Basket Weaving – Page 3 – Blue Mountain Baskets

Category: Basket Weaving (page 3 of 9)

Week 4: Baskets with Wood Bases

2019-01-27 / Andrea / 0 Comments

There is a round basket in Jon Ridgeon’s book, Willow Craft: 10 Simple Projects, that inspired me to try different shapes too. To keep with the theme of Clarksburg has h’ART, I made a heart-shaped basket using the same technique. Notice the lovely red contrasting dogwood woven in with the willow. These baskets turned out somewhat rustic as I only had dogwood stakes with me at my parents’ when I wove these. Because you start with a wood base instead of weaving one, this is a great way to introduce basket weaving in just a couple of hours, so I am teaching this project in the morning workshop on February 9.

1. Start with wood base.

2. Poke stakes through holes.

3. Lock in butts of stakes.

4. Secure stakes with waling.

5. Weave sides. Add waling on top.

6. Create border with stakes. Clip ends.

A guild north of Toronto?

2019-01-01 / Andrea / 0 Comments

17th Century copper etching by Jan Joris van Bliet, Korbmacher, Kunstmuseum Hamburg

I would love to participate in the Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild but sadly it is a four-hour drive from home. I am keen to meet and gather with basketmakers and willow crafters anywhere from the Bruce Peninsula to Penetanguishene. How about a future South Georgian Bay Basketry Guild?

We could also meet in the Newmarket area as I visit my parents and daughter there every week. I love meeting others from all over when I attend workshops and would enjoy informal gatherings too. Whether you are new to basketry or a seasoned expert, let’s connect if you like the idea of company when weaving and live somewhere above the GTA!

Week 52: Double-decker kitty condo

2018-12-31 / Andrea / 0 Comments

Grand finale of 2018…

Organically shaped 2-level cat basket out of Willow, Dogwood and wild vine.

During the Christmas break week I returned to a long-delayed peaceful mindful pause for busyness…13.5 hours of creativity over several days the basket shape grew organically. I started with some old willow I had forgotten under the snow, added Dogwood I had cut and left outside for 6 weeks, added wild vine so the cats could be entertained with the curly cues, and finally had to use some good Willow because the creation was becoming so big!

Click here to view a 360 degree video of the basket.

Toulouse on the ground floor of the kitty condo.

Toulouse peeks out one of the windows.

Week 51: A pair of smaller Willow baskets

2018-12-24 / Andrea / 0 Comments

This was a commission project for baskets to hold jam jars and goodies for Christmas presents.

Week 50: Inventing Willow Gnomes

2018-12-16 / Andrea / 0 Comments

Knowing an artist friend chuckles at cute woodland creatures like the reindeer, I got inspired to create these little gnomes when she asked for companions for her reindeer.

I had so much fun that I made a pair for my mom too. She is the source of my love for little magical creatures of nature who lived in many of our German story books when I was growing up.

I started with the hat as an upside-down tree and then changed the colour of the willow for a face. A butt end of a weaver gets snipped as a nose.

The arms are a stick that gets wrapped into the weave. The legs are the ends of the original stakes.

The beard is a tuft of wool pinned with red-topped pin as a mouth and the eyes are pin heads easily stuck through the willow and snipped off at the back. The lady gnome’s hair is a clump of the Willow inner bark scraped off the pieces I used for her face.