functional | Night Quilter

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The 1 Hour Basket. I’m sure you’ve seen it, especially if you are on Instagram. It’s a fairly new, free pattern by Kelly at Kelby Sews, and it is all. the. rage. Currently there are 1,189 posts with the tag #hourbasket on Instagram, and some of those tags include photos of a ROOM full of 1 hour baskets. It’s an (awesome) epidemic.

I’ve been wanting to make one to see what all the fuss is about, and today I had the pleasure of attending a free 1 Hour Basket class at Alewives Fabrics in Nobleboro, Maine. I did it! I made my very first (and not my last) 1 hour basket. Granted, with all the chatting I did with Sarah from Berry Barn Designs, paired with the 1.5 hour drive each way, my basket took me 6 hours to complete, without even counting the bit of preparatory flying geese sewing I did before class. But honestly, it was worth every minute.

When Rhea from Alewives posted on Instagram about the free 1 Hour Basket class she was offering, Sarah suggested we meet there since we have been blogging buddies since the new bloggers blog hop about a year ago (has it been that long?), but have never met in person. With only a few weeks to go until baby time, it was the perfect mommy get away day! I’m so grateful she thought of the idea to meet up, since it was just the nudge I needed to commit to going.

Rhea and Shelby at Alewives had us making a slightly modified basket, with added outer pockets and a different handle option. There is something about being in a room full of happily sewing people that just makes a day sunnier.

sarah from berry barn designs — It was fabulous to meet Sarah from Berry Barn Designs and get to sew together!

I got to sit next to Sarah during the class, and we had a great time chatting and sewing and chatting and sewing. Sarah was super ambitious and made TWO baskets, which worked out wonderfully since I was moving at a snail’s pace. That’s one challenge to being hard of hearing and attending a sewing class. I can only hear if I look at the speaker, but I can only sew if I look at my sewing! I think I found a good balance, and we definitely had a blast.

This basket will be an “extra” for my Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap partner, since that was the initial intention and no matter how much I love it, I feel like giving it away is the way to go. Plus, I can always make more! As Rhea warned in the beginning of class, this basket is addicting. I think she’s right, since I’m already plotting my next one (or ten).