Basket Easels

Here is a great way to display your shallow baskets and baskets with detailed bottoms/bases. My mother used to have easels in her needlework shop to display framed pieces. I thought they would be great for displaying baskets so I redesigned them to be deeper and wider. I make these in three distressed finished, toffee, black and white.

Before

After

Box Project

So I got a wild hair last night and decided that I needed to make a new box to display my hand-stamped basket cards when I am vending at conventions, like Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat. My woodworking skills are actually kind of limited. I grew up with a father who was a high school industrial arts teacher and who now makes custom built furniture, but of course I didn't learn how to do any of that for the 18 years I lived at home. Fortunately I have a photographic memory and know how to do many things in principle (like knitting and crochet). I have a pretty good wood working shop, just enough to be dangerous, but not quite everything a true furniture builder would need.

With my limited skills, limited tools and some scrap wood I decided to make a box based on a really nice dove-tailed bird's eye maple Shaker-style handled carrier. I couldn't do the dove-tails so just had to butt the corner joins. I did mark and pre-drill the nail holes, trying to make them look somewhat decorative. I had a couple of scrap boards that Dad had given me probably 15 years ago that were really pretty so I used one of them to make the base. I am not really sure what kind of wood it is. I do know that the sides are maple (scraps from my weaving stand making). The model/sample base was attached to the sides with counter sunk brass screws so I did the same and was actually impressed with how nice that looked. It isn't anything fancy, but it will look nicer than a cardboard box holding my cards.

Here is the fruits of my labors.

12" x 7.5"

Eric Otter Bacon wins award

I just found out that Eric Otter Bacon (who I posted about previously) was awarded 2nd place at the juried 53rd Heard Museum Indian Fair & Market.

CLASSIFICATION VIII - BASKETS

Div A - Traditional
Second Place
Eric J. Otter Bacon (Passamaquoddy)
"Golden Eagle/Landlock Salmon Birch Basket"

Congratulations to Eric and all the other award winners.

Eric Otter Bacon

One of the newest additions to my basket collection. A beautiful acorn basket from Wabanaki (Passamaquoddy) artist Eric Otter Bacon.

2.75" dia. x 2.25" tall w/o handle

The basket is woven of finely prepared black ash, sweet grass and birch bark with a "stem" carved of moose antler.