Taking a Look at Little Plaid Baskets with Zinnias

I laid out these basket blocks to see how they look, just to refresh my memory.  Where was I going with these?  What did I have in mind?  I know they'll need to be rearranged....

My notes are pretty sketchy.  I remember I was originally going to have them around the sides and bottom of the quilt with some other blocks in the center, then decided on just baskets.  Did I have a different configuration in mind than this, because there's one more basket that didn't fit this layout?  Was I going to stagger them?  I can't think how or why I would have thought that might work.  (Reminder to self:  keep better notes!)

The baskets will finish at 10" x 12".  As they are now, the layout would measure 40" x 60" but with sashing and a border the measurements will increase.

I wonder if these baskets will drive someone nuts. There are at least three or four different basket shapes and the plaids are cut in several different directions:  on the diagonal and on the straight grain with some plaids horizontal and some vertical.

My thought at this point is that these baskets need some space between them.  Shall I sew two 1" borders around each using different fabrics, or the same fabrics/color, or....?   I remember my Cheri Payne Baskets of Plenty (here and here) around which I sewed the same fabric.  The result was a very static quilt which I thought looked awful.  (I still have those borders to unstitch.)  Anyway, I was thinking perhaps dark greens, different shades of browns, greys, maybe reds, maybe even blacks around these baskets.  Maybe.

This is the basket I'm currently stitching.  The colors in the photo are a little brighter than in the actual block.

When it's finished, there will be one more basket to applique and flowers to choose and stitch for two baskets.  This is has been a slow quilt to stitch.  I began collecting photos of zinnias in September, 2021, so it's been 3½ years!  I guess I've had some quilts in progress longer than that, though. 

There's no great hurry to decide because I have more applique to do for these, but I think it's good to start thinking in advance.

On a health note.
I've had one, long, ongoing headache since the middle of November when I first had vertigo.  The vertigo is still gone, but the headache persists, with varying intensity.  I went to a neurologist on Friday who diagnosed the headache as New Daily Persistent Headache.  What a name!  He thought that when they put tubes down my throat for surgery in October they may have hit a nerve or two.  He offered two options for treatment, either of which he said should break the cycle:  an oral, 2-week round of the steroid prednisone or an injection on either side of the base of my skull.  Ouch!  I chose the oral route, but there hasn't been much change yet.  He said it may take a week or so.  I hope it works because I'm mightily tired of having a constant headache.

I hope you're healthy and happy and doing well!

--Nancy.