My next little book is all planned out, but I found that there was something else that I needed to do first – Finish that basket that I began back in February.
It’s been calling to me for some time and I have done my best to ignore it, but over the past couple of months I have come to realise that I shouldn’t have to ignore it.
I love making baskets.
Taking a step away from them for the past 6 months has been hugely beneficial. Taking time to explore other possibilities and just given fuel to the fire of my enthusiasm for basketmaking and given me heaps of new ideas, for combining applique, embroidery and quilting with basketry.
So I was delighted to pick this one up, last week and begin where I left off – on the top section, but with the benefit of all that I have learned this year.
I know that I can be an “all or nothing” sort of person.
But life, just like my basketry, is a practice and I am always learning. I think that I have learned a lot over the past decade about the importance of balance. I still struggle with it, but I am constantly in search of it.
The reason that I tend to have an “all or nothing” reaction, is because I throw myself at everything with 100% of my energy and enthusiasm. I want to give my best to everything that I do. Sometimes that leaves me feeling that I just can’t take on anything else. How could I possibly give it the attention that it deserves?
Well I have come to realise, that a rich variety of interests doesn’t have to mean that I’m spreading myself too thin.
Different aspects of my life can feed off each other, making way for new ideas, fresh approaches and renewed enthusiasm.
After all, “a change is as good as a rest”.
So I used what I have learned, from working with applique and quilting over the last few months, to finish this basket.
I have applied fabric to the surface of my work before, but have previously used a framework of coil to form the attachment. Now I am using the same needle turn applique technique that I have been using in my wall-hangings.
It has worked really well, and it opens up so many possibilities for further development.
Most excitingly (for me) it holds the key to the visual storytelling that I was interested in developing back at the start of 2026.
If I hadn’t taken a break, I might not have found that answer.
This is of course, just the beginning of that journey and I have a lot more questions and answers before me, but I am really pleased with how this basket has turned out and I will be continuing to work on basketry and quilted pieces in tandem, letting the ideas flow back and forth between them.
