Best Nine of 2018

via Instagram http://bit.ly/2H14QMr

So these are my nine most liked Instagram photos of 2018. The funny thing is that seven out of the nine were all things I either did or posted in the first three months of the year. Three of them are also Throw Back Thursday photos, so things I did years ago. I Guess I better step it throughout all of 2019.


I guess I should identify all of the images. Starting from the upper left hand corner:

1. This was my most liked post and was a video of the moment of truth when I took apart the puzzle mold I had made. There was a possibility that the mold wouldn't release from the basket if I hadn't made the pieces such that they would slide apart and out.
2. The same basket, but in process.
3. A nest of sorts of five different sized Shaker quadrafoil tubs I have made over the years. The largest (9" diam.) was made in one of the first classes I made with Martha Wetherbee.
4. This was a flash back photo to an exhibit I did back in 2011. (I have another exhibit in the space running right now featuring many of the miniature baskets I have made)
5. This was one of the recent photos that made the list. This is Alice Ogden's 2018 Christmas ornament basket.
6. This is a ribbed melon basket I was making as a sample in preparation for my first time teaching at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
7. These are two baskets in my collection. I was lamenting the fact that I was running out of display room so had to stack them. The top basket is from Aaron Yakim and the bottom basket is from his partner, Cynthia Taylor, both white oak basketmakers from West Virginia.
8. Another of my throwback photos, this time from a Martha Wetherbee class where I make a 16" diameter Nantucket basket.
9. And finally yet another throwback photo to a basket I made for my father for Christmas.

Christmas Basket

via Instagram http://bit.ly/2CF4RkV

I give my Dad a basket every year for Christmas. It all the hubbub I didn’t get a picture of him opening it this year, but later when I went down to the TV room I discovered he already had made a spot for it. I never see him do it, but he always finds a place to display the basket even before we finish unwrapping everything. It always makes me tear up when I see he has them proudly displayed.

2018 Christmas Ornament

via Instagram http://bit.ly/2GERiG1

2018 Christmas ornament basket from the very talented Alice Ogden. Alice had made a smaller version a few years ago, so I wasn't sure what this one would be like. I wasn't disappointed.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and here’s to a wonderful 2019.

Baskets., Baubles, Santas and Bears, Oh My...

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2LoPi3z

OK, can’t promise this is the last of the vignettes of Mom and Dad’s store window, Jim Stubblefield Furniture, decorated for Christmas. This section of the window features one of the baskets brought from Mom and Dad's home along with an antique Steiff bear, antique Santa and sleigh that usually make an appearance each year.

Baskets, Baubles and Wreaths

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2SZ1fj3

I don't know why it didn't occur to me before to put a ribbed key basket into the center of a wreath. This is another shot from the Christmas store window I did for my parents' shop, Jim Stubblefield Furniture.

Most of the red and green baskets we use in the window we have permanently removed from my parents' collection and keep them in storage at the shop for use in the window. The white baskets though I bring in from their house. This one normally hangs in my childhood bedroom.

Baubles and Baskets

la

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2A41KkO

Here's a holiday vignette from Mom and Dad’s store window, Jim Stubblefield Furniture. I decorate the window every year and it is always a challenge to come up with something different. We do recycle themes or color stories, but a collection of red, green and white painted baskets always makes for an easy backdrop for decorating.

Yet another new place to sit.

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2QsFaeQ

It has been quite a while since I’ve had a kitten. I had forgotten how quickly they can figure out to get up to mischief. This is on the fireplace mantle which is shoulder high!

Of course Jinxy the kitten has very good taste. This is my Stephen Zeh black ash French bread basket she is sitting in.

Color and more color

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2DLTQ2K

Working a bit out of my comfort zone and making some space-dyed reed baskets. These are samples for a class I am going to be teaching next year. More information on that once the schedule is officially announced. I am excited about the class as I think all of the baskets are going to turn out so differently.

Another new place to sit

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2OKwtI3

Jinx has discovered my basket weaving room and that she can get on the table if she climbs up my leg, to my lap, to the table. She does like to chew on everything, including my weaving materials, so as cute as this picture is she is going to be banned without supervision from getting into things.

