May 2026 - Stasia with Double Braided Rim

---

The Stasia basket featured a very nice Double Braided Rim.  The directions were purchased on Etsy from   Bright Expectations Baskets LLC / Becky Bechtel. The directions were so excellent , that many weavers arrived with nearly completed baskets.  We also posted/shared a Beverly Ashton Vickers video for the Simple Double Braided Rim that added to our understanding of the rim of this basket.  

Kimi shows Sharon how to lock in the spokes with a chase weave. 

It was great to have Vickie back.  She is teaching basketry at William Holland School this year.  

The Stasia basket used two different sizes of spokes to create an elegant pattern.  Linda modified her basket and used 7 mm RO as a weaver.  

 Vickie is making great progress on her basket!  

Welcome to Guylaine!  After taking a class on pine needle baskets at John C. Campbell, "G" was hooked on basket weaving.  We are excited to have her join the guild.  

Leslie and Linda discuss the next steps to start the braided Rim border. Note the towel in the basket!  This step requires a lot of water to keep the weavers pliable!  

Lynn brought a complicated tray by Laura Lee Zanger.  Linda and Lynn are figuring out the sequence for  the twill to create a red cardinal.   

Guylaine, Linda, Kimi, Denise, Sharon, and Leslie are all working at their table at different stages of the basket weaving process.  Denise commented that using the mold was helpful to shape her basket. Sharon and Leslie discuss how to end a chase weave.  Guylaine is enjoying practicing her new skill in Pine Needle basketry.  Note her beautiful baskets!  Hard to believe that these were her very first baskets!  Impressive!  

Kimi added beads to her rim for a lovely accent!  She also tried a little something different.  When she stained her wood base, she also stained her 1/2"  FF spokes to match.  Kimi said she had to soak the spokes a little longer.  Love the effect! 

 Last year, Lisa attended a GBA event that featured Laura Lee Zanger.  This twill was a challenge!  It's a tray that Lisa will treasure for many years to come.  

Sandy and Linda brought their own projects to weave.  It's always fun to just come with whatever you have to weave... or a gift you want to finish!  

Who would have thought that we would actually have fun doing our own practice fire drill?  Thank you to Linda for writing our evacuation procedures for emergencies.  Safety first!  

 We begin the 2026 season! Sharon set aside the beginning of our weaving time to collect funds for dues, bases for the Stasia basket and kits for the Paper Baskets.  Thank you Sharon!

 The Gabbie Basket features a 10 x 15 inch wooden base.  This pattern was purchased by members from Bright Expectations.  

Jackie modified this basket, substituting braided seagrass for the triple twining.  The results were beautiful!   

 The Arrow Basket features a woven base, a graduated rim and bushel-basket handles.  The basket is accented with Paired Triple Arrow weave using a contrasting  colored #3 Round Reed.   Working together makes weaving so much more fun!  

 Every weaver seemed to take their skills to a new level, modifying their selected pattern.  Our tip of the month came from the GBA newsletter.... Pack as you go!!!!  And Jeanne is taking that hint to heart.  

Cindy creates a nice shape for her basket as she adds warm, earthy colors.  Beautiful! 

Not everyone needs a new laundry basket!  Pat was commissioned to make custom Alley baskets that are about 4 inches tall - the perfect height for a serving dish.

  Shirley found some finished paper baskets that she did about ten years ago!  She was amazed at how beautiful and sturdy they still are!  Shirley had purchased paper  weavers from The Earth Guild to make a new basket at the meeting.  

 Patti was one of four members who attended the South Carolina convention.  She is using the Gabbie basket to incorporate new skills that she learned at the convention.  The results are stunning!  Patti has a great eye for color - a skill that she has perfected in her painting.

  Working with a wood base requires a lot of patience to get the spacing just right.  Susan has a system to train the spokes as she goes.  

 Visitors are always welcome!  It was a pleasure to meet Cheryl Anne, a local pastor.  

Next month we will be doing the Stasia Basket.  Kimi is setting up her basket to demonstrate the Braided Rim.   Be sure to purchase your 5" Round Wood Base for the Stasia.  The pattern is available from Bright Expectations.  

Cindy, Patti and Jackie

 Patti discovers a unique basket! 

Lisa and Leslie did a great job organizing the Christmas Luncheon.  Thank you! 

 Top Row:  Susan, Linda V, Cindy, Lisa, Patti, Linda W, Sharon, Kimi, Jackie, Sandy, and Paula

Bottom Row: Leslie, Brenda, Jeanne and Janice

Not shown: Polly, Shirley

Lisa  - Hospitality

Jeanne - Communications

Linda - Secretary

Sharon - Treasurer

Kimi - Vice President

Leslie - President

missing - Pat  - Member-At-Large 

     (we missed you Pat!)

