Completed Cornucopia

As an added bonus I completed two Christmas Star cards in readiness for the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild Show and Exhibition on the Halloween weekend. Each Guild member is expected to supply three of such art cards. (The third card was a disaster as I attempted to design a spital with beads.)




The cornucopia is finished and is ready to be filled with Thanksgiving items and placed on the communion table at Glen Cairn United Church on the 11th.








Its shape is unique.








The white band on the interior is made from white willow, willow stripped of its bark in the spring. The finishing border is of a style I work on rarely, but it seems quite effective.

Cornucopia continued

I was able to spend two-and-a-half more hours on the cornucopia. That was insufficient to finish it. Still, it is progressing.

I have added another set of stakes to a total of sixty-four. Tomorrow I plan to weave five more rows of three rod waling and then finish the basket with a border. It should be completed by noon tomorrow.

CORNUCOPIA: beginning stages

I was asked a few weeks ago to design and make a "Cornucopia" for the Thanksgiving Service" at my local church, Glen Cairn United Church. Canadian Thanksgiving is the weekend of October 11th, 12th and 13th. Today, I decided to start on this project





As you can see, a morning's work has the cornucopia well under way. I started by fastening two pieces of cane together in an "X" shape using a plastic tie. The tie is practically invisible now. I then used the finest of the canes I have to begin the tail end of the cornucopia. This was woven around the four cane lengths of the "X". The fine cane is natural coloured (undyed.) I slowly began to flare out that cane. When it reached an appropriate diameter in width, I switched to a larger size cane to weave with. This was dyed brown.


I continued to flare the weaving and soon was able to add four more stakes. As the bell of the cornucopia grew wider, I added eight more stakes, and then sixteen.

Currently I have embellished the cornucopia with two bands of flat cane. I have some fine white-willow soaking and hope to add several bands of this to the cornucopia later today or tomorrow. I hope this will be effective as well as beautiful. The next blog will show the finished product, I hope.

I will not see the display on the 12th since I will be taking part in the West Carleton Arts Society's "Expression of Art 2009" Exhibition and Sale in Carp, Ontario that weekend. I will try to remember to ask Anne to take the camera to chuch that day and take photos of the display.