Patchwork Kitten in a Basket Tutorial

After Molly gave her kitten in a basket tutorial, I received quite an earful. First, kittens use free will both in their choice of getting in the basket, getting out of the basket and being adorable. Second, apparently no one wanted a kitten in the basket tutorial...the request was for a patchwork kitten in a patchwork basket tutorial. After everyone accepts my apologies, we will now move on to the patchwork tutorial.

First, Molly officially gave this tutorial her stamp of approval.

For the orange kitten (Alfie), you will cut a 2 inch square, a 1 by 1.5 inch rectangle and a 1 inch strip at least 3 inches long from orange fabric.

Out of the white background fabric, you will cut three 1.5 inch squares, a 1 by 2 inch rectangle, two 1 inch squares, two 2 inch squares and three 1 inch strips at least 3.5 inches long.

For the blue basket fabric, you will cut a 2 by 5 inch rectangle, two 1 inch squares, two 1 inch strips at least 3.5 inches long, and one 1 inch strip at least 5 inches long.

In the first version of this block, I pieced the 2 by 5.5 inch rectangle for the base of the basket using three one inch strips.

Let's start by laying out the pieces used for making the kitten.

First, sew two flip triangles using the two 1 inch orange squares and sewing them to a 1 by 2 inch rectangle of background fabric. (You will recognize this as one third of a microspool, but I urge you not to become distracted...) Next, sew a one inch square of orange to the one inch square of background fabric. Third, sew one background flip triangle using a one inch square of background and sewing it to the 1 by 1.5 inch rectangle of orange.

Next sew the ears to the top of the kitten's head. And sew the tip of the kitten's tail to the top of a 1.5 inch square of background fabric. Sew the kitten's back to the bottom of the 1.5 inch square of background fabric.

Sew the head of the kitten to the body, then sew the tail (the one inch strip of orange) along the right side. When sewing strips, I find it easier to use slightly longer strips than I need and then trim them after sewing.

Now that the kitten is completed, we will add the surrounding basket. Attach a strip of background fabric to the top of the kitten and then add two flip triangles to the corners using one inch squares of blue basket fabric.

I didn't follow my directions and instead attached the flip triangles to the background strip.

Here is the header sewn to the kitten.

Next, surround the kitten block with one inch strips of the blue basket fabric. I sew the sides first, then the top, trimming as I go.

Now we will proceed to frame the handle of the basket. First, attach two flip triangles to the top of the basket using 1.5 inch squares of background fabric. Then sew the one inch strips of background fabric to the sides.

Then, sew the 2 by 5.5 inch strip of basket fabric along the bottom.

Right about now you may be wondering why the block is 5.5 inches wide when the unfinished Tiny Tuesday blocks are 5 inches unfinished and 4.5 inches finished. The larger size gives my sloppy sewing a bit of wiggle room. Also, the background frame along the sides finishes at a quarter inch, but I don't want to cut or sew .75 inch strips of fabric. I find it easier to sew bigger, then trim.

And at this point I will introduce my Tiny Tuesday best friend...it's a Dear Jane ruler that is five inches square with a grid and wonderful diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines. Dear Jane blocks, like our Tiny Tuesday blocks, finish at 4.5 inches.

Trim the block to its correct 5 inch square dimensions. (And of course, you can use any ruler to trim this down to its final five inch square...)

Last but not least, attach two flip triangles to the base of the basket using the remaining two 2 inch squares of background fabric.

The End.