Judy M. Mallow
Judy Mallow kindly posted this basket as a "teaching basket" for the Pine Needle Group members...to never give up on your basket! Thanks, Judy. Here's what she said about it:"Starting with a triangle agate set in resin...alternating solid wrap and
regular stitching coils using art. sinew.
Three solid wraps are left open to keep the triangle shape. The side walls
are stitched using a small diamond stitch and three more solid wraps left
open to follow through with the triangle shape.
"Here's a good example of 'how to fix a basket that needs help' meaning, I
hated the original basket once it was done...(it looked like a Easter egg
gone bad)....so I went back with the most outrageous color to accent the
muted purple color...to help 'perk' it up a bit. The turquoise waxed linen
worked well for this. I first did the faggoting in the bottom open spaces,
then I went back over the entire side walls of the basket, using the
turquoise thread to add a small accent stitch to each 'X' of the diamond
stitch.
"Last, but not least, I put the turquoise stones (howlite) into the remaining
three open spaces of the basket. I did this by drilling a small hole into
each stone , so the stones are stitched in....not glued.
"The point is....don't ever give up on a basket. Let the basket talk to
you....and if you will listen it will help guide you to make it better. This
basket took almost a year to complete....I kept it in a place where I would
see it everyday. Some days it didn't care to talk to me....other days it
would say 'when will you make an end, and let me go?' Then, one fine
day...there it was, the basket talked to me and we saw the end ...and made
it so!
"The basket measures 7 inches from tip to tip. 2 inches tall."
