Guilders Weave 2023

 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!

January Guild Weave

The Central Pennsylvania Basket Weavers Guild held their first gathering of 2023.    

Guild member Joanne Sheriff led the group as we wove a wine tote complete with a wooden saddle for wine glasses.  

After the basket was woven, an overlay design was added.  I choose to use a purple and teal blue to highlight the basket. 

In addition to weaving a basket, members participated in a gift swap, several drawings and lunch provided by the guild.  A member's name was drawn for a $25 supply gift certificate.  The 2022 UFO challenge concluded with a drawing for the years "kitty".      It was a fun day for everyone who attended.  

For more information about the basket guild check out their website - https://centralpabasketguild.com

 

Melon Basket

For my last basket of 2022, I wove a mixed media melon basket.   I made a form of grapevine.  I used round reed for spokes and wove with colored reed, seagrass and wool.  As an accent, I made wooly pinecones and attached them to one side of the handle.  

I think it has a woodsy, wintery look.

I am looking forward to making many more basket is 2023. 

 

    Best Wishes in the New Year!

                     

 Happy Weaving to each of you.

                Sharon 

                        

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

May your future be merry and bright 

and full of weaving opportunities.

Sharon

 

Gallery of Gifts 2023

 

 

Once again, I will be participating in the Gallery of Gifts holiday Marketplace at the Carroll Arts Center.

This year my display features baskets made with the cathead base.  A "cathead" basket has four pointed feet on which it sits.  When held upside down, the feet give the impression of cat ears.   This design was first made by the Shakers who used molds to shape the basket.   I weave a traditional cathead base without the use of a mold to create baskets, containers and sculptural vessels.  

Here are just a few of my baskets for sale at the gallery.  

Fall Harvest of Quilts - 2022

 

I'm trying something new this weekend.  I will be vending my baskets at a quilt show this Friday through Sunday.  It is held at the Pleasant Valley Fire Company from 10am until 5pm (3pm on Sunday).  There will be a silent auction, raffles, vendors, boutique, members tables and refreshments.  The admission is $10.

I will be featuring some of my larger baskets suitable for holding finished quilts or quilting supplies.  Stop by and check it out.  

Paper Weaving

I spent an enjoyable day with Annetta Kraayeveld as she led a class in diagonal twill basics at the CPBWG Weaving Odyssey 2022.  I wove two baskets simultaneously, reinforcing skills used in basket 1 as basket 2 was woven. 

Using prepared painted watercolor strips of paper, I wove a square base.  The corners of the vessels are created between the center stakes of each side. The stakes become the weavers after the corners are created. After weaving and packing all the rows the rim was tucked in.  An outside and inside rim of paper covered the top 2 rows of weaving.  The rim was lashed with waxed linen. 

                                      To learn more visit www.prairiewoodbasketry.com