread baskets with different handles.  I like all three different handles, they have their own character. What do you think?

New Bread Baskets

Good Morning!  Summer is going by way too fast......
I have been trying out different size and shapes for bread baskets.  There are so many variations, which is half the fun.  The batiks work up so wonderfully for these baskets. I'm working on new ovals with handles.  These oval baskets are great for bread too, check them out at my Etsy shop  www.etsy.com/wexfordtreasures

This blue one has a fuzzy edge, yes, the fabric came that way, I thought it would be fun!  It adds nice contrast and texture!


So here is one of the new green/brown batik bread baskets.  This one is wide at 5.5" for Italian Breads.

I am making another one, narrower for French Bread, how about 4" wide, and longer too. 

I love these 2 crossing handles... I think I will keep them for the bigger bread baskets and try 2 side by side handles for the narrower basket.
I hope to post that later today!

Thanks for visiting...
Have a great day....
:)

Pink and Lilac Batiks for fun!

Today has gone by way too fast....
I have so many great ideas, ahhh, I just can't get to them!
Right now my Etsy shop is in "Think Pink" mode since my neice just had a baby girl and a friend also had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago.  Congrats Katie!

I loved making this 3D Pinwheel  Baby Quilt for our friends...

Here is the quilt I just finished for our local Veterans Assoc., I'll be donating it at tonight's meeting.

 Here are 2 new fabrics that I hope to make into lovely baskets.  The soft lilac is wonderful with lots of character.  The deep pinky rose batik has the same wonderful pattern, so the baskets will have a similar texture.  I better get started.

June will be Blue Lagoon Month!

More New Wonderful Fabrics to try!

I found a beautiful Pansy Floral fabric that I know will make a wonderful basket, I can't wait to see how the colors stand out. 

 The rich colors will show up on the inside of the basket too!

Color, Color, Color!





5/16 - I made 2 baskets from this lovely pansy material, unfortuantely, I don't like either one!  But my daughter loves them.  Even though I love the fabric and print, the basket just doesn't have the richness I like.  The little basket I made using beige thread, which I did not like, too pale.  I used olive green thread on the oval basket, which I liked much more so, but, but, but......  no good. 

 

 This lovely paisley has a nice deep brown background, so it contrasts the light blue and will make a great bag.

Contrast, Contrast, Contrast!

I also found a gorgeous green batik with browns and tans and a splash of blue.  I used this to make a tote bag for myself over a year ago, and was so lucky to find more, yeah!   I used some of this marvelous batik to make a necktie for a great customer in NC.

To custom order any of these fabrics in a basket or tote bag, please go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/WexfordTreasures
and click on Custom Order Now.

I'll post pictures of completed items soon!
Have a lovely day! Thanks for visiting!












5/24 - Here is the bag I made for myself last year, using the above lovely green batik.
Lovely fabric is such fun!  I even made myself a tissue box cover and some coasters.

Fantastic Aqua Batik

 This is one of my favorite batiks, I have used it in quilts and for quilt backing, and bags, baskets, necktie and even a dog bed.  It is one of the most colorful batiks I have found.  I still have plenty of it to spare too!  This bag and tie were sold, but if you would like this fabric just pick a custom listing at  http://www.etsy.com/shop/WexfordTreasures

New Fabrics, Can't Wait to See How they turn out

 I love this Burnt Orange Batik with the olive green, I know this will make a beautiful basket.

How about this fun green daisy pattern, I can't wait to see the texture this creates in a basket.

Leafy Green Contrast with Black

 I received an email asking about contrast.  I happen to love bold contrast such as this green basket with black.  The green fabric has wonderful shades of green that I wasn't sure would stand out, but with the black base, it sure looks great.  I usually add bold contrast for fun and soft contrast for interest.

Custom Baby Basket for Stuffed Animals, Love the Pink!

 Again, to answer the question sent to me, I look for fabric with texture and great color combination.  Last week I completed this custom Large Baby Basket using a wonderful soft pink stripe for the base and then a striped floral for lovely interest and added color.
I'm sorry the picture of the soft pale pink stripe is terrible with the flash, I will replace that later.
I just loved this floral that I bought at Quilter's Stash Quilt Store, in N. Attleboro,  MA, it  is  "Simply Sweet" by Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup for Henry Glass Fabrics   The floral design and stripe combination adds great texture to the basket.

 

Custom Textile Art Basket

I just finished this wonderful custom order Textile Art Basket today.  I just loved this gorgeous Rose and Tan Batik fabric.  The fabric strip picture shows the fabric's small print design, but again it is the colors that make this basket so beautiful.  I just love working with batiks with their rich colors.

Custom Purple Easter Basket

I loved making this wonderful Easter basket using the above bold purple batik.   I attached a picture of the fabric before it was cut and wrapped around clothesline.   I hope this helps to see how the fabric colors really make the basket, the fabric design adds interest.

Brown Paisley Basket

I  wrapped clothesline in 2 different dark brown fabrics and have sewn an oval shape for the base.  After I finished the base, I then wrapped the clothesline with this gorgeous deep coffee brown paisley fabric.   I'm about to turn the sides up into the basket, but I have not decided on the basket shape yet.  This is the fun part, shaping it, ahhh, I have lots of ideas, now I have to choose one!

I had lots of fun making this basket, the contrasts are great.