Finishing with a flourish

Finishing our 2016 season of classes with a flourish of color and design were eight students in Deb Sharpee’s Rag Rug Weaving class.  It’s such fun to see the rugs come to life.  Many times, the fabrics used in the rugs have stories behind them.  Every time, students go home with one, two or more rugs that are sure to delight the floors awaiting them!

  

This teal and grey Diamond rag rug is a gem!

  

     

Deb brings a mangle for students to prepare fabric strips for weaving.

  

  

  

These rugs are sure to make happy feet!

  

When we started our first class of the season on June 3, we didn’t realize how quickly the next five months would pass.  Looking back, we saw 372 students enrolled in over 40 classes.  This season, 82% of the students had taken a Sievers class previously.  Thank you for that.  It really is a testament to what you bring: your enthusiasm for learning and spending time with established and new fiber friends, your fondness for Washington Island with all it has to offer,  your desire for creative pursuits and your willingness to do something nice for yourself.  We are so grateful for our instructors who are knowledgeable and encouraging while sharing what they love.  All together, to use a phrase from Walter Schutz, it makes for a magical place.

To capture all the hours on our last day of classes, October 22nd, we began with the sunrise and finished with the sunset.

  

Several years ago, on the last day of class, one of the Willow Harvest and Weave students wrote the following poem:

Creativity

smolders beneath the surface,

Sievers fans the fire!

 

Listen to the wind

whispering of long-held dreams

and gently waking me…

 

Life’s constants are rare

like a continuous thread

running straight through time.

 

From north, south, east and west,

we return to the Island…

yearly migration!      J.H.

 

Before the last students left Sievers for the ferry, leaving our 2016 season behind, we were already looking forward to a 2017 migration!