Basket weaving classes

I took a basket weaving class in February  at a local quilt shop. It made me want to start weaving again. I did it before I had children but I had to stop after I had kids. I just didn't have time or resources.  I did some internet searches looking for classes. I found the Tennessee Basket Association. They have a convention every year and teach classes. I joined and signed up for two classes. I was afraid to take more than that. I wasn't sure my skills were up to take more than that. 

The first class was taught by Billy Owens. He cuts down the white oak trees and cuts the reeds himself. His company was started by his Dad and is family owned. They sell the reeds and baskets plus he teaches. I loved the class. He was so helpful and such a good teacher. Plus I now own a white oak basket that I made. We made it on a mold, a first for me.

My next class was taught by the husband and wife team of Mary and Jimmy Earl McKenzie. I took it because it was built on a wood base. I had never done that either. In fact I learned several new techniques. The only thing I had done was straight weaving. The basket turned out beautifully.

I also won a door prize. Plus they gave us a goody bucket full of awesome stuff. It was a wonderful experience. Next year the convention is in Alcoa. I hope to take a class or two a day. I find weaving so relaxing. 

Vacations

It has been a long time since I posted. Life has been busy. Vacations being part of the distraction. The first trip was to Hilton Head with my sister, Marian and my daughter, Taylor. It was a great trip. The weather was extremely hot. Taylor and I spent most of the time in the pool. We played games and ate lots of ice cream. 

The second trip this summer was actually two trips. We began the trip going to Blowing Rock, North Carolina. It was Mom, sisters Karen and Marian and me. We drove up on Sunday stopping first in Gastonia to visit MaryJo's Fabric store. I had heard this store had the biggest fabric selection and was overwhelming. There was a lot of fabric. It would be a great place to go if you had something specific in mind. I only bought 3 yards of fabric. 

Then we drove on to our hotel which was actually in Lenoir. That town is about 15 minutes away from Blowing Rock. We drove over and had dinner there on Sunday at the Canyons Restaurant. It has a great view. The food is just fair. On Monday we went to the Blowing Rock which was beautiful. Then we wondered around town. Prices were a little high but we did stumble across a book sale at the library. The library was so quaint- they still check out books with patrons signing a card in the back of the book. 

Tuesday we intended to visit Grandfather Mountain but it was pouring rain. We decided to check out the quilt shops in Boone. Then we went to see the movie "Inside Out". It was cute. Kind of a bummer that we had to miss the mountain. That night we played a game in the room.

On Wednesday we headed home. While driving around we discovered an entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since I was driving I opted to go home on it. Interstate 40 was a mess so I thought the Parkway would be fun. It was a beautiful drive. It was also extremely scary in a couple of places. It got so foggy at one point you couldn't see. Then we started running into tunnels. Lots of tunnels. It was fine until one of the last ones. It was pitch black and Mom's lights that were supposed to come on automatically did not come on. I ended up at a dead stop in the middle of the tunnel. I think I scared poor Mom to death. We pulled off an exit right after that and found an Arts and Craft center. Beautiful stuff inside. There was a woman there demonstrating basket weaving. I started talking to her since the next day I was headed to Kingsport to take 2 basket weaving classes. She mentioned the name Billy Owens who I was talking a class from. It was pretty neat. Here are pictures from Blowing Rock.

I forgot to say we visited the very first Mast General. That was fun.