Let's Weave!

Workshop Sessions:

• Pat - Reindeer
• Sharon - Hearts
• Linda - Angles
• Kimi - Celtic Tree
• Leslie - Butterflies

Special thanks to Catherine Sylvester  of Tanglewood Baskets for giving us permission to use her pattern for the Reindeer ornament.  Click on the link to see her website! 

Want to see more of  Catherine's patterns?  Go to the Missouri Basket Weavers Guild website! 

We discussed glue a lot at this station! Quick Cure cyanoacrylate with an Activator is your best option!   Linda, who taught this project also tried a glue gun...she does not recommend that option.  Good to know!  

Sharon and Denise take a moment while the glue dries.  Note the beautiful mahogany color that Sharon used.  

Using a good glue is also the key to success for the Heart ornament.  And lots of patience!  We spent a lot of time waiting for the glue to set!  

Lisa, Janice, and Linda show off their finished angels 😇.

The Celtic Trees are beautiful!  Jackie opted to make a smaller version by pulling the loops tighter.  Kimi modified the base to create a "Tree of Life" 

The reindeer look complicated, but the directions are easy!  Pat brought  1/4" smoked flat oval reed to share. 1/4" flat flat can be used as well.   Be sure to really soak your reed well and keep it wet as you work!. 

Leslie and Janice make butterflies duing the second session.  

These sweet butterflies have limitless variations for size and color.  Note that one of them has a copper wire body!   

Denise attended a class at John C Campbell on Paper Basket Weaving.  It all begins with painting the paper!  We are excited to have this class sometime in the Spring or early summer!  Stay tuned 😊

After much discussion, Denise has recommended that we make kits for members who want to make these beautiful baskets.  The kits will include a mold, precut paper, toothless alligator clips, and waxed linen.  

Instructors: Kimi and Leslie

Weaving on the bias is a new skill for many of us!  Kimi spent hours making many baskets and documenting all the steps with excellent pictures and drawings. 

Thank you, Kimi!

Setting up the base.

This takes concentration!!

Twining around the base with cord, bulky yarn, or string.

Love the color!!!

Starting the diagonal bias weave.

Members were encouraged to watch a video prior to our meeting.  

Moving on to the next section

Kimi did an excellent job writing detailed instructions.  Polly and Leslie are reviewing the process. 

Turning the corner! 

Denise's basket is beginning to take shape.  A good reason to smile!

Patti wanted to finish a basket and needed a filler for the rim. After realizing there was no seagrass, she and Lynn worked together to braid a filler from the materials available 😊.  

Lisa and Sharon went through the storage closet and found many beautiful books on weaving by excellent basket weavers. So Lisa brought back the tradition of a lending library.  

Instructors: Kimi and Leslie

The Patchouli Biscuit basket features a rim that uses beads. Leslie wove the three beautiful baskets above.  Note the shaping of each basket - creating a variation of the same pattern. Leslie is also very resourceful! She found necklaces at a thrift store and used the beads on the rims.  Those silver beads add a nice "bling". 😊   Also note that Leslie used multiple beads between staves to add more interest and fill the space.  

Melissa begins by evenly spacing the spokes into the base.

Kimi brings her basket to show the next steps to Cindy and Lynn.  The instructors take a lot of time to prepare and practice each basket to provide "hints and helps". 

Linda locks in her staves with a few rows of twining.  

Polly loves color!   We can't wait to see how these colors look when she is done.

Paula moves to the twining section of the basket.

Jackie used a bowl to assist with the shaping of her basket.

Sandi selected a rich mahogany color for the staves.  

Sandi also brought a Gourd Basket to share. Check out the Photo Gallery!

Wow!  Susan made excellent progress during our meeting!  Check out the shaping!  Well done!  

We have a new section in the Photo Gallery called Member Creations.  Check it out!  This month, we added a gourd basket by Sandi L and Williamsburg baskets with unique handles by Sandy W. 

This picture was too cute not to include!   We definately have a good time!  

So proud to be a member of a guild that is committed to sharing, learning, and creating.  

Instructors: Leslie and Lisa

The Williamsburg basket features a unique handle that guides the shape of the basket from a square base to a round rim.  Leslie and Lisa researched and then wrote our patterns for the 5, 7, and 10-inch baskets.  This is a pattern that provides the weaver with many options in color, size, and pattern. Patterns were shared in the email from Leslie to the Members. 

The meeting included an update from our VP, Kimi.   Kimi is searching for ideas for the spring projects. She has dubbed this season the "Year of the Rim".  If you have an idea for a guild project, please use the Contact Us option to send us pictures or descriptions. 

