Some More Baskets and Quilt

BASKETS, BASKET AND MORE BASKETS

I was recently at my friend Teresa's house for a girls weekend and spotted a basket that I enjoyed making. 

Teresa really liked this wall basket when I made it and wanted to give it to her husband as a gift.  As you can see it is very well used and is made from an antler of a White Tailed Deer with willow branches as the base and woven with reed that has been dyed in walnut hulls.  I added a bit of leather.  It's really a man's basket. 

This basket Teresa made into a bowl shape and is made from willow, a large hoop for the rim and woven with reeds and birch bark.  



My grandmother's brother lived in Minnesota and sent us the birch bark.  What a fun medium to use. 

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SCRAPPY DO QUILT

 
I worked on this quilt for my sister.  She picked out the pattern and we used what fabric I had and purchaced some so that there would be a good mix of prints.  

 
It originally was going to be king size so I had a lovely turquoise blue for the border.  She has since down sized to a queen so I took the border off and it fits just perfect!

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I haven't been sewing as much lately.  Between vacation, girls weekend and helping with our new addition to the house, I've been kinda of busy.  My brother from Hawaii had some Crown Royal bags and would like me to make a quilt out of them.  I had not heard of using the bags and when I Googled it, lo and behold, there were many quilts made.  Now I just have to pick a pattern and fabric. 

Thanks for visiting,
Cinder 







 

Baskets and Tea Towels

WEDDING BASKETS

When I was visiting with my brother and sister-in-law in Hawaii, I spied a few of my baskets that I haven't seen in a long time.  

 The larger of these was for my niece, the flower girl, in their wedding.  It is made out of grapevine, willow and cattails.  The green ribbon around the handle was their wedding colors.  The smaller basket has a handle from an old embroidery hoop that was my great grandmother's.  I wove it with denim and reed.

This wall basket has a beautiful grapevine handle and willow ribs.  I wove it with reed and tapestry fabric.  The flowers in the basket are from their wedding. 

It's like seeing old friends again!

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 I haven't been idle.  Here are three tea towels that I've finished up.

 

Right now I'm hand tying a quilt for my sister and finishing up an old vintage quilt that was given to me.  I love all my projects.

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder.

Crazy Quilt and Wall Basket

VINTAGE CRAZY QUILT

These crazy quilt blocks were given to me not long ago.  All the blocks were different sizes so I had to trim some up and add additional fabric to others to make them all the same size or square.

 Someone put a lot of work into them.  First they hand pieced each piece of fabric to make a block, then they tacked it to an additional square of fabric to form a large block.  Pictures below are the backs of two blocks.  You can see the stitches on the front of the third picture.

 

Again, I am unable to date it but would guess most of the fabrics are from the1950's.  Because the blocks were pieced together, I decided to piece together navy blue fabric I had on hand for the border and back.  I also lined the border with white muslin so it would have the same weight throughout the whole quilt. 

 Here is the back and border all lined.

This will be a nice warm full size quilt for the winter.  I'm sure my son will enjoy it.

I hand tied it. 

 

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WALL BASKET

I love the grapevine handle on this wall basket.  It really makes it stand out.  

 

I dyed the reed with walnut hulls and used creek bank willow for  the ribs and rim. 

 

Narrow strips of leather were woven in the main body of the basket.  It's a nice size baskets that would hold letters, wash clothes or small kitchen gadgets. 

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Here's a family photo I found while working on my family genealogy.  What a motley crew!!!  I'm the one with the funny looking shirt.

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder 

WILLOW BASKETS

I made this large basket in 2002.  It's 2 ft wide and 3 ft tall.  The handle is grapevine and the frame is willow.  The reed was dyed with walnut hulls.  

I scraped bark off the willow tree and wove it in to give it character.  The bark almost looks like leather!  This is the basket that I store my lap quilts in.  When I get cold while watching TV, I can reach for one to keep me warm.

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POTATO BASKET

I love this basket.  The frame is made entirely of willow with handles on the side.  

 It is woven with reed and scraped willow bark.  I use it in the bathroom to hold my bath towels.  This basket is 2 ft x 2ft and is large enough a small child could fit in it!

