Wheat Weaving and Straw Art: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Learning the Craft (Heritage Crafts) [Hardcover]

Linda D. Beiler (Author)

Book Description

Series: Heritage Crafts | Publication Date: March 10, 2009

Wheat weaving is an ancient folk art made to celebrate a successful harvest. Today straw designs are admired for their beauty and intricacy. In this volume, professional straw artist Linda D. Beiler provides expert advice on the tools and materials needed to get started, tips on preparing the straw, and 22 step-by-step projects for mastering the techniques of plaiting, folding, and spiraling, and for combining techniques and adding decorative touches. Helpful series photographs demonstrate the process for creating hearts, bows, Arabic cages, Welsh fans, and a variety of abstract pieces.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda D. Beiler lives in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, and is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, an artist in education with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and a member of the National Association of Wheat Weavers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; Spi edition (March 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811704920
• ISBN-13: 978-0811704922
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book for learning all about and "doing" wheat weaving, January 21, 2010

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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wheat Weaving and Straw Art: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Learning the Craft (Heritage Crafts) (Hardcover)

This spiral-bound book is exquisite and is perfect for the novice as well as experienced-weavers of wheat straw. The photos and instructions are clear, detailed and lovely to just look at. The author also includes a list of suppliers and resources such that there is no reason not to get started on weaving wheat asap and making ornaments not only for your Christmas tree but for other holidays, as well.

If you usually save your December issues of the Martha Stewart Living mag., you will find that in the Dec. 2001 issue--I think that's the date--Martha demonstrates how to make wheat straw ornaments which are very attractive. Apparently such ornaments are an ancient tradition celebrating the harvest of grain. It's a folk art that is easily learned, and Amazon has priced this book much lower than other suppliers.

I found the list of straw art terms to be very useful for me, a novice in this art. I had seen the term scandi on a supplier's Web site but no explanation of its meaning: According to this book, scandi is mass-produced, prepared plait, aka braid.

There are a number of projects in this book, and if you look at the cover, enlarged on Amazon, you will see a photo of a lovely wreath on the left side of the cover; that is project 14 in the book and one that I am anxious to try. The author also includes instructions for making straw stars and mounting them on notecards and demonstrates how to prepare straw marquetry to place on notecards by using paper punches to punch out various designs on flattened straw. There are even instructions for making drop earrings using straw! This is a great book, and I recommend it highly.