"Weaving Your Cares Behind" Weekend

I spent this weekend in Bedford, PA attending the Basketweavers Guild of Bedford County 7th Annual Retreat.  I took 2 classes taught by Dianne Gleixner from Brookville, WI.  www.diannegleixnerbaskets.com    It was a fun weekend of basket making,







The first basket I made was a colorful cathead basket.  The spokes and weavers are space dyed with two shades of rust.  This method of dying the reed give a variegated appearance to the basket.  This basket features 2 bands of triple twining outlining a contrasting band along the top edge.



 

 
The second basket I made featured smoked reed,  a wooden base and a swing handle.  A bottom band of triple twining  and a continuous weave to create a spiral design on the basket sides.  The basket was completed with a decorative round reed overlay.

 

 



Hen Baskets

I wove a series of Hen Baskets varying the size and color combinations to make each distinctive.

 This set uses brown and cream reed. The side opens are 8" in diameter.  One hen basket  is primarily brown with cream highlights, while the other hen basket is the reverse.  It is cream with a band of brown.



 

 

The second set of hen baskets are smaller, with only a 6" diameter opening.  They don't have as wide a pocket.  One is cream only and the second is multicolor with a band of cream reed.

 

 

 

Cat Head Basket

West Virginia basketmaker Gail Hutchinson instructed a class at the 2013 Weaving Odyssey in Gettysburg, PA sharing her expertise with twills and hand shaping. During her class I made a cat head basket that included a three rod wale with a step-up, a 1-2 twill, and hills and valleys of  increasing and decreasing color reed. The rim is finished with waxed linen.













Forming base of cat head










My second basket began with a small cat head base.  The sides were then woven straight up to make a tall thin basket.

Weaving in Gettysburg

I spent the weekend weaving in Gettysburg.  The Central Pennsylvania Basket Weaver's Guild hosted the 2013 Weaving Odyssey featuring workshops taught by gifted weavers and teachers from throughout the United States .  Classes were offered from Thursday evening through Sunday morning.






 The first workshop I took was taught by Marla Helton, a mixed media weaver from Indiana.  Beginning with palm inflorescence as spokes  I wove a tapestry of mixed fibers and textures.  The weaving was attached to a table top frame.  One weaving has a purple color scheme and the second weaving has a blue and yellow color scheme.

Christmas in July

 
Even though the holidays are month away I made some early Christmas decorations.  Using cream and colored flat reed I wove a tapered round basket to be inverted as a bell shape. 











I added a jingle bell, ribbon hanger and a bow to complete the the look.  The reed bell is ready to be hung.

Hand Felted Ring on a Gourd

I spent the past week participating in activities at Common Ground on the Hill at McDaniel College.  One class I took was Exploring Wet and Dry Felting using  Navajo-Churro wool.  Instructor Roy Kady is a master craftsman and shepherd from the Navajo Nation reservation and he shared his knowledge of his culture and his craft throughout the class.

The first project was to create a wet felted ring.  Once the ring was dry I attached it to the top of a painted gourd using wax linen cord.  I added beads around the top as well.

First Friday's at Eclecticity

During the month of July my baskets will be featured  in the Wickes Reading Room at Eclecticity along with my friend Leah Spencer's mixed media paintings on wood.  The opening for the month long exhibit is this Friday, July 5th from 5pm until 7pm.  The gallery is located at 13 Johns Street in downtown Westminster.





 Hope to see you on Friday evening. If not, stop by Electicity sometime this month.  Contact Eclecticity  at 240-409-4863 for more details.