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WALL BASKET

This cute 9 1/2" by 10" basket is hanging in the master bathroom to hold wash clothes.  

It's frame is made of willow and woven with dyed reed.  I tied 3 small stones with holes in them on the front, but have lost one.  

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I have really slacked off this winter with sewing.  Work has been busy and a bit stressful but staring to slow down a bit now.  I tell everyone I'm in my pre-retirement period and getting ready to downgrade to a less busy job, something that I don't have 10 balls juggling in the air.  I'm looking for a simple cubical that has my name on it for a few short years or something with the local schools, that I can have the summers off.  Will start looking this summer.  I will miss my senior patients, but its time to move on.  

I have a vintage quilt on the frame and am working of a vintage Sunbonnet Sue I started in the 1970's.   So hopefully, I will have some sewing to show you soon.

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder

Market Basket

ARKANSAS MARKET BASKET

I went to a yard sale many years ago and found this lovely basket.  The lady who was selling it told me that the basket was her mother's and that she had gotten it in Arkansas.  She also said that it was used when going to the market.  I loved it and didn't pay much at all for it.  

I've used it several time in the garden when picking lettuce/spinach.  You can really fill it up!

 You can see how it has a high side and tapers off.  It measures 19" around and 7" on the high side.  I usually carry it like this and not by the handles. 

I'm not sure what wood it is made from, but you can see how dark it is.   I have it hanging on my wall in the dining room.   

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Thanks for visiting,

Cinder

Baskets and Pillows

LOVELY FOGGY MORN

 

 This is what awaited me this morning.  What a lovely sight.  

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 PAST BASKETS

Here are a few of my baskets that my sister has.  

This grapevine handled small basket was woven with cream colored corduroy material, jute and dyed reed.  I love how each grapevine handle can look differently.  On the potato basket, I dyed the reed in walnut hulls and dark green Ritz dye.  The ribs of both baskets are made with creek bank willow.

The large potato basket is made from reed, scraped willow bark and willow ribs and rim.  I put handles on this one, but (oops) the dog chewed one side off.  I will have to put some time in on repairs, it's looking kind of loose and worn.  The small egg basket is woven with sea grass, dyed reed and pansy fabric, with a grapevine handle. 

This small unique basket has willow ribs, barbed wire handle and woven with torn denim jeans.   One of my favorites!  I made sure that the barbs were spaced apart in the center so your hand would not get stabbed!

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PROJECT LIST

I'm still working on it!  Here are the wool cut up for the braided rug:  blue, red, green, tan and plaids.  The rug is starting to take shape and looks good.

More on it later and I added a...

NEW PROJECT

Ok, so I added one more task to my list.  My sister, (I talk about my sister a lot, but I do have 3 brothers too!) needed some pillows to match a rocking chair seat that she recovered.  Glad to do it for her.

 

Old pillows and new fabric.  They're going to look good!

Thanks for visiting

Cindy

Baskets

 DEER ANTLER BASKET

Here is a collection of some of my baskets that I use every day.  This basket was one of the first deer antler baskets that I made around 2001.  It was very different then regular handled basket, as I had to make sure that it was balanced and would sit without falling to one side.  I helped this out by adding the stone with a hole in it that I got from my friend Sherri.  The ribs are willow and the reed was dyed in walnut hulls.

 This basket is in my bathroom holding wash clothes. 

 

 POTATO BASKET

This basket was made in 2004 from reed that was dyed in walnut hulls and yellow ritz dye.  I also used sunflower fabric for weaving.  The rim is an old embroidery hoop that was my grandmother's.

 This is where I keep my curlers. (Yes there are some of us out there that sleep in curlers!)

  

WILLOW BASKET

I purchased some bamboo handles in the mid 1990's and made this fun basket from willow and dyed reed.  To dress it up I added a green satin ribbon.

 

 

 This basket holds my makeup.  It's getting pretty beat up from daily use and some of the ribs are getting broken.  I'll use it until it wears out and enjoy every minute of it.

