Baskets

The month of May is always a busy time for me, lots of end of school year activities, Book Fair, Field Day, Sock Hop, award ceremonies, 6th grade graduation, Teacher Appreciation.  Since October 2013 I have been making baskets for the end of year teacher gifts, six of the baskets I finished last week.  I gave away a total of 14 hand woven items.  Two had custom engraving to make them extra special.   If you want to know more about the baskets just leave me a comment. 

Custom engraved Snack Tray
Creations by Sue

Small Tote
Inspired by Marcia Ballweg



Large Tote
Sharon Klussmann Designs



Brenda's Basket

 

Apple a Day
Bases to Weave

 

 Double Rod Dish
Woven Branch Designs

 

Friendship Basket w/ wooden base
Creations by Sue

 

Artisan Bread Basket
Jill Robinson

 

Small Organizers
Creations by Sue

 

Covered Vase
Jackie Thomas

Custom Engraved Snack Tray
Creations by Sue

 

Algonquin Shelf Basket
Jan Schmidt

 

 

Enjoy,

CJ

New Baskets

Here are two new baskets I finished over the weekend.  The fruit basket is twice the size of the flower basket--but I think it is a little small for fruit.  Both of these will be end of the school year teacher gifts. 

Fruit Basket
Designed by Pauline Asbury

Flower Pot Basket
Designed by Sharon Klusmann

Enjoy!!

CJ

Basket Weaving Weekend

Hello Bloggin Friends --

This year I made my second trip, along with my friend, neighbor and weaving mentor Sue and fellow weaving buddy Becky, to the Basket weaver Guild of Oklahoma Weavers Weekend in Hinton, OK.  I decided to take it easy and only weave four baskets this year instead of the seven I did last year.  Since we arrived late (long story) I opted to skip my first class to shower, nap and unpack the van.  Glad I did cause I needed a little rest since driving rattles my nerves.  We stayed at a Methodist Church Camp in a small canyon outside Hinton, Oklahoma and the weather was absolutely wonderful for early November.  Here are some photos of what I weaved that weekend.

This basket is called and Irish Knitting Basket.  It is a version of a melon basket, called that because of its shape.  I loved making this basket and the instructor was fabulous.  I gave this basket to my son and daughters first grade teacher.  She has had all three of my kiddos in class and she likes purple.  I will be making more of this type basket it is one of my favorite styles.

 This is an old wooden salad bowl that has a decorative woven top added.  A great way to reuse an old bowl--eco friendly weaving.  This project actually gave me the fits while I was weaving it.  The weave is called a Gretchen weave and my weavers kept breaking at one point I said "enough, I have had it"!!.  Fortunately, I had the kindest, most patient instructor that did not give up on me.  I will be making more of this one it makes a great candy dish.

Here is the pincushion basket I made.  This was so easy and fun to weave.  Wouldn't this make a great gift for some of my stitching friends?  Definitely more to come of this little gem. 


We had such a fun time this year.  Sue has invited two of the instructors to come to Wichita Falls to teach classes for our little group.  One of the instuctors is offering a Bi-Monthly Basket Club, if you sign up by 1 January shipping is free.  She had the club baskets on display and they were beautiful.  Each of them are decorated with small beads you can see them on her Website, of course I signed up and so did Sue. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!  I will be at the Cowboys game today--woohoo!!

See ya!

CJ

July Stitching Update

Can you believe it!!  July is here.  We have six more weeks of summer vacation then we are back to school in Texas.  Whew, the time has flown by.  The my older kids have already attended Science Camp at River Bend Nature Center and the baby went to Camp Noah, a camp for learning disabled kids for a week.  Later this month we have soccer camp and art camp at the Kemp Center for the Arts.  Then dad and I are taking the oldest two to Iowa for the 50th anniversary of Knoxville Nationals Sprint Car Race to see our favorite driver and friend Joey Saldana. That should be a great trip and adventure since this is our first time to Iowa.  We will be staying in Pella, little town that is known for its Dutch Heritage and as the boyhood home of Wyatt Earp. 

Stitching Update

I have been stitching quite a bit and really enjoying it. I do most of my stitching while waiting for my daughter during her therapy sessons--it is a good way to pass the time.   I would have to say that July has been a good stitching month for me.  It was slow getting to this point but I am making up for lost time.  In early June I completed a biscornu for Pirjo in Finland as part of a swap-bot exchange, sorry no photo.  Here is some other things I have stitched with photos.

This is a piece I stitched for my son's room.  It's a Fourth of July freebie from Aury's blog.  I love her designs and she is so generous with her freebies.  Thanks Aury!!  I stitched this up with DMC Varigated floss and white DMC on 18 count aida from Enchanted Fabrics. 

This design is from the Needles Content, stitched on linen with WDW Pink Champagne.  It will be finished into a floss tag/thread holder for an exchange.

This is part of an Angel SAL for the charity stitching group Quilts for Older Children and Adults. The group leader selected the design and provided the floss.  I have two of these to do up, plan to take along on the Iowa trip since I can stitch in the car while hubby is driving.  


What else have I been doing?

I made cards for Operation Write Home. So far I have 40 cards ready, 60 to go.  I will mail the box when I get to 100--hopefully before we hit to road to Iowa. The pile on the left I made and the others I received from Swap-Bot exchanges. 

 I helped my oldest daughter and my son make candle holder baskets.  The orange and brown is my sons and the pastel is my daughters.  This was so much fun to do together. 

I put up Cherry, Peach, Apricot and Wild Plum Jam and 4 jars of Pickled Beets.  Don't they look yummy.  I now have so much jam in my cupboard not sure what to do with all of it.  Hubby thinks we need more--right!!

My DH and I went on another HCG diet course and I  managed to lose an additional 10 pounds.  So today I am 27 pounds lighter than I was in late Febuary this year.  Back to my active duty AF weight.  Plan to try this again early next year to drop another 10 pounds. Hurray for us!!

Last time I updated my blog I added a giveaway box.  Well, guess what?  I won one of the giveaways from Feathers In My Nest.  It is the Chessie and Me Liberty House Sampler.  What a lucky girl I am.   I have added a new giveaways from Donna and Bette.


See ya!
CJ