Craft a Quilt-Lined Miniature Laundry Basket

I was going through the stash of items I use to display my crafts at craft sales and a local store, when I noticed a large stack of miniature wicker laundry baskets. I had used them in the past to display bowl fillers, Christmas ornaments and other small craft sale items. A new thought had me using them as an actual craft.

I have always liked the shape and quaint country look of this style basket and the miniature size would be perfect for use in many rooms of any home. They didn't seem quite cozy enough, though. That is where my creative idea took over. I had recently accumulated some great old vintage quilts at a yard sale for a really great price. The quilts had damage issues, so I had no qualms about treating them as cutter quilts. I knew these baskets would look adorable lined with pieces of these old quilts. Better yet, the idea requires no sewing and when I created my first quilt lined basket, I was finished in less than an hour.

This project uses a lot of hot glue, so to save your fingers, keep a bowl of ice cold water near by to submerge your hands in if you are attacked by the glue. I know this works, but I thought of it too late with this project and now my fingers are covered in bandages. Maybe putting it before the instructions will give you a heads up.

Step 1
Cut a strip from an old vintage cutter quilt 14 inches wide by 52 inches long. The length will give you plenty to fit around the inside of the basket and the 14 inches will overlap the inside bottom of the basket, go up the sides and create a cuff over the edge of the rim.

The top rim of my basket is 12 inches wide by 16 inches long and it measures 7 inches tall. If your basket is not the same size as the one I used, measure around the rim of your basket and add approximately 5 inches for the length and measure from the inside bottom edge of the sides, up to the rim and add 7 inches for the cuff and bottom overlap.

Step 2
Place a piece of copy paper or newspaper in the bottom of your basket and use your fingers to press a crease where the sides of the basket meet the bottom. This will mold the shape to create the pattern for the bottom of the basket. Cut out the shape along the crease. Pin the pattern to your quilt fabric and cut it out. Do not worry if your shape is not a perfect oval, it will look fine when it is applied to the basket.

Step 3
Form the length of the quilt strip to the inside sides of the basket, allowing the top long edge to drape over the sides of the basket. Overlap the short ends of the quilt strip. Scrunch the bottom long edge of the strip around the inside base of the basket. Overlap the edge about 2 inches onto the base. Adjust the overhang of the quilt so that the folds are equally spaced around the rim.

Step 4
Lift the scrunched bottom edges on the base, a few inches at a time and apply hot glue. Press the edges to the base to secure.

Step 5
Place the cut quilt base in the bottom of the basket, covering the edges of the quilt sides. Lift the edges of the quilt base a little bit at a time and apply hot glue. Press down the base to secure.

Step 6
Cut a 2-inch wide by 2-yard length of coordinating fabric or a 2-yard length of 2-inch wide ribbon.

Step 7
Starting at the overlap of the quilt overhang, cut two small slits an inch apart and halfway between the rim and the bottom edge of the overhang. Cut the slits through both layers of the overlap.

Step 8
Note: Even though there is two slits in the top overlap and two in the bottom, treat each shared slit as one. Insert one end of the fabric strip through one cut slit, from the right side to the wrong side. Pull half the length of the strip through the slit. Insert the same end in the other slit from the wrong side to the right side.

Step 9
Continue to cut pairs of slits around the cuff of the basket. Do not cut a pair on the basket side opposite the first pair cut, but mark with a pin. Cut one pair on each end of the basket. Cut one pair between each of the pairs made and the marked pin, for a total of seven pairs of slits. Weave each end of the cut fabric strip through the slits, ending at the marked pin. Remove the pin. Gently pull the strip to cinch the cuff. Tie the ends into a bow and trim to your desired length.