Blue Mountain Baskets

Basketmaking & Growing Willow in the Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada

Category: 2018 Basket of the Week (page 2 of 6)

Week 44: First reed basket

The local museum curator found me some rolls of reed at a nearby Value Village, so this is my first attempt using them.  I do prefer willow & dogwood to this floppy type of material but it is nice that you can dye it and it needs only 20 minutes of soaking to be ready to use. My mom & I dyed it with some leftover fabric dyes she had because my goal was to create a teaching aid.  For my upcoming workshop, I would like to show participants the different types of weaving patterns that are possible.


  1. Double row of 3-rod waling in 3 colours
  2. Japanese weaving in just green single reeds
  3. French randing in 3 colours (pairs of each colour)
  4. Chase randing  in 2 colours
  5. Double row of 3-rod waling in 3 colours
  6. Japanese weaving using double reeds (green & tea coloured)
  7. Twining in 2 colours
  8. Single row of 3-rod waling in 3 colours
  9. Chase randing  in 2 colours
  10. Twining in 2 colours

Layers of patterns. See key.

Week 40: Thanksgiving Artisan Market & Harvest Basket

I was in the Clarksburg Artisan Market on the Thanksgiving Weekend.  For this I added to my inventory a harvesting basket for the them of the weekend. It turned out well following Jon Ridgeon’s book, and I like the creative handles I made from the overlapping fresh heritage willow I used to make the frame.  They are really comfortable and yet artistic. I learned to split the ribs from fresh willow too from Jon’s book.

See my favourite moment at the Artisan Market post too!

Those are our own heritage apples- different varieties harvested from our 13 trees.

Week 37: Low Round basket in Willow

Week 36: Fresh heritage willow garden sphere- 1st prize at the Fair!

At our local Beaver Valley Fall Fair, I entered three categories:

A garden ornament made of sticks and stones.  I used fresh cut local heritage willow to weave the sphere and then added a variety of stones that come out of my digging up here inside the sphere.  I sprayed clear coat on the rocks to bring out their beautiful colours like they look when they are wet.

 

 


Something useful from something useless.  I entered a couple of my baskets made from Ethernet wire cut-off ends.


A craft made from wood not otherwise in another category.  So I entered a Dogwood basket!

Week 32: two finished frame baskets

I worked on these two simultaneously over Week 31 & 32.

 

Week 31: Frame foraging baskets of willow & dogwood

I made 2 frames and then worked some dogwood for colour into the willow rows. The fine pieces of inner bark that peeled off some over-soaked willow was tough and strong enough to use to tie the frame in its shape. The design is again from Jon Ridgeon’s book.

 

Week 30: Double French Randing round basket

Week 29: My first art show!

Worked on baskets in the quite moments and sold 9 over the weekend!

Artsburg is an juried annual show in our Blue Mountains indoors and outdoors in downtown Clarksburg each July.

Someone asked about a lower flatter round basket for serving crackers or chips, so I made this one over the weekend with a nice contrasting colour weave.

 

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