The days are quickly approaching the February 1st opening of Registration Week. It is such a treat for us to hear from you in the middle of winter, anticipating the time we’ll share when you’re here for class (or for an Island visit). We will be welcoming one new teacher in 2018, Susan Frame. She will open our 40th season teaching Class 1 – Beginning Weaving on a 4-Harness Floor Loom. Susan took her first weaving class in 1982 and has continued learning since, including three classes at Sievers ( in 1988, 1989 and 2012). Since 1989, Susan has had the pleasure of teaching weaving techniques at The Fiber Garden in Black River Falls, WI. She and her husband live in Osseo, WI. Welcome, […]
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 […]
Straw into gold
Well, maybe not technically spinning straw into gold, but the students in Deb Jones’ Beginning Spinning and Rainbow Dyeing class took simple wool fibers and turned them into something equally precious to a beginning spinner, their own handspun and hand-dyed yarns. By the end of the first afternoon, these beginners were spinners! You can see more photos from the class as Deb has posted them on The Fiber Garden Facebook page. Her next stop, along with other Sievers teachers (Nancy Frantz and Mary Germain), students and friends is the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival from September 7-10. Spinning is one of the classes that’s been offered at Sievers each year since the start. One of those first classes in 1979 is shown in the black and white photo. Dyeing was added later, using […]
Happiness is…
…a colorful quilt. ….being inspired by nature. …warm woolens. …wildlife in the backyard. …watching clouds and sunsets (especially the ones on Washington Island). As promised last time, the Open Quilt Studio “challenge quilt” border fabrics were on before class was over. Everyone likes…a colorful quilt. In Susan Hoffmann’s Landscape ‘Painting’ with Fabric class, students worked with the same set of fabrics. Although they all started with the same theme, there were as many variations as students, each person creating a unique woodland scene and …being inspired by nature. The Spinning Art Yarns class taught by Deb Jones used a variety of fibers and combined them into special and fanciful yarns by using the drum carders, picker, spinning wheels and plying in order to have some one-of-a-kind…warm […]
Don’t hurry pleasure
“How long does it take to make that?” is certainly a question we hear often as do many quilters, knitters, weavers, basketmakers, spinners and other makers. As they say, don’t hurry pleasure! Ellen Graf’s Drafting in Quilt Design class demonstrated that it’s not only the time spent sewing, pressing, piecing and finally, quilting, that goes into each unique quilt, it’s the time planning, drawing, experimenting and seeing ahead to what it will look like when finished. As far as we could see ahead, each and every quilt will be a treasure! Ellen always shares her excellent techniques with her students and we look forward to seeing the quilts started in class make a return visit to Sievers. The early summer rains helped produce extra-lush botanicals and the […]
Fiber in common
Do baskets, barks and mittens have anything in common? Yes, especially when they’ve been the focus of recent classes at Sievers School of Fiber Arts! Stacks of baskets were created in Jeanette Biederman’s Splint-Woven Basketry: Independent Study class, with some completely finished and some ready for the final touches at home. Next year, the plan is to take a photo that includes all the baskets made during the week. Might need to stand over by the barn to fit them all in the camera lens! Instead of a stack of baskets, how about class time spent on one perfect Winnebago Picnic Basket? Even Schoolhouse Beach may not be ready for this beauty! Learning the techniques of making Latvian mittens followed by a separate class on Latvian Mitten Design with Sandy […]
Two weeks…three classes
There have been great things to share with you from the three classes that took place through the end of June, Batik with Mary Jo Scandin and Thom Scott, One-of-a-Kind Jacket with Mary Sue Fenner and Knitting on Location with Carol Anderson. Taking advantage of the sun when it appeared, the batik class sometimes had to resort to “inside sunshine” to dry their pieces. Nothing could detract, however, from the artworks these talented students made or worked on during the week. The official title of this class is Batik: Ancient and Modern. We know the “ancient” doesn’t really refer to our early days, shown in a photo from a 1989 class with Mary Jo Scandin (in the aqua sweatshirt), but we wonder now, […]
Simple and Natural
What an appealing combination for last week’s Sievers classes! Simple and natural in Connie Westbrook’s Handwoven Homespun Fabric class, using natural cotton/linen blend yarns in neutrals with just a splash of color and woven in simple plain weave. At the same time, simple and natural in Donna Kallner’s Natural Dye Retreat, with materials harvested from the grounds at Sievers and on Washington Island used to dye silk, wool and cotton. Projects included towels, curtains, bread cloths and totes and with plain weave, the weaving goes fast! The leaves from indigo plants produced these vibrant blues, illustrating that revealing the final results from leaves, barks and berries is part of the process and joy of natural dyeing. To see more and experience some of […]
