Sievers and Washington Island have recently been mentioned in several media formats, starting with this book, Small-Town Wisconsin. The book covers towns and villiages with populations of under 5,000 and twenty of the fifty places featured have a population of under 1,000. In the introduction, the author writes, “This book features fifty examples of destinations with something significant in their character that defines and enriches their location.” We were pleasantly surprised to see Sievers as the featured story for the piece about Washington Island. The 195-page book has lots of interesting stories and many color photos. We have this book for sale in our shop at $27.95. If you would like a copy, please use our Contact Us page to […]
Spinning and weaving rainbows
We set aside this photo of a rainbow taken in early summer just to mark the occasion of two of our most recent classes, Beginning Spinning and Rainbow Dyeing with Deb Jones and Weaving the Rainbow with Judith Yamamoto. A real rainbow is always a treat and so were the rainbow of colors in the studios, as was the work students did in class. It’s been a few years since we’ve had a Beginning Spinning and Rainbow Dyeing class in session, making it especially exciting to see new and beyond beginning students learn the art of spinning and hear the the soft click of the wheels at the start of the day! Spinning, dyeing, carding, blending and plying were all […]
Ways of weaving
There are many ways of weaving and many types of looms. Last week in one class, upright frame looms were used to teach the ways of Navajo weaving, and in another class, students learned the basics of weaving on a table loom. Although geared for beginners, each class could be used as a refresher, too. In the Navajo Weaving Techniques class taught by Betty Glynn Carlson, the looms are warped with one continuous warp and authentic Navajo wool yarns are used to create the designs. There are no mechanical parts involved in Navajo weaving, it’s just the wool placed in the warp and tamped down with a comb-type beater in the hands of the weaver. Betty has offered Navajo weaving […]
Batik and willow basketry
Two of our favorite fiber art classes (along with the other 35 this year!) are batik and willow basketry. Luckily for us they were recently in session, back-to-back, in the Walter Studio. For each, their signature fragrance fills the studio, with either the warm beeswax or the sweet scent of willow and other fresh-cut botanicals. In the Introduction to Batik class taught by Anne Landre, students layered colors on cotton fabric, working with beeswax. Designs were created by drawing or tracing directly on the fabric, by using templates or by working with antique copper stamps (tjaps). Then, a repeated series of wax applications and different dye baths were repeated to achieve fabulous results. With a combination of precision and surprise, […]
One, two, three…it’s August: Part 2
You can never have enough of a good thing! In Stephanie Robertson’s fabric dyeing and printing class, all available resources are used to create art on cloth. Screen printing, rust and ice dyeing, direct painting, mono-printing, photo emulsion…all that and more are part of the fabric journey taken by students during the week. Realizing there were 45 photos of people, processes and works in progress from this year’s class, it made sense to create one post to show as many as we could! You’ll see most of the techniques featured in the fabrics and garments below. How did the fabric, shown above on the right, come to be? By a process similar to the photo below, on the left, with […]
One, two, three…it’s August: Part 1
All of a sudden, mid-summer is here. The first half of our classes have flown by! The start of August saw three classes in session, Embroidery: Basics and Beyond followed by Bead Embroidery: Cabochons both with Francie Broadie, and Finding Our Way: A Dyeing Journey taught by Stephanie Robertson. With all the fiber activity during those three classes and dozens of photos between them, we’ve made this a two-part post. In the embroidery class, students learned basic stitches, transferred patterns to fabric and created samplers or worked on their own special designs. The two samplers shown below incorporate each of the stitches learned in class. For the next group of students, Francie put a spin on embroidery by incorporating beads, […]
Marveling over marbling and mittens
It’s a marvel to see all the different fiber arts in action during the course of a Sievers season. This past week was no exception with classes in Marbling: Paper and Fabric, taught by Joyce Gitter and Baltic Knitting Extravaganza with Mary Germain. Whether you achieve instant results when lifting the paper or fabric off the marbling tray, or reveal a mitten pattern row-by-row on knitting needles, the marvel is in the making. Using acrylic paints, a carrageenan bath and various tools and combs, the magic of marbling makes for a lot of fun experiments in color and design. Plus, you have all kinds of cool fabrics and papers to play with later! To learn the techniques of Baltic knitting […]
Come…enjoy, share, & learn
“Come…enjoy, share & learn” were words used many times over in past Sievers School brochures. Since then, we’ve incorporated the statement, “An experience awaits you…”. Both of these sayings could apply to any Sievers class, but none more so than two recent ones, Rigid Heddle Weaving with Deb Jones and our second Open Quilt Studio of the season. Deb Jones of The Fiber Garden, makes every class she teaches an experience. From the outstanding instruction, to the personal attention given to each student, to the full array of equipment and tools she brings (which she magically packs into her “Mary Poppins” van), to joining students together for dinners out and about on the Island, she brings all of it together […]