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UPDATE:  I'm soooo excited.  I just purchased a new quilting frame this week and can't wait till it arrives.  NOW I'll be able to hand quilt crib to queen size quilts!  Up to now my frame only allows full size as the largest and that would put a strain on it.  Oh what fun I'm going to have.  And my husband is sooo happy to have it in the living room!!!!

 Thanks for visiting

 

Wool Braided Rug and Willow Basket

WOOL BRAIDED RUG

My first braided rug turned out nicely.  I purchased all the wool at my favorite thrift store:  jackets, slacks, coats, skirts and a few pieces of misc fabric.  I was delighted to find 7 yards of a lovely tan (and cheap) and it is what I based one whole braid on.  The other 2 braids I grouped various colors together and then sewed them into long strips. I love the plaids!

 Then the fun began!  I folded the strips, then braided them together using a blunt needle with heavy duty thread, double stranded.

 After that, I used the same thread and tightly hand sewed each row to make a more secured rug.

 Then, voila, I made a rug!  What surprised me was how soft it is to stand on.  It took me about 6 weeks to make and here's the best part, I can enjoy it for many years!

I bought some anti skid to put it under it to make it more secure.  The rug measures 5  1/2' x 4'.  Now its time to start another one.

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WILLOW BASKET

Sometimes when working with natural supplies, as it dries, it has a tendency to occasionally warp out of shape.  That's what happened to this small egg basket.  I gathered grapevine and make several handles at one time and let them dry.  The willow I work while it is green, as it needs to be pliable.  Everything was going well, then oops, after it dried it would not sit up straight, so I make a kick stand for it.  Perfect!

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I've started my holiday baking.  My goal this year to make some of the treats my mother and grandmother made for us at Christmas time.  Oh my!  First I forgot to buy all the ingredients for the fudge, so I started on the Divinity.  Holy Moly!  It doesn't quite look right, humm.  Well then I moved on to the popcorn balls.  First batch I burned the syrup coating (not sure if I had the burner up too high or that I was working on a puzzle and NOT paying attention).  Batch #2 turn out right (I never took my eyes off of it!).  Tomorrow I will make the fudge and the sugar coated dates stuffed with walnuts (if I remember to by everything!).  Keep your fingers crossed, cooking is sometimes an adventure for me.
 
Thanks for visiting,
Cinder

Willow Basket, Quilt and Christmas Decoration

 Thank you all very much for the warm welcome and nice comments.  What a pleasure this is going to be, to share a common interest with others like me.  Confession time:  sometimes when life gets chaotic, I will go to my fabric stash and mellow out by sorting fabric, looking at patterns or even make a run to the fabric store.  Ahhh, life is good! 



SMALL WILLOW BASKET

 I had the opportunity to learn basket making in 1990 from a lovely lady, Teresa, who is still my friend.  We went out into the woods to gather everything we needed to make a basket:  creek bank willow, scrapped willow bark, cattails, and grapevine.  Then we could add basket reed, fabric, leather, lace or anything that was flexible.  The basket reed was dyed by soaking it in walnut hulls to give it a great brown color.  The longer the reed was kept in the smelly "solution", the darker the color.

 

I made this basket with a grapevine handle and willow ribs and rim.  Then it was woven with some reed and scrapped willow bark.  This is one of my favorites because I like the curlicue!

SMALL SQUARE QUILT

 My sister-in-law Ann purchased several bags and boxes of old fabric, batting and miscellaneous quilt blocks at a sale.  In the box was 5 sets of 10 block by 4 blocks, each small block measuring 1 3/4 inches.  My guess is the fabrics are from the 1950's and 1960's.



Well, I love a challenge and pondered what to do.  I laid them out on my white work table and WOW.  I LOVED the look of each block being separated by white, so that is how I put it together. 

 Half of the blocks are the original vintage fabric. I added some vintage and modern to make it a twin size quilt.  I added a border of the same squares and hand quilted it.   This quilt was given to my niece as a graduation present. 

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS DECORATION

Santa's laundry - a decoration?  My grandmother made this many years ago.  It is the first decoration that I like to get out and hang up.

Even Mrs. Claus gets clean bloomers and an apron and check out Santa's red long underwear!

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Well its time to start thinking about presents for the grandchildren.  Happy shopping to all...

Thanks for visiting,

Cinder