September was a month of travel … I left home on August 31; my itinerary included places, friends, family and the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild – Tidal Twining Retreat. September 26 and 6000+ miles later, I made it home to find Billy Owens and my husband grilling steaks. Billy taught for my guild the next […]
Weavin’ on Route 66, the 2018 Missouri Basketweavers Guild Convention, was a huge success. The event was held at the Route 66 Holiday Inn Southwest in St. Louis, Missouri August 2 – 5. Basketweavers filled the hotel with laughter, great conversation and, of course, beautiful baskets.I taught four basket classes, vended and exhibited, so it […]
These things make me smile… baskets and basket classes. I was able to spend much of the month weaving and have several new baskets to show for it. July looks like it will be full of proposal and pattern writing and kit preparation, but I promise to post pictures of my new baskets. But we […]
So Monday was Memorial Day and tomorrow is June 1st — It’s time to actually finish that post about my May classes!!! May started with some Minnesota gals coming down to take a class in my studio. They wanted to weave Zoe
What a wonderful time. First, a big thank you to Pam Feix and Debbie Cates and their host of volunteers. You put on a wonderful event! A great facility, well run, delicious food, and lots and lots of wonderful baskets and basket weavers. It is hard to explain how 400 people weaving, shopping and visiting […]
When I first started weaving someone told me that the length of the lasher needed to be two and a half times the circumference of the basket. So I would wrap the lasher around the basket two and a half times; if it was at least that long, I would start lashing. Unfortunately, I often […]
My March was filled with traveling and teaching basket classes- I put on over 3200 miles, traveled through nine states and taught 18 basket classes. It was busy. It was fun. I am tired. Since all of my miles brought me south of Wisconsin, I was hoping to experience spring. There were signs … wild […]
An Exercise in Creativity Last year, ten members of my local basket weaving guild participated in the Mystery Basket Project. It’s a great way to encourage creativity. We had several months to weave our project, and I am not exaggerating when I say I stared at the contents of my bag for months before I […]
I am glad so many of you enjoyed my thoughts on Creativity and Excellence. And now, as promised, here are some of the things you can do to encourage creativity. These are things I do – things I practise. It is not a list of rules, it is a decision to learn and to grow and […]
I have been thinking about this topic for a long time, years in fact. I believe that focusing on excellence, on developing and fine tuning our skills, encourages creativity. In my experience, a lifetime of making things, including twenty five years of basket weaving, I find the pursuit of excellence to be the key to […]
Well, October has come and gone. My month started with a trip west to see family. The Bighorns in Wyoming were snow covered, brilliant colored aspen and birch trees lined the valleys in Montana and the sugar beet harvest was in full swing in Alberta. I was thankful for clear roads and time with people […]
The Vanishing Art of Broom Making … Broomcorn, broomsticks, turkey wing whisk brooms, hearth brooms, kitchen brooms, angel whisk brooms, broomstick cake and more all in a new book by basket maker, gourd artist and broom maker Karen Hobbs. “Swept Away, the Vanishing Art of Broom Making” is scheduled to be released this December (2017).
Seven weeks ago, we decided that we needed to re-shingle the roof. No leaks, but it was just time. That decision started a discussion on the chimneys – which lead to the decision to remove the fireplace …which lead to deciding to remove the oak paneling … which lead to deciding to remove a brick […]
Now cutting and tucking may not be your favorite part of weaving a basket, but you really should put ‘Camp Tuck’ on your weaving event bucket list. Land of Lincoln Basketweavers Association (LLBWA) hosts ‘Camp Tuck’ each September in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois.
