It has been a very long time since I even worked on the web site or updated it! Retirement has been way too busy and fun to have time to do computer work! I have been weaving and designing a few new baskets recently. I have also been working hard at getting the Quilt Show baskets ready for classes this year and also weaving new designs for next year. Part of getting ready for this years Quilt Show involved staining reed for one of the classes. This is something I used to do to help prevent dye bleeding. When you have a basket that combines natural and dyed reed weavers and spokes it is difficult to keep the dyed reed from bleeding onto the natural while you are weaving. Not impossible but difficult especially if you are teaching a class with beginners. My trick was to stain the spokes and weavers before I started weaving the basket. I would use a diluted mixture of natural stain (mixed with odorless mineral spirits). Unfortunately I found that using the Minwax natural stain left the reed with a very strong odor that took months to dissipate. So this time I opted for using a very light stain diluted with mineral spirits. By using a light stain you won’t affect the color of the reed. I used golden oak for the stain. This color is pretty light and did not change the color on the reed at all. I also went ahead and dipped a couple of baskets that I had sitting around. By looking at the baskets you can see how light the actual stain is.
All of this work this morning brought back fun memories of the staining classes I would hold at the shop! This was the best way to stain baskets! You had no mess at your house, you could stain bunches at a time and you had fun doing it! Happy Weaving Monica