I thought about making a wall hanging using just the chicken block, and I may do that....next season. I've cranked out four lap quilts this winter, start to finish, and now I am in the planning stages of one for my only grandbaby. (She's not quite a baby anymore, she's seven now but there is no sense rushing these things!!) She likes pink....duh. She does not take after me as she is a very girly girl. My thought is to make her a very traditional pattern - the fruit basket. And I'll make the base of the basket from a dark pink print, the handle from a lighter pink print, back the block in white and put the entire thing on point with pastel pink set in squares. The blocks will be 8 inches. I figure if I use a really traditional pattern, even though it's pink, she won't "outgrow" it as she matures. I'll pick some heavy quilting pattern for the set in squares, possibly something with feathers. I haven't really decided. Since those squares will be solid pastel pink, the quilting will really show up so I want something that is heavily quilted. I'll do a double border, one a very dark solid pink (or maybe the dark print from the base of the basket) and one the pastel pink of the set in squares.
At first I thought maybe I'd do all the pieced squares in different pinks but then I decided I'd do them all the same. Sometimes the simpler a quilt is, the more striking it is.
I've got all my measurements and requirements and my shopping list is all ready. Next week my daughter and her boyfriend are coming for a visit (first time to meet him) and when they leave I'll head to the big city to buy fabric.
I agonized and agonized over what pattern to choose. As you can see from my sampler, I had a ton to choose from. I actually have a book with 100 quilt blocks so the choice was very hard. But I wanted something very traditional. There were so many to choose from, it was a very difficult choice. Ultimately, I just picked the fruit basket because it is a very old pattern, fairly easy to piece, and looks wonderful. And really, she'll be happy with whatever I do, so it realy doesn't matter.