Old Basket/New Kitten

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2PPstKI

So I got a new kitten last week. She is supper sweet and super chill, but is a little feisty when she wants to be. Besides quickly taking to my other cat and her new home, she has also taken to all of the baskets as well. She loves to sit in any of them that she can get too and apparently on top of, as this has become one of her favorite new places to sit. As long as she doesn't chew on anything I am perfectly fine with her getting into/on top of any of the baskets she wants. The Eric Taylor designed basket behind the one she is pictured sitting in is also one of her favorites. I am having to get after her though as she likes to bite on the handle and rim, which is a definite no-no. I'm never going to be able to keep her out of these, so I might as well train her that chewing on the baskets is definitely against house rules.

Book Binding

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2CNccPy

I took another fun class at Perennial last week, this time learning how to do Coptic binding. I have wanted to take this class for awhile now, but for various reasons the timing had never worked. It was surprisingly easier than I expected, but we weren't getting overly complicated with our stitch pattern. I look forward to trying another one.

Black and White Black Ash Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2JgJzf2

I finally finished up this 9” diam. black ash basket that I started back in April. It was started in a mold than woven free-form for the last half. It features a quadrafoil pattern in the base as well as a rim of quadrafoil. I wasn't initially expecting to make the basket this tall, but after weaving up the base and pinning it to the mold I realized I had a lot of upright length if I wanted to play with it. Fortunately I did a pretty good job of centering my uprights otherwise I would have been screwed. As it was I used up every last bit of my stave/upright length. I literally had 1/16" left on a couple of them by the time I had the rim row woven in. I probably ended at a good point as there was just enough room left in between the uprights to fit my lasher through. If I had gone smaller at the rim I would have had to lash with waxed linen or found a narrower lasher.

Big Hands/Little Baskets

Lashing a one inch black ash Shaker-style kittenhead basket during the JoAnn Kelly Catsos workshop I recently hosted.

All of a sudden my fingers are huge!

Interesting Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2PrGriC

I look at this basket every time I go to Artichoke Annie's antique mall outside of Columbia, MO. It is woven of some type of palm frond-type material instead of traditional white oak. The basket had double lids originally, but all that remains are hinge holes in the handle and metal loops on the rim, where there must have been closure hooks. It’s priced at around $300, so I’ve always passed. One of these days (if it is still there) I may break down and buy it.

Two-Tone Painted Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2zDD5nd


I love this beautiful two-toned painted white oak basket. One of my Dad's pickers found in and thought I would want to add it to my collection. He was right!

This basket is a nice smallish size, maybe 13” L x 7” W x 13” H (without handle).

It is always hard to describe the relative size of a basket as there really aren't standard sizes to use as a basis. At first I was going to call this a "small basket", but that makes it sound like it is miniature or something you could hold in the palm of your hand. I think it is easier to describe baskets on either end of the size scale. I think most people would understand and picture the correct scale of a particular basket if you called it "miniature" or "big/large". Even though are still relative terms, but at least you know somebody is getting the gist of what you are try to describe. Now "medium" or "small" start getting into a really gray area. In comparison to a basket you would take to market, this basket is small, but in relative to a basket you would go pick blackberries in, this would be large. If you were comparing this to a basket you wanted to hold magazines, then it would be "medium". I honestly don't think I have cleared anything up here with my explanation...

Baskets, baskets and more baskets.

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2pwlaJu

I need to find a better place to display my Aaron Yakim and Cynthia Taylor white oak ribbed baskets than just stacking them.

Egg Basket with Side Handles, #98-18

15" x 13" x 6"

Cynthia Taylor

Like many baskets this one has had an interesting journey. Cynthia Taylor wove this incredible white oak ribbed basket in 1998, it was the 18th she had made that year (#98-18). The following year it was exhibited in the 1999 West Virginia Juried Exhibition and received a Merit Award. Not long after it was purchased by a collector from Boston, MA. Flash forward to April of 2006, while clicking around ebay I came across an estate sale auction. As soon as I saw the basket I knew it was one of Cynthia's. Fortunately I won the auction and it is one of my prize finds. And finally to complete the odd series of events surrounding this basket, a few months after receiving the basket Cynthia Taylor contacted me out of the blue to say she and Aaron Yakim were going to be in St. Louis visiting family and would I want to meet. Of course I said "yes" and took the basket with me, where to all of our surprise we pieced together the journey of this basket.

