Basket weavers converged on Newport News, VA. over the weekend for Guilders Weave 2023 hosted by the Tidewater Basketry Guild. After a 2-year hiatus participants were ready to gather, weave and have fun. Everyone did just that!
I wove a birch bark bird on Thursday evening under the direction of Carolyn Kemp. She brought prepared birch bark strips for us to cut and weave. Instead of using water, the birch was rubbed with vegetable oil to keep it pliable.
Jane Mc Call Brinkman taught a class on Friday using a plastic sand pail as the mold. It included swing handle and a hardwood strip of walnut for an accent row.
Kathy Petronzio's Saturday class was a Nantucket style basket. It included a band defined by a waxed linen arrow row and embellished with seed beads sewn on at the completion of the basket. Attaching the beads took longer than weaving the basket!
My final class for the weekend was with Rose Glen. I covered a gourd with alcohol dyes and then coiled a random weave of mixed fibers and wood around the top. It was a fun way to end the weekend.
I also had time to weave around a Oui jar with a wooden lid given to attendees in our "goodie" bag at check-in. During Friday night's marketplace, I bought Anne Bowers' Lightening Biscuit Basket kit. I finished it as well!