Exchange Basket Received: Brenda Magers to Marianne Barnes

This marvelous Summertime Exchange basket was made by Brenda Magers and sent to Marianne Barnes.

Brenda says: "For a summer theme I used a piece of coral for the start, attached shells and tried to pick bright colors. My dyed needles come out pretty dark so I picked an orange and green because they were the lightest and are fairly summery colors. My current basketry obsession is to coil the needles so the basket is a different color on the inside then it is on the outside. I think it makes a nice look. This was also the first time I tried a footer. I had to because the start was not flat. It was much easier than I thought it would be! I’ve only been doing baskets since March so I hope my recipient likes it.


Marianne was obviously taken with it, and wrote: "I was so excited to receive my exchange basket today. brenda sent it to me and she said she was a beginner but her work looks beautiful! The basket was started on a small piece of corral. Amazing!! Yhe pineneedles are green inside the baslet and natural on the outside. She attached shells from the outside that she collected at the beach. She lives on the SC coast and guess what?! I live in SC too but near the mountains. Thank you so much Brenda for a wonderful awesome basket!!"

Such a nice job, Brenda. It doesn't look like a beginner basket to me, either. Facing with contrasting colored needles is a technique that not many coilers use, and you did a great job with it!