Kentucky Egg Basket
13" x 9"
Aaron Yakim

This basket is from West Virginia fiber artist Aaron Yakim. Aaron and his partner Cynthia Taylor work in white oak and give a new twist to traditional Appalachian basket forms. Aaron learned to make white oak baskets in the late 1970's from a fifth generation white oak basketmaker. He is credited with making over 2,000 baskets in the past 20 years. I have hardly made 200 in the past 20!

What I am making

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2MhdEeo

Make some basket tags this weekend using a custom Archival Distress Vintage Photo ink pad and my MISTI. I found these cute little craft paper tags on my trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School this summer. We stopped for the night in Nashville so we could go to the huge Nashville flea market. Of course now I wish I would have bought more, but isn't that the way it always goes?

My new light setup

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2PVV3Yi

Here's my new light setup. I purchased this continuous light kit over a year ago and am just now finally setting up.

I decided to change out the white umbrellas that came with the kit for a black with reflective lining version. I purchased both the light kits and the black umbrellas on Amazon and while the bulbs seems to be full-spectrum, they aren't very bright at all. The original white umbrellas didn't reflect nearly enough of the already dim light, which necessitated the black/reflective set.

The lights setup to reflect off of the background I made myself and the instructions can be found here.

All Wrapped Up

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2Mw9XFI

Figured out how to make a four-strand braided leather bracelet. Why buy a bracelet for $25 when you can spend $75 on books and supplies?

Actually these weren't that expensive, but of course as any good crafter you can't just buy supplies for one, you have to buy enough to make an army of bracelets. It was cheaper to buy a spool of 50' of leather, but it only took 12 feet to make the triple-wrap, so I have enough left over to make at least 4 more.

As one of my friends said once, "you are going to save yourself right into the poor house."

Throw Back Thursday

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2vOOGgL

I can’t believe it was already 4 weeks ago that I was packing up my car to head to the John C. Campbell Folk School to teach my ribbed basket class. I also can’t believe all the crap I had crammed into my car.

That little empty spot you see there in the corner? That was eventually filled with a bag of shoes. A friend traveled with me to take a cooking class at the Folk School and I joked that he might have to run along side holding onto the door handle. I was afraid that was going to be true as I carried more and more out to the car. There are a few things that I took with me that I either ended up not needing or shouldn't have even brought to begin with. Even so, I don't think those few things would have made all that much difference in the bigger picture.

2018 JoAnn Kelly Catsos Workshop

Thursday-Sunday, October 18-21, 2018

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shaker Kittenhead Trio

1" diameter to 4" diameter

Shaped like the larger Shaker cathead baskets, these smaller versions are called kittenheads and feature the same pointed feet or cat ears. The three baskets in this set graduate in size from approximately one inch to four inches in diameter and nest inside each other. Featuring high arched handles, when tied together they create the perfect display.

Cracker Basket

12" long x 5" wide x 2 1/2" deep

This useful basket is a contemporary cousin to the Shaker Fancy Tray we made in our very first workshop with JoAnn. It has darker heartwood stakes and whiter sapwood weavers. The corner stakes are split to allow for the graceful curve of the corners. The cherry rims are single lashed.

Workshop fee for Shaker Kittenhead Trio and Cracker Basket

$540

Class fees includes all materials, handouts and use of mold, weaving stand and tools.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
These baskets aren't terribly difficult, but the tiny 1" kittenhead will take patience.

Instructor: JoAnn Kelly Catsos

Contact: Tony Stubblefield
if you would like to receive registration information

Yet another of my studio shots

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2w92XEJ

Yet another of my studio shots. This is one of my sample for the class I recently taught a the John C. Campbell Folk School. It is a 10" traditional Appalachian-style egg basket made using commercially available oak hoops and reed. The class dealt with the fundamentals of ribbed basket construction, with a focus on achieving a desirable shape.

Cottage Garden(er) Set

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2MiBNWE

Another recent shot of a set of baskets I completed this spring. These are the Cottage Garden(er) series from Eric Taylor. They are woven of black ash with cherry rims, handle and runners.

I can never remember is Eric calls these Garden or Gardener baskets. I think I have used the terms interchangeably over the years and now I can't remember which is the correct name. Either way they are sweet baskets.

Triple Diamond Wine Totes

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2P6F21o

Finally unboxed the studio light kit I bought over a year ago. I need to play around some more with my camera and light position, but for the first try I am pretty happy. Here are my Triple Diamond Wine Totes, regular and junior version. Both made in classes with Eric Taylor.

