Coiling is a fun and easy basket weaving technique. Learn how to attach hand-dyed Danish cord to the edge of a gourd, how to weave open and closed coiling, and how to attach a row of beads to the coil. Choose from several color combinations of gourds, Danish cord, and waxed linen thread to personalize your own creation. Select your color preference when you register. Jane will share her own technique of dyeing the gourd and cording to match. You should be able to finish this project in class. No weaving experience is required. Your finished piece will be about 5"x5"x4".

Oregon bitter cherry tree is a deciduous tree that grows in many forests across Oregon. The trees are native to western North America; the trunks appear to be dark reddish brown or gray with white splotches and horizontal lenticels (raised pores that allow for gas exchange through the bark). We will have the opportunity to get both inner and outer bark. This is a private land owner.

Join us for willow plot maintenance and willow bark harvest this June. Meet at the Guild’s willow plot (located at Our Table Cooperative) to weed the perimeter, maintain the landscape fabric, and do other willow gardening chores. We will work on the plot from 9am to 10:30am and harvest bark from 10:30am to noon. Wear appropriate gardening gear and come prepared for the weather.

Guild members are invited to our willow plot at the Our Table Cooperative farm to both learn about and help with willow growing. We will also have dry willow for sale.

The Guild’s cedar bark (Thuja plicata) gathering is scheduled for Friday, May 23, 2025, 9:30am PT. This gathering is at Kalama Forest Products in Kalama, WA. These are cut trees. You can get as much cedar as you can process that day. Processing means stripping sections from logs and then removing the outer bark. Click this event to learn more and sign up.

Dangle nature from a fresh perspective! In this creative workshop, you'll craft a beautiful hanging planter from ethically harvested white paper birch bark. As you weave this geometric basket, you'll gain hands-on experience with birch bark processing while learning about the history and ecological significance of this incredible natural material. This planter is designed to be around 4 inches in diameter, making it ideal for succulents, ivy, or air plants. You'll leave with a unique, handcrafted vessel ready to bring spring into your space.

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver in 1825. For over 30 years, Fort Vancouver, located in present-day Vancouver, Washington, served as the fur trading company's administrative headquarters, and provided supplies for a network of forts in the region. In the Guild’s April general meeting, Meagan Huff will talk about her work with the museum collections at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, where today she serves as its curator.

In this 3-hour class you will create a 2.5" tall, 7" diameter basket, in a hexagonal open weave pattern. Working with flat reed, we’ll learn how to: weave in three directions (triaxial weaving) and do a basic lashing around the rim of a basket. In the 1800s and early 1900s, larger versions of this basket were used in cheesemaking, as a way to drain cheese curds by the religious group the Shakers. Line your finished basket with a linen cloth, and it works great as a small serving dish for things like bread.

For the Guild’s April General Meeting, Aleut artist Ceara Lewis will share her art journey - where she started and how she continues to grow and learn new art practices. She will start with how she learned to weave from Connie Graves and later Greg Archuleta, both members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. This led to an apprenticeship under respected carver Greg Robinson, Chinook. Says Ceara: “The melding of traditional and contemporary art forms is a metaphor for resilience of Native people in their ability to honor their traditional practices and values while adapting to Western lifestyles. My art is an extension of my Aleut heritage and the final products of my work are the stories and lessons from my relatives and ancestors that I wish to share with the world.”

Did you see the call to artists for CBBG’s recycled materials show? Would you like to participate but don’t know how to get started with repurposed materials? Or maybe you’d just like to play with alternative materials and create basketry forms. In this class we will be using a large variety of materials that were gathered before they landed in the landfill. We will talk about how to spot useable materials, where to source discarded items, and how to clean and process the ones we have. We will then be using a number of basketry techniques to create one-of-a-kind woven vessels. We will use combinations of twining, plaiting, and coiling to create our sculptural baskets. Come start or further explore working with recycled materials! The size of your piece will vary from 2" to 12".

Choose from an array of colorful gourds, cords, and threads to create this project. Coiling techniques used are: open, closed, and floating. Your mailed kit will include pre-finished gourd, hand-dyed Danish cord, waxed linen thread, drill bit, needle, Tiger Tape, beads, and step-by-step color instructions. Your completed project will measure 5-1/2"h x 5-1/2"w.