There are a couple of ways to weave a round base on a basket. Today, I am posting my tutorial on how to twine a perfectly round base with round reed on flat or flat oval spokes. I took lots of pictures and I am just going to start at the very beginning. I will post some pictures […]
I have spent most of the last several weeks in the studio, avoiding our wet, cool summer and the mosquito filled woods. It’s fine with me, the studio is my happy place. I have been weaving, writing proposals and patterns, filling kit orders, working on a tutorial, finishing baskets, playing with paper and dyeing reed. […]
Winona, Minnesota is located in eastern Minnesota, sandwiched between the Mississippi River and the river bluffs. It is a beautiful city. Weavin’ in Winona happens in a window lined conference room on the Winona State University Campus. A picturesque location and a great facility – and those are just the first impressions of a wonderful […]
The Bluegrass Area Basketmakers Seminar, or ‘basket camp’ as many of the attendees call it, took place last week at the Cumberland Leadership Center in Jabez, Kentucky. For six days the place bustled with people weaving baskets, visiting and sometimes just sitting out on the porch in the rockers. It really is a place where […]
We had such a wonderful time in Camden, Tennessee with the West Tennessee Basket Guild. We set up shop, they picked out kits and we were off –
Yep, still here. Four weeks ago we left to go on a family vacation, west to Montana and Alberta. It was a good trip …
I am just home from the west and another great event. Flying out I had a window seat and mostly clear skies… so beautiful. Penny picked me up at the airport in Oakland and we drove down the coast to Pacific Grove and
Last week I went north to teach at Weavin’ Up North in Bemidji, Minnesota. When I left home, my woods looked like this: a little green here and there. six hours later I reached Lake Superior – cold, gray and SNOWING! A few hours later I was in Bemidji. The clouds were clearing off when […]
After I unpacked and reorganized after Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat, I spent a few days putting my class materials for Weavin’ Up North together, shipped my materials for the Conference of Northern California Handweavers and then I wove! Ahhh, my hands were happy. I needed to weave up some class samples-
Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat 2017 – I’m home sorting through my carload of stuff and a camera full of pictures. For those of you who missed this event – I am sorry. Hopefully you can join us next year. For those of you who were able to attend – it was great fun wasn’t it!? […]
Yesterday, I was working on a set of baskets for my daughter. I love the base on these baskets and it got me to thinking about basket bases. So you know me, I got my camera and wondered around the studio taking pictures. I love the variety in basketry… This is the set I made […]
-the 2017 North Carolina Basketmakers Association Convention. Thanks to Katie Lake and all of her volunteers, we all had four wonderful days full of baskets, weaving and visiting. I was sad that the weather was NOT spring like, but it was wonderful to see old friends, meet a few new ones and see all […]
It is pretty amazing how much I can accomplish when I lock myself in the studio for two weeks. Kits packed and ready for the North Carolina Convention
This week I am in the dye room. Last week it was hard to stay inside and cut kits with temperatures in the 70s, so when it snowed over the weekend I thought I wouldn’t be tempted to head outside. However, this morning the snow was gone. It was tough – but I stuck to it […]
Home from another retreat -the Crossroads Weavers Guild’s 24th Annual Mid Winter Get Away in Okemos, Michigan. I was a little apprehensive about going through Chicago, under Lake Michigan and across Michigan in February – but the weather was amazing. With temperatures in the 60s, it was more like spring! And the event wonderful. Basket […]
Finally – home and time to finish this basket weaving tutorial for the Three Rod Arrow. The three rod arrow looks nice in one color or in three colors. If you want your arrows to stack like in the sample below (a bargello pattern), you will need a number of spokes that is divisible by […]
Baskets forever and ever… … the 2017 Georgia Basketry Association 2017 Convention took place in Marietta, Georgia. It was a great event – every where I looked people were having fun weaving and visiting with old and new friends. I taught three classes: Flight
aren’t what you plan … I got home from the Texas Basket Weavers Association convention late on January 23rd. It was a great event, but that’s a lot of miles and I was hoping for a quiet eight days at home before heading out again. No such luck. It wasn’t a bad week – just a little […]
I am home and sorta unpacked – the Texas Basket Weavers Association 2017 conference has come and gone. It was a great event a great line up of teachers and a wonderful group of students! As well as, wonderful baskets, both being woven and exhibited. I was honored to have won first place in the professional […]
I’ve spent the last couple of months weaving and writing and preparing class kits:
Here goes my ABC of baskets – how many have you made? A is for Arrows B is for Braid Obsession C is for Carats
