woven berry basket block

Woven Berry Basket, is an improvisational block based on the traditional basket weave design. It uses a free form cutting technique (cutting without a ruler).

The goal of this tutorial is to introduce you to this technique. There are two main principles that I use in improv piecing:

if it is too short, add on
if it is too long, cut it off

Your block will not be exactly like mine, but I will describe aprocess that you can use to make one that is similar in design.

Tips for improv piecing:

A rotary cutter with a 60mm blade is my preference for free form cutting
Set the stitch length on your machine a little shorter than usual

Cut 4 strips 5 in x 18 in (approx) Here’s your first chance to cut without the ruler!

berry basket weave tutorial, marla varner, pennylanequilts — free hand cut the equivalent of 4 strips approx 5 x 18 (notice the cut is straight-ish)

2. Free hand cross cut strips that vary from about 1 in – 2 .25 in width from each strip

basket weave tutorial, marla varner, pennylanequilts — I like to cut each strip individually, some are slightly angled, but most are straightish

3. Stitch 9 pairs of strips together, varying the colors and widths.

4. Press seams to the darker fabric

5. Add a third strip to each set, again varying the color placement and width of strips.

6. Lay out the 9 units in an alternating vertical, horizontal pattern.

woven berry basket, marla varner, pennylanequilts — To end up with a 12.5 unfinished block, we will aim to have each unit be at least 4.5 in on each side before assembling. (I trimmed the ends to even up the units.)

*At this point, you will need to start making decisions based on how your units are sized. I will attempt to describe how I solved the puzzle.

For the first row, I decided to cut the bottom off the middle unit, and add a strip to the third unit.

row 1 piecing — If it’s too long, cut it off and if it’s too short, add on!

I followed the same procedure for the second row:

second row assembly — a strip added to the middle unit

But when the units were assembled, the second row was shorter than the first, and I was aiming to have each row approx 13 in wide so that I would be able to trim it down to 12.5 in. What to do? Add on!

To assemble the rows, I trimmed the top edge of the second row, then overlapped it onto the bottom of the first row (right sides facing up). Using that cut edge as my guide, I trimmed the bottom of the top row to match.

assemble rows — *use the ruler to stabilize the edge, but do not use it as a cutting edge

Follow the above procedures to assemble the third row and attach.

Can you see how I am cutting along the edge of the row, not along the ruler edge?

If your block is big enough, just trim to 12.5 in square and your block is complete. If it is too small, improvise! You might add some strips to form a frame, and then trim.

trim block to 12.5 in — Success! Trim to 12.5 inches and you’re finished.

Here is my finished block:The thing I like best about improvisational work is that you are engaged making design decisions throughout the process. *Warning: this may be addictive! As I work, I find myself asking lots of “What if?” questions: