My friend's have been busy.

February 28, 2012

My friend's have been busy.  Especially the ones with power tools.  Below you will see pictures of sliced tree limbs with drilled holes for Pine needle basket center's.  I am fully loaded up for a while!

I have some round Oak that was cut for a childhood project for Cub Scouts and sat around in my friend's shed for many years .   (I heard him outside with a chain saw while I was visiting and asked if he could slice a branch for me.) Since he already had the wood all her husband only had to drill the holes for me.  Beautiful, and already dry and seasoned. 

I also got the thrill of seeing some of my first cross stitch and crochet pieces in their home being used as we speak, years after making them.  It makes me so very proud. :-)

Then I had already called another friend and asked him during one of his trips to the woods (he is an avid outdoors-man) to keep an eye out for a piece of Cedar for me.  He cut and drilled about 25 pieces for me. Some I even stripped the bark off of.  WOOOHOOOOO!  

We were cooking out using some split Oak instead of charcoal and I asked for a couple of slices of it also.  They are a little larger and triangular in shape.  I hope I can actually get a different shape than just round with those.  I can pine needle coil for a long time with all of these centers.  I really like the aesthetic that they give to the basket.

Here are a couple pictures of my loot.  At the top are the Cedar slices.  Of course you can see the triangular ones and they are Oak.  Then you see the round seasoned Oak...the little squiggles are bark from some of the Cedar.  At the very bottom my last two pieces of Pine slice.  They will all be sanded of course and I have found that the sap in the Pine is very difficult to sand without an electric sander (too bad mine is in storage).  I am doing them by hand and that is why I am looking into other wood options.  The fact that they are free is incentive also.  I do favor the Pine though in keeping with the Pine 'theme'.  My labor, the sanding, is free also...lol.

Here are some close ups...later I will show them to you when they have been sanded as an 'after' shot.

And guess what?  My sister showed mine off and as a result I have two small commission baskets to do!  I think I will make a few samples and place a sign in her restaurant and at her booth in the farmer's market for 'Customized Pine baskets', your choice of thread color, type of wood center and size.  Wish me luck.