Cocoa Baskets Progress

What bliss to spend a weekend piecing blocks on this old UFO, Cocoa Baskets.  Saturday afternoon I came home from watching grandson Hunter and got the few needed basket blocks fused to the backgrounds and blanket stitched, and cut out the remaining Churn Dash blocks.  That left the 9 patches to pull together this morning before layout. 

After I took this photo above I realized I had yet to trim the basket blocks down to size.  A rotating cutting mat is indispensable for this task, so glad I bought one a few years ago with a 50% off coupon. There are four partial 9 patch blocks yet to assemble.  I wanted to wait to choose their colors once the vertical rows were decided upon. 

There will be sashing between the vertical rows, so this is not a final top size,  but I ran into a snag almost immediately.  Can you see the wart in this layout?  Sticking out by a mile is that low volume 9 patch which I pieced so long ago.  It had to go. There was a bit of switcheroo of other blocks for some balance. 

The wart removed and replaced, the blocks were stacked and labeled for assembly.  I'll add the partial blocks later.  I'm liking this a lot and can't wait to get the rows together.  Then there will be a decision about sashing.  The original pattern used a fabric that was solid with a star print fussy cut for the sashing.  I'm leaning toward using a solid or a "printed plain" with just a bit of texture.  I do think it needs to be a color and not a neutral.  It will be another puzzle to play with but I'm leaning towards a deep green. I have a stripe to make a bias binding from, which I think will look great.

Tonight while Grant was cooking dinner, I brought out my patriotic quilts and decor and the house is ready for festivities for the Fourth.  We'll likely go to my parents' house as usual and enjoy the fireworks show for free from the backyard while visiting with family and friends.  I can hear fireworks going off in the neighborhood as I type this. Have a happy and safe Fourth, those who celebrate!  I'll be playing with this little flag from leftover HSTs I stitched last year.  Another UFO that needs a finish!