The full-sized version was the first basket I think I wove with Eric. Like all of Eric's designs, it is woven of black ash staves and weavers, but this one features an oak base, handle and rim. The new(ish) Junior version features Eric's usual cherry base, handle and rim.

These two baskets give a good example of how the black ash ages over time. The full-size basket is starting to get a nice warm patina to the splint. At the time it was woven it was just as light as the smaller Junior version.

How do you sign your baskets?

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2zZTXH3

How do you sign your baskets or do you even sign them? I must admit I have not always been the best at doing it myself. The signing isn't as big of a deal as dating them. I have so many early baskets that at the time I just knew I would always know when they were made. Well, flash forward 25-30 years and I don't have a clue. I can usually come up with a date if I look through old photos or files I have from basket workshops or trips, but it would just be so much easier if I had just signed and dated them in the first place.

For my reed baskets I typically use a wood burner and scribe my initials and the dates somewhere around the handle or in the case of a ribbed basket, on the "ear". For Nantucket-style baskets I usually sign them on the base using a gold paint pen which works pretty well and shows up on cherry bases nicely. For my pounded ash baskets I usually sign them with a Micro Pen, either in black or ideally brown. Some of these baskets are miniatures or use really fine splint, so I need something fairly fine to be able to sign them. Typically these I sign and date on the bottom in the center of the woven base.

Do you have a special way you like to use?

Throw Back Thursday to My Happy Place

The woodworking and basketry studio at the John C. Campbell Folk School

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2zUARSK

The picture is from this past February when I was at the John C. Campbell Folk School taking my annual class from JoAnn Kelly Catsos.

In a little over a week I will be back there myself to teach my own class on Appalachian-style ribbed baskets. To say I am excite and nervous would be an understatement.

Pile O' Baskets

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2KHLokY

Finished weaving another 10” Appalachian-style ribbed egg/butt/buttocks/gizzard basket. It’s looking a bit pale in comparison to the other samples. I’m trying to decide how I want to stain/dye it.

I'm trying to get a number of sample baskets woven to take to my class at the John C. Campbell Folk School at the end of the month. I want the students to see how you can take the same set of hoops and make different looking baskets with just a few changes in: rib size (this baskets uses a combination of #6 round and 1/4" oval oval); rib count; ear style; color accents; stain color; etc.

Pie or Herb Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2Manv5N

Finished my another class sample for my workshop this July at the John C. Campbell Folk School. This will be the fourth basket in the class, a 10” Appalachian-style pie or herb basket. In class we won’t use a pair of hoops for the rim though. I didn’t have a single wide hoop so thought I would try something different. Weaving the double rim was much more difficult than I expected.

Still life with basket - No. 2

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2y0r8ZQ

Still life with basket - No. 1

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2LoflGQ

Final Day, Final Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2IJvLsa

Final basket of class of the Eric Taylor Basketry Workshop, the Cottage Tool Tote Jr. Like the other baskets we made over the four days, this basket is woven of brown/black ash with cherry wood base, rims and handle.

Third Day, Third Basket

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2LpZA2U

Third day of class and third basket, a Triple Diamond Wine Tote Jr. The basket is woven of brown/black ash with cherry wood base, handle and rims.

First Day, Final Basket of the Series

 

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2GBmEIh

Finished off my nest of three Cottage Garden Baskets with the baby of the set. We started this set a few years ago with the largest of the three. Like all of Eric Taylor's baskets these are woven out of brown/black ash with cherry wood rims and handles. Unlike many of Eric's designs, these feature a woven bottom with cherry wood runners, instead of a solid slotted base.

Bird Brain

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2JVu5fI

My mom is so excited that they have at least 5 male orioles visiting right now. She’s seen a few females as well, so hopefully a couple of pairs will nest and stick around.

Photo credit: @annstubblefield


UPDATE: As of right before Mother's Day all of the orioles seemed to have moved on, or at least Mom hadn't seem them in the past few days leading up to the weekend. When I was home I did get to see a couple of indigo buntings.

I'm a Winner!

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2r4dChp

Finally had a chance to photograph the great coiled pine needle and ceramic pot by Hannie Goldgewicht I received in the mail the other day. I entered an Instgram contest she was having and I ended up being the lucky name drawn!

