For the most part, it’s just the Sievers crew working in the office during the weekdays now. What was a bustling studio just a couple of weeks ago is quiet, waiting for the next season of classes. This is the time of year for a quick re-cap of the 2017 season. There were 375 students enrolled in 41 classes scheduled. 65 of those students were new to Sievers. Of the 41 classes, 12 were filled and many others were just one or two shy of being filled. (Thank you!) The top 10 states that our students have come from over the years are: Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Arizona, Ohio and California. States/districts with only one student representing them […]
Rag Rug Weaving & Fall
Wow! Where did the time go? Our final class of the 2017 season, Rag Rug Weaving with Deb Sharpee, finished last Saturday. It seems like such a short time ago when we greeted the first students on June 5. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun! As usual, the rag rug studio was filled with colorful fabrics, great design inspirations and ideas, laughter and friendship. From the start when the carpet warp rolled onto the looms to the finish when quite a variety of rugs and runners rolled off, not a heddle, shuttle, sewing machine, student or teacher were idle. Instead of full-sized rugs, some of the students wove runners like the one on the left. In preparation for the rug on the right, the […]
Carving Songbirds & Fall
It’s not a matter of “whittling away” a few hours at Sievers, instead it’s about bringing to life a songbird from a block of basswood that has been shaped with just a hint of the bird waiting to fly out into your hands. In the first afternoon, the tail feathers, head and beak were formed. Another day and the features of a Goldfinch are all in place and body smoothed by careful sanding. As always, the talents of the instructors and students make for a great sharing opportunity. Flying in for the studio visit, Jerry Landwehr’s own Goldfinch became the centerpiece of the carving table. This week of sunshine is giving us more views of the trees as they continue to change. There are […]
Summer & Winter & Fall
Inside the studio recently, the focus was on Summer & Winter (weaving), but outside, it’s all about a different season. First things first…weaving. Summer & Winter has reversible areas of pattern and background on both sides with the “summer” side predominately showing the lighter colors and the “winter” side, the darker ones. Lynn Schuster’s handwoven samples, some using fine 10/2 cotton, some using Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted, gave a real variety of choices for students in planning their own projects. The last morning of class, strong winds knocked power out to the studios. Finishing up, looms were moved a little closer to the windows and cellphones were taped to the task lights to use the flashlight feature so that the […]
Handmade Treasures
We probably could’ve included the words “handmade treasure” in each of this year’s class descriptions or titles, but it officially appeared in only one: Handmade Treasure Boxes. We’re taking the liberty of applying those words to the two previous classes, as well, Creative Knitting Retreat with Sandy De Master and Mary Germain and the Open Knitting Studio session held in the Walter Studio, where eleven knitters worked independently on a variety of projects. The Creative Knitting Retreat class saw a number of knitters working on Latvian or Estonian-patterned mittens, Fair Isle, sweaters of all kinds, baby blankets and more. Help in solving fit issues as it applies to hand knits, substituting yarns and deciphering patterns are just some of the talents Sandy and Mary bring to class […]
Fall views from the roadsides
It is still uncharacteristically green here on Washington Island and it sounds like this is true in many places across Wisconsin. We keep looking for trees in full fall foliage, but so far, there are only branches here and there that have begun to show color. So, we’re finding fall views from the ground up, starting with wildflowers and wildlife from the roadsides. We’ll share again as more golds, oranges and reds appear. We can’t wait!
Weaving and willow
We continued our fall weaving and willow classes this past week with Rita Hagenbruch’s Loom-Structured Lace and over the weekend, the Bent Willow Chair class with Ken and Michelle Workowski. The chair-makers were in awe over the finely woven shawls, blankets, scarves and runners still on the looms or on display and the weavers were equally struck by the progress that the willow chair students had made in just a few short hours, along with the woodshop atmosphere of drilling and hammering. The weaving class had been in session for four days prior, so each student had made great progress on their projects. Lacy wool plaid blankets and scarves, tencel shawls or scarves with beautiful drape and linen or cottolin lace runners were the projects of choice for this class. […]
Two, four, eight
Last week meant weaving on two, four or eight-shafts in either Daryl Lancaster’s Advanced Inkle Weaving Techniques (two) or Nancy Adams’ Honeycomb and Waffle Weave (four and eight). In the inkle class, intricate designs included name drafts, pick-ups and turned Krokbragd. The inkle weavers are proudly showing their looms with all the special techniques they learned in class with instructor, Daryl Lancaster. You can read more about Daryl, her travels and the classes she teaches on her own blog, www.weaversew.com. To create honeycomb or waffle weave, a four- or eight-harness loom is in order and students in Nancy Adams’ class made one, two or six (!) pieces including scarves, pillow covers, towels and table runners in this wonderful textural weave. […]
