It was fantastic! The Lord gave me the opportunity to go away for a couple days to a weekend for basket weavers. It was held in Mentor OH, right on the Lake up north. You can see more about it here. The newspaper came and did an article on us and a short video which is also available on the site.
Besides an amazing weekend that sparked the fire of weaving inside me that had died from the years of not being able to, the Lord blessed me in many ways.
Saturday's basket, the handle is the fun part!
Friday's basket, Cherokee on Cedar or as I called it "the little bugger." 120 spokes 16 hours to weave!
The class I took on Friday, weaving what I affectionately call now, the "little bugger". Or Cherokee in Cedar.
The room the hotel let's us use to finish our projects from the day. We were there until 11pm weaving.
*I learned more about my weaving and corrections to make so my baskets form better.
*I met women (and men) from all over the U.S., one as far away as Alaska.
*A gift from the Lord: On Saturday there was a raffle of several items. I purchased 12 tickets, hoping to win SOMETHING. There was 3 "piles" if you will, of pattern books,weaving supplies, handles, basket decorations (add-on's), etc. One was a lime green tote bag to carry all your supplies in. I really wanted the tote bag because I saw most of the long time weavers had a similar bag to carry their tools. I ended up putting 11 of my tickets between the 2 piles of supplies and books and the last ticket in the bowl for the tote. The hope of winning the tote filled me with excitement.
I left to go to another room that had a vendor, Royalwood, to make some purchases of long needed tools. My name was called so I went in to see what they needed. I won one of the stacks of supplies. Yeah!! I was so excited because I usually don't win raffles. As I walked back in to finish my purchase, I heard my name called again. My first thought was "oh no I grabbed the wrong stack", so I hurried back in only to have them tell me I won again!! I was SO excited. Now I had 2 piles of books, handles, and supplies. As I grabbed my second winnnings and turned to walk away, my heart was filled with so much excitement when I heard my name called again, for the third time!! I won the lime green tote to carry all my loot in. How cool is that!?
As one friend said, not only did the Lord bless me with the spark inside being ingnited, but also gave me some books and supplies as if to say "yes, this is what I want you to do, oh and here is a bag to carry it all in." I could never have afforded all this without saving for a time for it all.
God knows what we need and if we are willing to step out in faith, He will be there to bless our efforts. Know Him. Trust Him. He will always be faithful to you.
God's peace,
Dee
