Recently, it was looms to the right of us and looms to the left in Rita Hagenbruch’s Halvdrall and Monk’s Belt class in the Sophie Studio, joined by Nancy Frantz teaching eight beginning weavers on our Sievers table looms in the Walter Studio. The samples Rita brought were so inspiring. Some commented that they could never bring themselves to actually use such fine handwovens. But Rita reminded them that unless they are used regularly at family dinners, holidays and the like, they don’t become heirlooms. Only when they are part of your memories do they become most valuable. This piece (also shown at the top of the page) was fresh off the loom at the time of the class visit […]
1000 Words
The adage, “a picture is worth 1000 words” is the theme for this post featuring photos from our early August companion classes, Diane Fitzgerald’s “Beading: Inspiration from Everywhere” and Stephanie Lewis Robertson’s “Making Your Mark: A Fabric Journey”. As it turns out, one thousand words equals about two full pages of writing. We will forego all those words and share photos from the classes instead. First, just a bit about each class. The beaders had selected a theme that appealed to them personally, researched it, then developed a concept and based on that, created beadwork in class. In Making Your Mark, students used simple silk screening, direct painting on fabric, dyeing, block printing and more to create designs on cloth. […]
Taking the plunge
It is an Island tradition for some to run down the rocks from the top of Schoolhouse Beach and dive into the clear, cold water. You can imagine how invigorating and refreshing that would be. This year, Sievers “took the plunge” on a new class, Rigid Heddle Weaving. We wonder now why we waited so long. When Deb Jones offered this class for our 2019 season, we knew immediately that it was the right time with the right instructor. Like Schoolhouse Beach, this new class was invigorating and refreshing! Everyone started with a simple scarf. Learning to warp the loom and seeing their scarves take shape on the loom happened in only a couple of hours. The scarves on the […]
Give them a hand…
…for all the knitting and quilting and learning that took place in both Sandy De Master and Mary Germain’s Baltic Knitting Extravaganza and Ellen Graf’s Balance in Quilt Design classes! From the smallest Latvian mini-mittens to a full-size quilt, there were new and renewed projects in both studios. Following traditional designs or adapting and creating new ones were options in both classes. Both were equally wonderful! Studio visit times allow everyone to share and show the work of their hands, demonstrating a quote often associated with Walter Schutz, “Happiness is in your hands…and it keeps you young!” From the Reader’s Digest article Walter found that quote in, the last sentence reads, “We need the sense of self-confidence, self-respect, that comes […]
Stories
Each hand crafted piece has a story and the pieces made in last week’s Navajo Rug Weaving class and Open Quilt Studio all have their own stories. The reason for the choice of colors and design, who it may be given to and why, what it will remind the maker of each time they see it or what was happening around them during the process are all parts of the story. We have a story for you, too. Once upon a time, a group of people met at Sievers School for a Navajo Rug Weaving class with Betty Glynn Carlson. They started by warping the Navajo looms and choosing colors and designs that were to be the words of the […]
One of a Kind
“Just” another week at Sievers…two fashion shows, daily potluck class lunches and a dinner, more than 66 one-of-a-kind garments made by Mary Sue Fenner and at least 22 of Jeanette Biederman’s baskets for inspiration. Plus, at the end of the week, the students went home with the new garments or baskets they made. Wow! An impromptu invitation from the Red Cup Coffee House quickly evolved into the first fashion show of the week. You can see a selection of the garments on our Facebook or Instagram pages, some of which were made by the students and some by Mary Sue. (There are basket photos there and more from the final class fashion show, too!) Using their own handwoven, hand-painted, hand-dyed […]
Batik & Beyond
It was 1982 when Mary Jo Scandin first came to Sievers and offered a class in Batik and Direct Dye Painting. Every year since then we have delighted in the return of “batik week”. Some of the students in this most recent class first came for batik in the mid-1980’s! What a wonderful journey it’s been together. Mary Jo’s piece, “Nighttime on a Hill” appeared on our brochure cover last year. Now, thanks to her, it is part of our permanent collection, a gift for all who walk through the doors of Sievers. Batik is a multi-step process and there are both active times dyeing and rinsing and quiet, meditative times drawing, waxing and ironing. The results are beautiful. Pam […]
A Washington Island week
We’re taking this opportunity to share Washington Island with you sending along some end-of-June scenes and happenings. We hear over and over again that time spent on Washington Island is an important part of the experience when attending a class at Sievers. So, here are some recent north, east, west, south and in-between scenes. After taking in the views, for those who are on Washington Island this week, there are a number of events on the calendar. On Saturday night Cindra performed “If Once You Have Slept on an Island” with our friend Dan Hansen at the TPAC in Julian Hagen’s Washington Island Musical History program. This week is the Wisconsin Council of Churches Forum, the annual Grilled Whitefish Dinner […]
