Like these smiling faces, we’re happy to see some of the changes that come with spring! Whether it’s the delightful, beautiful, elegant, unique and made-with-love handmade items arriving for the Sievers Shop, or nature adding a bit more color to the Island, it’s a refreshing change. New to the Sievers Shop this year is jewelry designed and crafted by Laura Findlay Hagen of Washington Island including these pendants of Kingman Mine Turquoise and sterling, and Labradorite with handwoven copper wire. We’ve also added a selection of hand-dyed yarn from Wisconsin-based Evergreen Fiber Works. As always, the creativity and work of over 60 other Sievers student- and teacher-artists will be featured in the shop, much being perennial favorites, popular in any […]
Pop-up and pop in
We’ve got one more pop-up shop to share with you before our regular hours for the Sievers Shop end on Friday, November 3. On that day, November 3, we are holding an Open House for Cindra’s retirement from 1-3 pm in the Sievers Shop. Although Cindy won’t officially retire until December 31, we want all our Sievers and Island friends to have the opportunity to honor her 37 years of working here. Please join us if you can! Afterwards, all the handmade items in the shop will be returned to the artists, our wonderful students and teachers who share and sell their work here. We’ll still be in the office from Monday-Friday, so if you have a need for yarn […]
A quick pop-up shop
It’s time for a quick pop-up shop! Perhaps you’ll have a chance to come for a class or visit us in person, but if not, we want to share a few of the items in the shop for your virtual shopping. We’ll begin with this special, 36-page handmade book with a Door County theme. Jewelry (featuring metalwork, beadwork, Washington Island birchbark, leather, pyrography and watercolor, Lake Michigan pebbles and more), handknit and handwoven wearables, gifts, home goods and accessories, too! (Here’s a hint – for a better view, right click on the photo and “open image in a new tab”.) Items for making and taking! As always, the best way to contact us with an order using your credit card […]
Wrap-up and Pop-up
We’re getting close to wrapping up our 2021 season. Classes concluded last week and the shop’s daily hours will end October 31st. Starting in November, we’ll be in the office on weekdays only. (Pease know you’re always welcome to stop in!) We’ll still have yarns, books, needles, etc., available for purchase. This year (our 43rd) we had a total of 347 registered students and 75 of those were taking their first Sievers class. New students came from AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, IA, KY, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NV, NM, NY, OH, SC, TX, VA, WA, WV and of course, WI. It was so good to see many of you this past season and meet our new […]
Boundweave and a pop-up shop
We’d been waiting for this for a long time! Since the class in 2020 was not able to be held, it had been five years since the last Boundweave class. It’s such a treat to see the rugs Lynn Stracka Shuster brings and the ones students plan, design and weave themselves. Sharpen your colored pencils and watch the rugs come to life on the looms! One of the students, who has taken many weaving and knitting classes here, had first come to Sievers for Lynn’s Boundweave class in 1997. She brought her rug back to show us now that it’s been 24 years off the loom. Another student used one of our table looms to weave her project. There’s a […]
From the shop (both of them)
Over the past couple months, beside building Sievers Benchwork in the other Sievers shop, Butch and Barb have been demonstrating their craftsmanship by making three blanket chests. One is made from the cherry tree that was at the edge of the deck on the back of the Sievers dormitory/barn. Another is from a Washington Island oak tree and the third, from pine. The cherry and oak chests measure 38 1/2″ long x 19 1/2″ wide x 15 1/2″ high. The pine chest has the same dimensions, except for the height, which is 16 1/2″. Each chest has a clear satin varnish on the exterior, while the interiors are unvarnished. One of their other projects was to build these three-tiered display […]
Counting the days
We’re counting the days (there are only 30) until our 43rd season begins with the Open Quilt Studio from June 2-7! The Open Studios (quilting and knitting) were some of the few opportunities last year that allowed for in-person attendance at Sievers. Working independently at separated tables, students sewed or knitted and learned from each other. We feel much better about what the Sievers experience can and will be this summer and fall, but at the same time recognize that we’re all taking part in a gradual process of readjustment. In less than 30 days, the Sievers Shop will be open daily! Over 80 artists will have their work in the shop and of course we have most of the […]
What’s happening at Sievers
Years ago, we submitted regular articles to the Washington Island Observer newspaper using this same headline. Topics ranged from Sievers enrollment, current hours, featured classes, the introduction of our new Facebook page (from a January 21, 2010 article), Sievers anniversary events as well as the notice of a new feature to our website, an online newsletter, which would be added in March 2008. Here we are, sending another blog post thirteen years later. How could the time go by so quickly? One newsworthy item that occurred on March 12 was a major upgrade to our Sievers Benchwork website by replacing the 2002 version with a entirely new look thanks to 3W Media Co. It is much more streamlined and user-friendly, […]
