Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild

Woodland Weaver has been a loom weaver for 26 years. She lives in a quiet corner of Essex County, in a Carolinian woodland. During her weaving career, she has woven hundreds of rugs, scarves, towels, etc., always aiming for unique designs and colour combinations. She has always dabbled in baskets, and every time there was a basket workshop at a weaving conference, she would take the class, because she was fascinated by the 3-D and textural feel of basketry. After joining the Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild a few years ago, she has been able to further develop a love for basketry, and actually feels she almost knows what she is doing some of the time. But like learning complicated weave structures for the loom, basketry is never simple, and is an endless learning experience. With the kind donation of willow cuttings from a fellow basketmaker, she has started her own willow bed at the edge of the pond, and had a reasonable harvest this past fall, despite the rabbits. Woodland ...

Due to bad weather, the meeting was cancelled, so our AGM will be held March 21st at the Chatham Cultural Centre where Catherine Devine will lead a workshop in closed coiling on a gourd.  Then see you all in April for the first of two classes taught by Nancy Flickinger.  The project will be a swing handled tool basket with divider, sounds challenging and fun.  Watch for more news on this.

The Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild was formed in April 2003 at the first Southwestern Ontario Basketry Conference in Strathroy. Guild members are from across southern Ontario. Some of us are beginners, some of us are teachers, but all of us enjoy the fellowship and sharing of knowledge that is a part of the life of a guild. Members of the guild are poised for another exciting year of non-stop basketmaking! The 2009 program features some of our own members teaching numerous techniques with a wide range of materials. Some examples - tension tray, twining, coiling, making a divider and adding a handle, feather weave embellishment and making a liner, borders in round reed, using a wood base and tapestry weaving with a mould, random weave spheres. Some materials - round and flat reed, cane, waxed linen, naturals of all kinds - willow, pine needles, corn husks, iris, cattail, raffia, palm, willow skeins and bark, anything goes. The October program features a two day workshop with ...

From the guild newsletter, WeaveScape: An almost full house participated in the Christmas stocking workshop, based on a pattern developed by Dolores Von Rosen. In between, we took time out to enjoy the potluck lunch and put together a basket of goodies for the Chatham Cultural Centre ’s silent auction on December 6th. The market basket was made by Linda and it was filled with many handmade items donated by guild members including other small baskets. The winning bid came in at $175 and the Centre is very pleased that we put together such a wonderful donation that contributed to the success of their fundraising evening. Here we are, happy with our creations at the November workshop . . .

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