Weavin’ in Winona with Deb Mather Crafting was part of life for Deb Mather, who grew up on a farm in northern Illinois, so when her sister invited her to join her at a basket class in 1992, she said yes. After work Deb drove to Morrison, Illinois, a one and a half hour drive […]
Along the same vein as last week, being the child of Dutch immigrant’s meant that New Years the house was full of relatives and we made Oliebollen. Translated that means Oil Ball. I know I know, it doesn’t sound very tasty, but trust me they are. An Oliebollen is basically a donut with fruit in […]
Being the child of immigrants from the Netherlands – almond is one of the flavors that remind me of childhood and Christmas – I have several favorite almond cookies and pastry recipes – some of them take hours to prepare and I didn’t think you would want to spend that much time in the kitchen […]
It’s the Christmas Season – so our guild just had it’s annual Christmas party. In addition to delicious food and planning our 2017 calendar, we also returned our traveling baskets to their owners. We always have so much fun with this project. Curious? Check out my post from last year about how the Traveling Basket […]
Today I am going to talk about one of our favorite tools and using them effectively. Clips. When I tell students to get out their clips, some pull out their old faithful wooden clothes pins and others pull out a wide array of clips and ask which ones are best. 🙂 Like many of you, […]
We all have our favorite Thanksgiving recipes – here’s one of ours: Cranberry Orange Relish 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved 1 tablespoon grated orange peel 1 orange, peeled, sliced and quartered 1/2 cup raisins 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1 1/4 cups sugar
When I spend most of my time in the studio, ignoring my computer, blogging becomes a reflection of that. Not always exciting, but it is my life. So here’s what I’ve been doing: Tiny Stuff We had our first real frost over the weekend and the air finally has a hint of winter in it. […]
Coming home from the Association of Michigan Basketmakers Convention marked the end of my 2016 travels. I am home for a few months – it really is a wonderful thought! I have so many pictures in my head to weave! Unfortunately, I started my season of home with a severe case of laryngitis – imagine […]
I just got home from the Association of Michigan Basketmakers Annual Conference in Lansing, Michigan. This year’s event, A Weaver’s Wonderland, was inspired by Alice in Wonderland – complete with a mad tea party! I taught five classes, had great students and found time to enjoy the exhibit hall, luncheons, vendors and friends. Last week […]
This is my last week of teaching away from home for the year. I have traveled across the country – north to south and east to west! I have enjoyed attending so many basket events and guild meetings, and I really loved seeing so many of you! But it will be good to spend a couple of months at home – […]
I got home last night from teaching at two great guilds, the Central Pennsylvania Basketry Guild and Deer Creek Basket Guild in Maryland. We all had a great time! First stop was Central Pennsylvania – where I taught four different baskets.
Today I am releasing my new basket pattern, Twines and Braids. This little basket is a technique basket, it has a fun beaded rim and it’s great for practicing the step up, (you will find my tutorial for step ups here) but the main point of this little basket is learning how to weave a four strand […]
And I am home from another great basket retreat … the Wolf River Basketry Guild hosted their annual Fall Retreat in Shawano, Wisconsin.
I just got home from my trip to the Northwest and the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild’s Fall Retreat. The event took place at Rockaway Beach, Oregon
I haven’t been home much … it’s September so far I’ve driven over 4000 miles.
Last week, after I posted and got unpacked from teaching at the Heritage Weavers Fall Event, I realized I hadn’t released the pattern for Painted Paper Trays. Typically, after I begin teaching a new basket I release the pattern. This time I am a week late, but here it is, the pattern for the Painted […]
The Heritage Weavers Fall Event takes place in Dayton, Ohio. This annual event started years ago as Mid Summer Weave; over the years, things changed and it moved to September and became a fall event. This year, the event moved to a brand new location, the Bergamo Center, and to the last weekend of August […]
When you are twining the base of your basket, corners can be a little tricky. Sometimes the weaver lays perfectly and sometimes it sneaks under the stake, defeating the purpose of locking the base. Here’s how to have nice squared corners every time you twine a base. We’ll start at the beginning…
Yup, I’m a little surprised myself! This is my 52nd post! About eighteen months ago, I started thinking about writing a basket blog. So I started researching and asking questions. Of course that just raised more questions, but I was getting more and more interested. So I made a list of what would need to […]
August 4-7, 2016 the Missouri Basketweavers Guild hosted their 25th convention, Weave the World, in St Louis, Missouri. Co-chairs Leanne Nielsen and Edeltraud Romvai had all kinds of fun planned for the weekend, from the teacher and vendor reception featuring an international smorgasbord to passports and basket bingo.
