From Sheri’s Studio….

May is unusually a Marathon month for a school teacher. Your best laid plans can give way to many interruptions during this last full month of school. All of them are well intended, but trying to complete all of your projects from your curriculum during these remainder days of school can be daunting! Of course, I added one event to the mix. The Spanish teacher and I planned a bus trip to the Detroit Institute of Art with his students and my Advanced Art Students. We traveled by Charter Bus as his students sold lunches once a week to help raise money. The thought of riding over 4 hours on a school bus just made me cringe. With this bus and a bathroom we could cut our time down by at least 1 hour each way. We were able to view the Diego Rivera frescos for the Spanish students and take in the Ashcan Special Exhibit and also tour the Impressionism Artists that we were studying in class. Definitely a great trip with a neat group!

Winding up the year was busier than ever with exams, graduation, Senior Breakfast, turning in grades by computer, cleaning up an Art room, turning in receipts, work repairs and supply requests. Then of course, open houses-all the fun!

Well now that all this is behind me, summer is here which of course means Vacation Bible School! Guess who is in charge of all the Crafts? Yes, it is me! I dearly love little children; our program is usually blessed with over 125 kids or more! I have even worked in 2 projects using scrap pieces of reed-should be fun!

Now for this issue-check out my “Peach Gourd”. Here is a wonderful project using a cut opening and drilled holes. Insert round reed and weave; add seagrass and beads along with my trademark, seashells to complete this one. A woven base makes this painted curved gourd “sit” pretty.

 My “Reed Diffuser” in continuous weave will be an accent in any room while a slight aroma travels up the cut round reed. Using caning in various sizes for spokes, weavers, and the rim. These diffusers can be expensive so weave your own and use the “recipe” included to create your own special and cost effective smell.

My “Seashell Pouch” is a great exercise using various sizes of round reed weaving in natural and dyed reed. Weave with the various sizes to create valleys in the pouch and shape with a braided border. I added a grouping of my trademark seashells in 2 places on the front both inside and outside the pouch to accent.

 My “Shuttle Basket” is dedicated to teachers who helped me with loom weaving. These tall baskets were originally designed to hold the shuttles that held the warp to create your weaving piece on a tapestry or floor loom. Use now as a wall basket; decorate this high back piece with silk ivy, flowers or wood pieces.

Jackie Carlson, a special weaving friend is featured here with 2 twill challenges for weavers in ash. The first is called “Turtle” and can be woven in 1 or 2 colors. These shallow trays are a fairly easy twill pattern; or weave just the base and frame this 4 legged favorite critter using ash or 3/16” or 7mm dyed reed.

 Jackie Carlson’s “Frog on a Cat” is a frog twill pattern using natural and dyed ash on a cat head basket-thus the name! This one is more of a challenge. The grid is featured here in the Magazine, but if you wish to see a color grid, visit the website, go to the "Pattern Exchange" Page,  and feel free to print out this one and the “Turtle” for your own weaving enjoyment!

Enjoy these projects and the long days of Summer! Relax, toss your weaving project in the lake or pool to soak and weave, weave, weave!

Happy Summer!
Happy Weaving!