Last weekend I was away from home stitching with friends in Chincoteague, Virginia.
Located toward the Southern end of the Chesapeake Bay, Chincoteague is the entryway for Assateague Island National Park so the outdoors is full of inspiration...
And egrets, herons, ibis, kingfishers and other birds pepper the landscape...
Whenever this group of talented women gets together, there is lots of sharing...
And this year, Canby Robertson offered to teach us how to make pine needle baskets...
I wrote about Canby teaching at EGA National Seminar last post here.
After cleaning and prepping the pine needles that Canby had collected on our behalf, we used a size 20 chenille needle, C-lon cord, and a piece of drinking straw to craft our baskets...
Adding pine needles through the straw and stitching the coils into place...
Everyone chose their own color cord...
And the baskets were as unique as their makers...
The result after about two days was this nifty pile of prettiness...
I was thrilled to learn this new and practical technique using pine needles that I can collect in my woods...
Though mine was the smallest, I have big dreams of making more pine needle baskets...
While we were laboring over our wee woven works, Canby had finished an entire cracker basket...
Which she promptly turned around and gave to her friend Rosemary.
Gifts were given all around and teaching a new skill is the greatest gift of all. Thanks Canby.
If you're interested in pine needle basket making, Canby recommended this book by Judy Mallow.
And if you're interested in visiting Chincoteague, VA, I can't recommend the Hampton Inn highly enough. It's rated #1 in the country and they live up to their reputation!
And the oysters and scallops served here, and here, and here are out of this world. I know because I ate at all three...ahem...multiple times.
See you next time.
8 comments:
You certainly do the most interesting things with fellow stitchers. These pine needle baskets are perfection. Thank you for sharing the links for learning more. Looks like an amazing place to visit. Blessings...
It sounds like a wonderful few days. I'm astonished by the baskets - how lovely!
So interesting---the baskets are beautiful!
Love Chincoteague! How fun to learn to make those adorable baskets. Thanks for all the pictures.
some wonderful photos you have shared what a beautiful place. Never seen pine needles woven like this very impressive and practical too
I've always wanted to learn how to make pine needle baskets. I wish it wasn't illegal to pick up Torrey pine tree needles. Torrey pine trees are the rarest native pines in the United States, and each "cluster" has five needles, instead of the 3 you see more often. Your group, and your trip, sounds like a lot of fun. I remember as a young girl (back in the dark ages...lol) reading about the ponies of Chincoteague, and Assateague.
I always enjoy your posts. Keep up the good work.
xo Linda
Wow, I live in Northern B,.C. and I missed a free workshop on Pine Needling from local First Nations crafters. I'm so happy you went and posted this workshop. I can continue with my own pine needling now as a result. Thank you so much and while I'm here, I'd kind of forgot that you were this 'other' crazy stitcher to watch. I'm a crazy quilter, and I love your work!!
Would you be so kind as to participate with my Clever Embroidery Series?
carli the quilter at gmail dot com
What fun! My Mom used to do basketmaking, of pine needles, grasses, and just about anything she could get her hands on including the plastic industrial strapping and newspaper! As a girl, I used to play along with her occasionally, but haven't done anything like it since. Your post sure triggered a lovely bunch of memories for me!
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