We are excited to welcome Susan,  who  retired from a career in education.  Susan has 6 years of weaving experience!  We look forward to learning from her.  😊

It's great to have Sandi back!  After spacing and securing the base, Sandi starts to upsett the staves, spokes, or stakes.  (Ha!  Depends on what pattern we read!)

What fun these ladies are having today!  

Sandy used a spaced dyed reed for her weavers.  The result is beautiful! 

Paula is pleased with her progress    on her 10-inch basket.  Paula also attends and helps with basketry at Oasis!  

The Williamsburg is traditionally done in all-natural reed.  Denise is following that tradition!  Next month, she will be taking a class on Paper Weaving at John C. Campbell Folk School.  We can't wait to learn more about this variation in weaving!

Linda took on the challenge of the small 5-inch basket in a beautiful shade of green!  And she is still smiling!  😉

Shirley brought a pine needle basket to work on this month.  She and Sandy have been in classes at Oasis.  Additionally, Sandy loves doing antler baskets!  They brought their work to share this month.  To see more detailed pictures, click on the button below!  

Once the first three rows are complete, Melissa is ready for the weaving to get easier!  Melissa noted that working with dyed reed can be a challenge at times.  Our "Tip of the Month"  introduced a product called Retayne that reduces the amount of "bleed" of the dyes.  

Sandi shares some weaving ideas with Janice about how to work with thick, stubborn weavers. It's all about patience!

Instructors: Kimi, Pat and Leslie

This month, members could either order the Ida Basket and choose from many different colors or purchase the pattern and use their own materials.  The Ida basket used a 4 x 7 oval base.  Skills for this basket included shaping, the 4-rod wale, adding trim to the rim, and the X embellishment.  

As we get started, Kimi reviews a few key points that she learned while weaving this basket prior to the meeting.  It's great to have that experience to assist others. 

Polly recently moved from Alpharetta and is now living full-time in Blairsville.  She recently retired as a VP for a contract engineering firm.  These days, she loves time with her granddaughter.  Polly shared that she is excited to learn more about weaving. Welcome, Polly! 

Now that Melissa has evenly spaced her spokes, she is ready to lock them into place.  

Ginny is working on the spacing for her spokes.  The pattern included the directions to create a template to guide the placement.  

The next step: 4 rod wale!  

Here is Vickie, who also teaches basketry at William Holland Lapidary School.  

Purple!  This color choice is looking good!  Janice is creating the space for the X pattern using 3 rows of 1/4' FF and an overlay of 11/64" FO.  We learned that important steps might be missed if we don't  really read our pattern and follow each step!  

Denise works on creating a nice curve from the base of her basket to the sides that go straight up.    

This month, Jackie opted to work on a large Market Basket.  Her color choice is stunning!  Pat takes a break after she taught us how to start and stop the 4-rod wale.  

Cindy has done a great job using the "Over 2 / Under 1" continuous weave to create the beautiful pattern of the Ida Basket.  

Linda pauses briefly to pack her weavers to achieve the desired shape for the base of the basket.  

Leslie works with Sandy on how to finish the 4 - rod wale.  The step up is a bit tricky!  

Pat assists Jane and Patti.

We are looking forward to more great projects this year!  One option is the Williamsburg basket.  Advanced weavers could choose the Williamsburg Crossing Basket shown here.

Instructors:

Leslie, Kimi, Lisa, Pat, Sandy, and Jeanne 

The 6 stations included:

Kimi - Double and Triple Braid

Lisa - Geometric Designs 

Jeanne - Butterfly Knot and Splice

Pat - Beverly Ashton Vickers Zigzag pattern (bring an 8 " piece of 1/2" FF dyed)

Sandy - Chevron (Jill Choate), and Mosaic

Leslie - Ribbed Handle/Figure 8, Cross Handle, Intricate Wrapped Handle and Paired Reed. 

Lynn and Leslie chat before class begins.  Weavers practiced handle designs on paint sticks and then could opt to work on their own handles. 

Each weaver could sign up for up to 4 mini-classes.  This turned out to be a great way to teach many decorative handles and allow weavers to choose. 

Lisa shares creative patterns, showing that the sky is the limit when working with handles.

Success!    

Showing off their Butterfly Knot  👏

Patti practices the Double Braid on a paint stick.  Can't wait to see this decorative handle on one of her baskets!

Pat's session focused on a handle featured in a video by  Beverly Ashton Vickers.  This pattern gives lots of color and interest to a handle. Janice is pleased with her Zig-Zag Pattern. 😊

Sandy made starter handles for her session to ensure success for a very complex handle.  Thank you, Sandy!!!!

Jackie and Lisa enjoyed "catching up" during a break.  

In Leslie's class, weavers could choose from four different handles. One of the most popular handles was the ribbed handle using #5 Round reed and cane.