From the very beginning, Walter Schutz felt Washington Island was the ideal place for learning and specifically as a place for Sievers School of Fiber Arts. He wrote in 1979, “What could be more ideal than creating in pleasant surroundings such as these?” Also, “…a positive cultural advance – the Island is ideally suited for this. I am convinced (Sievers) would not be as successful in other places…” and, from 1984, “I hope, too, that it will help you regard the Island with more reverence, help maintain its rustic, unspoiled atmosphere and above all keep it, as much as possible, the sort of place it is. It truly is ‘north of the tension line’ (and) opens the door to the […]
Three at a time
We’re back on schedule now with this post which covers three classes held in early August; Beading: Composing Components with Francie Broadie, the Beadwork Alumni Studio and Finding Our Way: A Dyeing Journey with Stephanie Lewis Robertson. We were very happy to welcome Francie and this new class to our 2021 schedule. Francie first came to Sievers in 2009 as a student in a Diane Fitzgerald beadwork class and has gone on to take many more beadwork as well as several fabric printing and dyeing classes here. She taught a workshop at the Sievers Gathering in 2018 and was scheduled to offer Composing Components in 2020. This was another new class that was long overdue! Students worked on creating rings, […]
Two at a time-part two
We’re back to the last week of July and two “painterly” classes, Weaving: Paint Your Warp! with Lynn Novotnak and Marbling Intensive: Paper & Fabric with Nancy Akerly. Both had the opportunity to experiment and play with color and there were many new and exciting reveals in each class. Students in Lynn’s class began by painting two tencel warps, one to weave while here and another to take home. This was one of the new classes scheduled for 2020 and after being put on hold, it was a delight to welcome Lynn as an instructor. Her first class as a weaving student at Sievers was in 1999 and she has taken many weaving (and knitting) classes since then. The first […]
Two at a time-part one
These summer weeks are going by so quickly! In a few days, we’ll have reached the half-way point in our classes for the 2021 season. To continue to catch up with the past several classes, there will be three consecutive “Two at a time” posts to bring you up to date. We start the week of July 19 – 26 and two classes taught by Mary Sue Fenner, “One-Of-A-Kind Jacket” and “Sew a Patchy Vest”. Learning from Mary Sue and using her mix of contemporary and classic methods brings the fabrics, patterns and students together in a special way. Her array of garments is inspiring, fun, eclectic and amazing. Students brought fabulous fabrics for the 5-day jacket class and worked […]
Catching up
It’s been three weeks since our last post so it’s well past time to catch up with what’s been happening at Sievers. After a short break in classes over the Fourth of July, Sandy De Master and Mary Germain were here for their Baltic Knitting Extravaganza class. Knitters new to Latvian and Estonian knitting began with a lined, ornament-sized mitten and went on to design their own pair or other project. The hardest part is deciding which of the many great color and motif inspirations to choose! These mittens deserve a hand (and these hands deserve the mittens)! What can we say about Rigid Heddle Weaving with Deb Jones? It’s a fast-paced weaving experience, complete with excellent instruction, beautiful yarns, […]
The latest four
In the past four classes, four separate fiber arts were represented in the Sievers studios. Those four were: surface design (Batik Alumni Studio), weaving (Beyond Beginning: Weaving with Nancy Adams), stitchery (Japanese Temari Techniques with Judith Yamamoto and Kathy Broer) and basketry (Splint-Woven Basketry: Independent Study with Jeanette Biederman). The Batik Alumni Studio was a way for previous batik students at Sievers to return and work outside the formal class structure to share ideas, get feedback from each other and design/wax/dye…repeat. Mary Jo Scandin, who taught Batik classes here for many (wonderful) years, came as part of the Alumni group. Reviewing the warping and weaving process and choosing projects appropriate for next-step weavers was the focus of the Beyond Beginning: […]
Patterns
From the crisp, clean patterns of Scandinavian weaving to the infinite patterns created with Shibori resist-dyeing, to twill patterns for beginning weavers, there have been a multitude of patterns in the first few classes this season. We begin with Connie Westbrook’s Simply Scandinavian weaving class and her beautiful handwoven samples including table linens, garments and home décor pieces she brought to inspire the students. Like the samples, each student’s project was unique and beautiful. Each afternoon Fika was served (should’ve taken a photo of those treats!) and a tour of the Washington Island Stavkirke were both extra-special additions to the class. There is no end to the patterns that can be achieved using indigo and the Japanese technique of Shibori […]
A great start to June
June is off to a great start for many reasons. First and foremost, the studios will be alive all month with creative people who quilt, weave, dye, stitch and make baskets. The Open Quilt Studio started it all off with ten quilters working on a variety of projects and making time to re-connect with each other, Sievers and Washington Island. Also, the start of June brought a change in our practices to more closely follow the current CDC guidelines as they pertain to our classes and to the shop. We are now following their wording which states: “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing masks or physical distancing.” Therefore, if you are fully vaccinated, you will not need to […]