Throw back Thursday

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2FgluRL

Throw Back Thursday, this time all the way to the first class I hosted for Eric Taylor in 2011.

Our workshop next month is almost full, there’s only one spot left in each class. If you are on the fence, get your registration in today!

Antiquing Find

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2KbUirg

One of the nice white oak baskets I saw on my trip this past weekend and had to bring home. I was drawn to the proportions of this smallish basket, along with the nice heavy rims and superior patina.

Baskets, baskets, baskets

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2vAPOH9


Some nice antique baskets I saw on my drive yesterday home from Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat. All were priced reasonably, but when you have as many baskets as I have, then they need to be either really cheap or really good before I am tempted. I was kind of temped by the ribbed basket pictured here...

Weaving While Watching

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2HCYku9

How could I not work on a basket when I was surrounded by all of these weavers? Working on a black ash quadrafoil while vending at Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat.

I was asked how I could work on such a complicated pattern while vending? Fortunately the quadrafoil pattern is one of those that I just "see". I usually need to look at a completed basket or a photo of one to remind me how to start the first over or under then I am good to go for the rest of the basket.

Let the fun begin. Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat

via Instagram https://ift.tt/2vxN5P4

All setup and ready to go at the Stateline Friends Weaving Retreat. This is the first time I will be featuring my new full line of basket stamps. I am excited!

Well Crap

Well fallout form the Facebook snafu with the Cambridge Analytica leak has bled over into Instagram. New rules have been instituted such that information you used to be able to access about your Instagram feed are now locked down. That is great in theory, but boy does it screw up some of the easy things I used to do, like track who is commenting and who is following/unfollowing me. It also appears to have screwed up the photos I used to repurpose here on my blog very easily by adding a hashtag of #blog to any photo I wanted to share here. It seems that most of my blog posts now feature broken links.

I guess I am going to have go back and relink up all of my images. I barely have time to blog as it is without having to fix a couple years worth of old post. I guess it's something to add to my to-do list.


Argh!

2018 Eric Taylor Workshop

Eric Taylor will be back in St. Louis again this May to teach three great classes over four days. Eric Taylor has been making traditional baskets and Shaker boxes since 1983. His love for working with wood and the black ash trees inspired him to experiment further in the art which lead to creating his own contemporary designs that combined the elements of the Shaker and Nantucket baskets. Eric has taught the art of basketry, nationally, for twenty-five years.

Saturday - Sunday, May 19-20, 2018

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

#1 Cottage Garden Basket

7.5" L x 4.5" W  x 5.5" H
 

This is the third basket in the Cottage Garden set. Nest this little guy inside the #3 and #2 baskets we made in 2014 and 2016. Woven of black ash with cherry rims and handle, and cherry skates that act to lift the basket and give it a firm stature.

AND 

Eye Glass Holder

4.5" L x 3" W x 8" H

This is one of Eric's newest designs. Keep your glasses safe and in style in this beautiful basket. Woven of black ash with cherry rims and handle, and featuring a fleece liner and a cherry base.

$280 (includes both baskets)

Monday, May 21, 2018

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Triple Diamond Wine Tote Jr.

7.5" L x 4" W x 8.5" H

This is the little brother to the Triple Diamond Wine Tote we made in 2015. Woven of brown ash, this distinctive basket features a decorative repeating twilled diamond pattern, and cherry handle, rims and base.

$185 

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Cottage Tool Tote Jr.

12.5" L  x 5" W x 8" H

This is the little brother to the full-sized Tool Tote we wove in 2011. Like its big brother, the basket is woven of brown ash and features cherry dividers and a sturdy handle to carry all of your tools.

$200 

Class fee includes all materials, handouts and use of mold, weaving stand and
basic tools (if you have particular tools you like, please feel free to bring them).

Level: IntermediateContact: Tony Stubblefield
if you would like to receive registration information

Throwback Thursday

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2p0ydD9

This goes to 2011 when I had a showing of my baskets in my hometown. Here is a selection of black ash Shaker-style baskets from the gallery. These baskets were made over quite a span. The more recent baskets on the right were some of the first ones I wove where I made my own molds based on measurements from historic baskets.

My dad let me use pieces of his handmade furniture for the display. I couldn't have asked for a better backdrop.

They are pink, so count as Valentine’s decorations, right?

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2GFmf8W

Happy Valentine's Day!