Stand out in the crowd with this colorful tote you've crafted for your next outing! Select from three vibrant color schemes, each featuring a matching leather handle. The tote's height is adjustable—add more rows of weaving for a taller tote that can hold numerous items, or fewer for a compact version ideal as a purse. This sturdy tote starts with inserting natural and dyed reed spokes into a racetrack base. Techniques include triple twine with a step up, basic over under weave, double triple twine, 4 Rod Wale using yarn, and a traditional lashed rim. Your completed project will measure 11-13"h x 13"w x 7"d.

Using 4+ colors of 4-ply waxed linen, we will weave around an antique glass bottle. We will explore creating patterns using two and three strand twining, twining up and down to the right. Your finished project will measure 3-4"h x 2"w.

 If Cat’s Head baskets have flummoxed you, this is the class you need! Students will learn how to weave a square base with an overlay, weave the sides so that the corners are pointed from the first row, shape the sides into a globe, and rim with philodendron wreath and waxed linen.  Then Anne will show you how to shape the philodendron sheath so that it is molded to the basket. Your project will be 6.5"h x 9.5"d.

Starting with a “twisted” willow frame, create a bowl-shaped basket from willow using rib-style techniques. All steps in creating this basket will be taught in class, including: frame construction, lashing, scalloming, shaping with ribs, and weaving with willow. This is a very good basket for the beginner who wants to learn basic basketry skills with gathered materials. The dimensions of the finished basket are: 12"x12"Wx5"H

Jo Campbell Amsler, master willow weaver, will share stories about the trip she organized to work with basket weavers in Shetland, Orkney, and Scotland. Her slide show will focus on the basketry of those areas, and will include stories of those places and their people.  Jo Campbell Amsler (she/her) has been weaving baskets with willow since 1981. Her work is featured in magazines, books, and seen in exhibits across the U. S.

Do you love designing with color and pattern? Do you love wearable art? Do you love minis? If you said yes to any of the above then this is the class for you! We will design and make 1-2 tiny baskets. You will have a chance to decide on size, pattern, color, and whether or not you’d like to wear your piece(s). We will choose to work with a mix of waxed linen, embroidery thread, and wool yarn to create our pieces.

Join us online, Thursday, February 20, 2025 for a look at Pamela Becker’s exquisite coiled artworks. She will discuss her sources of inspiration, materials, and her journey into basketry. “I live in a three-dimensional world that has translated into a lifetime of working that way. Things I see are rendered in different ways but always abstractly into forms made using some sort of flexible material (be it fabric, linen & rayon threads, reed, ribbons, etc.),” Pamela Becker says. See more of Pamela’s work, by clicking here.

Gather pre-cut red osier dogwood trimmings at Hoyt Arboretum, in Portland, OR. Red osier dogwood is a native shrub of the Pacific Northwest, with beautiful shades of red, orange and green. Weave it fresh; do your project as soon as possible because the bark damages easily when dried and rehydrated. This is a free gathering for CBBG members only, however registration is required. Click this event to register.

Explore the basics of weaving a simple basket with this fun mini-heart design. This class will cover weaving a heart-shaped base with flat reed spokes, single twining the sides, and finishing with a simple lashed rim with sea grass. We will use flat reed, cane, plain & colored round reed, and sea grass. You finished project will be 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 2 1/4".

Join instructor Chris Bush, of Twisted Fibers Basketry, in this 3-hour online class; you will weave a miniature market-style basket. The skills you will learn are: creating an open weave base, continuous weave for the sides, a reed handle, and lashing the rim with waxed linen. Your completed piece will be about 2-1/2” wide and tall, plus handle.

Join us online for our January general meeting, with Elizabeth Kallenbach. Elizabeth is the Assistant Director of Anthropological Collections at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Using archaeological examples from the Paisley Caves, Elizabeth will highlight native plants that have been used by Oregon weavers for millennia. She will also discuss the introduction of commercial fibers during the 19th century, based on baskets from the collections at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Like many of us, Anne Bowers discovered basketry – and the rest, as they say, is history. But unlike most of us, she turned her passion into her career. Anne, who lives in West Virginia, will be the 2025 Tidal Twinings Retreat Featured Teacher, and our December meeting will be a good time for CBBG members to meet her and see her work. Join us on Zoom. Anne will show us her studio, some of her newer baskets, and explain the style of ribbed basket weaving.