The step up is a round reed technique used when you come to the end of a twined row. It is most often used when triple twining (three-rod wale), but it can be utilized with any type of twining: regular (with two weavers), triple twining (with three weavers), four-rod wale (with four weavers) and even […]
In the Studio Usually July in Wisconsin is hot and muggy, so I spend my days in the studio. I like working in the studio and I have accomplished a lot. Pounds and pounds of cane and reed have been dyed beautiful colors. I even have it bundled and ready for basket kits! I love the […]
Jabez, Kentucky – I heard a local describe it as ‘five miles past no where”. It may be that, but it is also a destination for over 100 basket weavers each June. Many attendees call it ‘basket camp’; we eat, weave and sleep – it’s pretty wonderful. I taught four classes, enjoyed seeing lots of […]
I just got home from ‘Celebrating 25 years of Weaving Friendships’ at the Stowe Basketry Festival. It was wonderful and worth every mile! Thank you Merry Vigneau, the staff at the Round Hearth, and all of you who came to teach classes or to take them. I’ll keep the words to a minimum and share a ‘few’ […]
This post will wrap up my Dyeing Reed 101 series… Today I am writing about the three types of dyes that work on reed and wood: direct, reactive and natural. Part I and II provided background for dyeing. If you haven’t read them you may find it helpful to start there. Dyeing Reed -Part I and Dyeing Reed Part II
Okay, here is Part II of Dyeing Reed 101. I was going to wrap Dyeing Reed 101 up with this post, however, Part II, grew to way over a thousand words – – – now there is also a Part III! And things change – while I was writing about types of dyes I realized that I should […]
I don’t claim to be an expert on dyeing, however over the years I have dyed a lot of stuff (basket related and not), I have used a lot of different dyes – natural, all purpose, direct and reactive, I have dyed natural (protein and cellulose) materials and synthetics, trial and error (failure and success) […]
Clean! Yes, that is just a picture of the floor. The floor in my studio. Please note that it is clean. It is reed free. I even dusted! I actually just stood here and took it all in – it looks kind of impressive. This week our children come home and this will become living space – […]
When I started weaving someone told me about using tea to stain baskets. It is still one of my favorite ways to finish basket, I love the rich color and I like the smell of the tea brewing. I especially like that this is a non-toxic way to finish a basket. There are a couple […]
A very long time ago, I said I was going to do a series of posts on weaving basket bases. Well, I get distracted – there are so many basket related topics to write about, my list just gets longer and longer! The good news is a few weeks ago, I wove this base and […]
Each April, Pam Feix, Debbie Cates and the Whitewater Basket Guild in Richmond, Indiana host a spectacular three day basket weaving event, Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat. Four hundred people (basket weavers, basket teachers and vendors) gather together to weave baskets, learn new weaving techniques, stock up on basket kits and supplies, enjoy each others company, […]
This week I will be teaching one of my new basket patterns, Recursion, at Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat in Richmond, Indiana for the first time. So I am releasing the pattern! Recursion is a set of 5 or 7 nesting baskets, made with 1/8″ or 1/4″ strips of painted paper. These bias weave baskets range […]
Dianne Gleixner works out of her studio in Brookfield, Wisconsin. She has regularly scheduled basket classes at her studio and she also teaches at basket guilds and basket weaving events around the country. A few weeks ago Dianne Gleixner came to teach our basket guild.
I use the braid weave in several of my patterns: Braid Obsession, Braided Miniatures, Wisconsin Wine Basket and Whispers. The three strand braid weave is one of my favorite basket weaving techniques to teach. In my recent Whispers classes, I have been asked to post a tutorial on the braid weave – so here it is. When I […]
Thank you to Cathy and all the volunteers who made the Dream Weavers Convention such a success! So good to see old friends, make a few new ones and watch so many amazing basket classes in action. Thank you to each one of you who took a class with me or stopped by my table at […]
Little by little I am fine tuning my website. This week I added a resource page to my website. It includes an index to my tutorials and a list of basket materials suppliers.
