On a night, 25 years ago, Judy Mallow stood in her North Carolina backyard and looked up at the stars for inspiration. She was seeking inspiration for what to do with her life when a brilliant shooting star streaked across the night sky. Judy interpreted it as a sign to take herself in a new direction. The next day she began a new life making pine-needle baskets. As a child, Judy had learned the craft of pine needle basketry from her grandmother. "It's very peaceful and calming, almost like meditating," she says. "Pine needle basketry originated in the south. It started with the Queixa Indians (pronounced Cashada) in Louisiana and Alabama, and the Seminoles in Florida, because pine needles were abundant in their areas." Although any type of pine needle can be used, Judy prefers the southern long-leaf pine, which averages 10 to 12 inches in length. To begin, she boils the needles for approximately 30 minutes. This softens them and brings out the resin, which makes them less prone to breakage. Pine needles usually grow in small bundles and are held together at one end by a fascicle -- or "end cap", as Judy calls it. This end cap must be removed from the needles without separating the needles. Judy has created a tool she calls a "capper" to make this easier. Starting the basket requires a centerpiece to wrap the pine needles around. "You can start with a wood, leather or metal center," Judy says, "anything that you can drill holes into can be used." Like her grandmother, Judy's trademark center is a slice of a black walnut. She begins by taking a few of the decapped pine needles and inserts them into a small piece of copper tubing she calls a gauge. The tube is about one inch in length and flared at one end to facilitate easier needle insertion. The tubing compresses the needles and allows them to be more easily manipulated. Using a strong nylon basketry thread (figure A), Judy sews the end of the needle bunch to the hole in the centerpiece. She continues wrapping the pine needles around the centerpiece while sewing them together with a plain stitch. As she stitches, Judy moves the copper tube along the length of the needle bundle. When nearing the end of one bunch of pine needles, she inserts more needles keeping the diameter of the bunch consistent. "It's really very simple," Judy explains. "It's just stitching. It's repetition." When she finishes, Judy applies a coat of shellac to help preserve the basket. Then about every 30 years, clean it with a soft brush and apply another coat of shellac. Pine needles baskets are amazingly durable, and if you give them a little care, they'll last many lifetimes.
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