Weaving Magic: Woman's Passion for Basket-Making Tops Contest

With five years practice weaving baskets, Geri Coen entered one of her designs in a Waukesha County Fair contest not for glory but constructive criticism.

"I didn't care about the blue ribbon," said Coen of Waukesha. "I justed wanted the judges to tell me how I could improve and make it better."

Apparently she can't.

Coen won not only a blue ribbon, but a champion ribbon in the Senior Citizen contest's home furnishing category. And then her basket won the grand champion ribbon, the top award over all eight categories in the exhibit: cultural arts, photography, crafts, woodworking, knitting, crocheting, sewing and home furnishing.

It was the first time she entered a contest.

"I almost fell off my chair," she said. "I couldn't believe it. It was really exciting."

Basket-weaving has become a bit of a passion for Coen.

She has more than 100 baskets displayed in her basement. Some she gives away to family, friends and coworkers; others she sells.

The grand champion basket will be one of those she will keep. "I'm going to put it above my entertainment center," she said.

Fun, relaxing hobby

A friend persuaded Coen to take a basket-weaving class about five years ago. She had sewn her own clothes but otherwise wasn't a big arts and crafts person.

She got hooked on the hobby, enjoying choosing her own basket shapes, colors and designs.

"Every basket is different," Coen said. "It's just fun. It's very relaxing."

She's now a member of the Lake Country Basket Guild, which had a demonstration table at the Fair. Getting into the hobby is easy, she said. Supplies such as reeds, molds and starter kits can be found at East Troy Basketry and Menards. Baskets typically take about six to eight hours to make.

Her grand champion basket took about 12 hours. Created with a wooden oak base, she first made the inside of the basket and then used that as the mold to add another layer with the blue reeds. She finished it with the rim and lashing (the horizontal wraps around the rim) and ceramic handles.

A woman who judged her basket and other entries was very detailed, an obvious experts in all things crafts.

Coen was all smiles as she said she planned to take her basket and ribbons to work next week to show them off.

"I just had a blast with this," she said.