The Woven Together in Western Kentucky 2016 Basket Retreat was held last week. The three day event was held at Rough River Falls State Park and Resort, Kentucky, we wove in the lodge over looking the lake. Beautiful! I brought my camera and took lots of pictures of my basket classes and the event, so today I’ll give […]
This week I will be teaching at Woven Together in Western Kentucky Retreat. It is a great basket weaving retreat in a beautiful location. I will also be teaching two of my newest baskets, Whispers and Wrapped Up; which means I am also releasing the patterns. Whispers
Today I am posting a tutorial on another way to double lash your basket. Last month, I posted ‘Lashing a Basket with Waxed Linen‘ and, in that post, I showed how to lash with waxed linen and how to do a V lash. This tutorial will show you how to lash a basket going around the […]
Shaping starts with the base so today, I thought I would share not only how to square the base of a basket, but also why it is important to square the base. First, what does it mean to square the base of a basket? Squaring a base really means making sure that the corners are ‘square’, or […]
warning – this post will be as scattered and messy as my studio My studio is a mess, this is what awaited me this morning…and that’s just one corner. This will be another week of cutting and counting and bundling and packing basket kits – three thousand or so stakes, pounds and pounds of round reed, and thousands of yards […]
at the 2016 Texas Basket Weavers Association Conference Twelve basket teachers and over a hundred basket weavers attended the event – with four days of basket weaving classes several hundred baskets were woven, displayed and enjoyed. The DoubleTree by Hilton Dallas Near the Galleria provided a great space to for basket weavers to gather
I lash a lot of baskets with waxed linen; I weave tight, I weave small, I weave with stakes close together – waxed linen works for me. And I like the way it looks. Lashing a basket with waxed linen is much like lashing with a length of reed, but there are some key differences. […]
I am so excited that Angie Longenecker Wagner from The Country Seat, Inc. agreed to let me interview her. This family business in Kempton, Pennsylvania was established in 1975 by Angie’s mother, Donna Longenecker, as a seat weaving company. It quickly became a supply store for seat weavers and basket weavers.
Recently I interviewed Angie Wagner from The Country Seat, Inc. and I asked her to share a favorite basket story. I had intended to include it in the interview, but it is so sweet and so fitting for this season of gift giving I have decided to post it today – on its own and exactly […]
Today was a good day to do a little website upkeep. I added items to my gallery (see below) and I added a few miniature basket kits to my store. Shipping is a flat rate of $5, however if you buy 3 or more kits, shipping is free. You can check it out here. All […]
I love hearing about what basket guilds are doing around the country. I often ask my students what their guild is weaving and how they are encouraging creativity. It’s always interesting, basket weavers are so creative! Years ago I heard about the traveling basket project, it sounded like so much fun I asked my local […]
Here it is the first week of December with a dusting of snow on the ground … a good time to talk about Christmas baskets and ornaments. I’ll share my favorites and you share yours. All I need is the name of the basket or ornament and the designer; however if you have a picture and a link would […]
Another way to weaving a locking row I have two favorite locking rows: the sanity row and the locked locking row. You can read about the sanity row and other ways to lock your base here. Today we’ll focus on what I call the ‘locked locking row‘- which is a locked four rod or three rod […]
While weaving a locking row around the base of your basket is not always necessary, sometimes it is an important part of shaping or maintaining the shape of the base and sometimes this single row adds strength to the basket. You can weave a locking row with flat material or round material.
Asher. Asher is six and would probably tell you what he loves most is to play Minecraft. But his Oma (me), doesn’t play Minecraft so this month we wove a basket together. It was lots of fun for both of us. His mom said I could share a few pictures with you.
Weaving at Sea … It all started when one of Sandy Bulgrin’s basket weaving students told her she had signed up to go on a knitting cruise. Sandy responded “But – Lucille, you don’t knit?” “I know … why isn’t there a basket weaving cruise?”
Preparing Your Rims Scarfing or shaving down your rim pieces will give a polished look to your basket. The goal of scarfing is to make the section where the two ends overlap the thickness of a single piece. When done well, it is difficult to find the join.
I’m packing for next week’s Association of Michigan Basketmaker’s annual convention. It feels like I just unpacked – last week I was in Minnesota. Packing
Every weaver who dyes their own reed has their own method; there really are many ways to dye reed. Some ways, of course, are more effective and produce better color and colorfastness. Last time I wrote about dyeing reed, I just talked about the product I use most often, Rit dye. Today I am going to cover
I am filling up my 2016 schedule – just updated my teaching schedule with two more events: Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat and Stowe Basketry Festival.
Actually Dijon Mustard and Dark Brown. Today I am dyeing reed, earthy colors for my basket “Montana“, which I am teaching in October at the Association of Michigan Basket Weavers 2015 convention “Autumn Weavings”.
Today I am working in the studio. It sounds glamorous – it’s not. First, I am sorting and making sure my recently dyed reed is dry. Then I can bundle it – which means I get to count to 50 or 64 or 72 over and over and over. One would think that practice makes perfect […]
Sometimes when I am trying to spark an idea, I just start weaving bases. Sometimes that sparks lots of ideas, sometimes just one idea, and sometimes just lots of bases on my weaving table! While I was weaving bases today I thought you all might like to talk about them.
I am working on a calendar of basket events.
