This little quilt was made for my sister, Sally, in 2004. The basket design is based on a USPS 13¢ stamp series issued on March 8, 1978. I think I remember that the 4 stamps were connected with all of the handles toward the middle, which is the set you usually see for this block. I noticed that when my 4-block units were connected, the white areas formed a design that I think is distracting. When I drafted the block, I changed the design just a bit because the base triangles seemed too big and the handle too thick which I thought made the basket look sort of squatty. The reduction of the base triangles enlarged the white pieces and resulted in the rectangular areas you see in the completed quilt. I’m conflicted about this — although I prefer my basket, I think the white areas look better in the original basket design.
The fabric for this little quilt is from some vintage bow tie blocks purchased on ebay. There were wonderful 30’s dress prints in the ties and coordinating solids in the 2 background pieces. I took them apart to make an appliqued butterfly quilt, and there was enough fabric left to cut 2 tiny baskets from each print (the second basket is going into a larger quilt). The border triangles are cut from vintage scraps using the same template as the small basket triangles. The finished block size is 3″ and the quilt was all hand stitched — the baskets are pieced with an appliqued handle.
Postage Stamp Basket Doll Quilt
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2004
hand pieced & appliqued, hand quilted
20″ x 20″
