Sunday, October 23, 2016

For my birthday Pat enrolled me in a Cedar Basket making class; I spent the past two days in the workshop and completed my first basket. Traditionally you are supposed to give your first basket away but mine won’t go far as I’ve given it back to Pat. I always appreciated the work that went into these woven baskets but I will appreciate it even more now. The class was taught by a young Tla’ammin woman with her mother lending assistance; lunches were provided by the General Store and were delicious on both days. Of course you could serve me bannock with pretty much anything and I’d be happy.

The slats used for weaving are made from red cedar, and the darker strip at the bottom is red cedar that has been soaked in a rusty nail bath. The twining has been done with yellow cedar (on the bottom and the top), sinew (around the button) and raffia (the purple). The design was completely left up to us; there are certainly elements I would change if I had the option but I doubt I’ll make another one. The materials aren’t easy to come by and they take a lot of prep work – all information that we weren’t given. I know that the yellow cedar is more valuable as it is grown at higher altitudes; the red cedar is gathered in the Spring when the whole family go out to collect it. The button is mother-of-pearl but I used it to represent abalone which is very rare so I only added one to each side.

It has been a busy week and here are some of the other things I’ve had time to work on.

At the Tuesday bee I put the final border on my Blossoms quilt.

I enjoyed the evening of Rework, even though the stitches were not new to me. I’m not sure how I’ll finish this off; it is meant to be a heart ornament. I traced the cutting line but then started my embroidery on the line. I may have enough border to still cut out the heart shape or I may finish it off in some other manner.

My busy days are not over yet. I’ll be cleaning (a little) and cooking for Tuesday’s House Concert. One of our performers is vegetarian and gluten-free so I’m hoping to get my vegetarian chili made tomorrow and I’ll make gluten-free corn bread to be served hot from the oven. I invited a quilter to be my guest at the concert and will pick her up in time to have dinner with us. Wednesday is our Cranberry Hall Board meeting; Saturday and Sunday I’ll be taking part in the Community Quilts weekend at the Guild.