A Photo Journal of the

Cedar Weaving Weekend Workshop

June 16th and 17th, 2012

This past weekend we were honored to have Jessica Casey back for another fantastic cedar weaving workshop. This time, she brought participants through the process from beginning to end -  from harvesting the bark, to splitting and preparing it, to weaving this incredible material into a beautiful and functional basket.  

Day 1: Robert is about to pull a strip off the cedar tree. He is careful to ensure the strip is not more than two hands wide so that the tree can properly heal.

Day 1: Laura tries her hand at harvesting the cedar bark.

Day 1: Participants seperate the outer bark from the inner bark before leaving the forest.

Day 1: The inner bark is bundled and brought back to the museum for the next day's basket weaving.

Day 1: The group head back to the Museum and spend the rest of the afternoon splitting the cedar bark into strips. In this photo, Chris, Etienne, & Robert use a leather stipper to save time (and hands) from the laborious process of cutting uniform strips.

Day 2: After a night of soaking in water, the cedar strips and twine are ready to be used for weaving.

Day 2: Renate begins the process by laying out the warp and weft.

Day 2: The base is finished and she is starting to twine around the edge.

Day 2: Kate has finished the base of her basket.

Day 2: Kjerstin is focused on the steps involved in weaving both the weft and the twine. It's harder than it looks!

Day 2: Kate's basket has started to emerge!

Day 2: Beth's completed basket - it's beautiful!

Day 2: Group photo of  happy cedar weavers with their baskets.
Top L to R: Etienne, Kjerstin, Jessica, Renate, Chris, and Robert.
Bottom L to R: Paula, Mila, Kate, and Beth.