Coils and Twists

Kerry Vincent provided the prompt for this writing on Squidoo. “Write about what kind of basket would hold your culture, your thoughts, your art? What materials would it be made of? What if that were no longer available? (Sweetgrass supplies are very limited in the American southeast today.) What colors would you use? What shape would it be? Would it have a lid, or handles? How do you tell when it’s full? How do you protect your basket? Did you weave or coil it? Can you teach the technique to someone else?”

There’s a mystery to baskets for those of us who admire them but think we don’t have the skills to make our own. Made of woven materials, coils and twists they’re tactile objects, yet robust enough to do duty for fetching and carrying. Baskets are vessels that nurture and protect the things we love, when full the cup running over with plenty, when empty a container we can fill to overflowing with good things of all sorts.

I’ve always owned and admired baskets. I love them as receptacles for precious items that can be left around my house. They’re far more beautiful than plastic boxes and just as functional. My varied collection is made from willow, cane, sea grass, reed and wire. One of my favourites is a small African basket brought home by a friend from South Africa made from recycled telephone wires closely woven to form a simple pattern.

I’ve always been a stitcher; over the years I’ve used baskets as places to stash my project and materials. My embroidery threads and scraps of fabric only make sense to me if they’re in a basket I can reach into, dig deep and find the perfect colour. I love the feel of the fibres and the textures as I reach into the depths. After a bad day at work being able to feel my treasures and run my hands through them makes my heart sing.

The basket to hold my culture, thoughts and art will one I create for myself. I can see what I want to do already in my mind’s eye, coils of fabric, scraps left over from projects I’ve completed over the years, from clothes I’ve loved and no longer wear, from fabric that has always been too beautiful to cut,  and fabric I’ve hand dyed and decorated. The fabrics I’ll be using will represent things that are important to me as a stitcher and evocative of the creative culture that goes with the arts and crafts that I love. I’m going to enjoy twisting and tying the fabrics together, letting the raw edges and loose threads mingle and become enmeshed as I work. I’m planning to stitch the surface with threads I’ve treasured and haven’t yet found had the right project for, using stitches I’ve learnt over the years. I’m not sure that I’ll plan the size and shape, I’m just going to coil my fabrics into rings, building up the base and sides, stitching them together letting the twists and coils drive the shape and size. I may craft a handle on either side to pick my basket up by. As I stitch, I’ll be stitching my hopes for the protection that my basket will give to my thoughts into the base, asking it to nurture them and help them germinate into realities. As I coil my fabrics I will be twisting my wishes for the ability to complete a creative endeavour each and every day into the sides of the basket.

There’s no time like the present for making a start twisting and coiling my ideas, thoughts and materials into a basket.