News From Sievers School

Looking back, it was a full week ago last year when the sandhill cranes were in the fields, the red-winged blackbirds had returned and the first daffodils were showing their sunny faces.  This being a more “traditional” winter, we wait patiently for those signs of spring.

Sometimes it feels like not much has changed since December!

While a recent ferry trip had only clear skim ice near the dock, further north and west along the Island, a jumble of larger chunks had created a robin’s egg blue ice shove.

While keeping warm inside, we’ve registered over 265 students and several of the classes are filled or have waiting lists.

Spring-Summer Travel Information

Since March 4th and continuing to or through the Fourth of July, the Bayview (highway) Bridge in Sturgeon Bay will be closed to all traffic.  North and southbound cars will be re-routed through the city of Sturgeon Bay with southbound traffic travelling through Sturgeon Bay’s downtown retail area.  There are plenty of great shops in Sturgeon Bay including a fabulous yarn shop, Spin.

Here’s a map of the changes:

For more information, go to http://projects.511wi.gov/web/bayview-bridge-rehab

With the sun getting warmer each day, we do know that winter is slipping away!

What a fun and productive weekend with nine teams of coaches and rookies and two individual quilters working on ten Quilts of Valor!  The coaches arrived Friday morning for a time of orientation and then pressed and cut fabric strips and the foundation blocks in preparation for sewing on Saturday.  When the rookies sat down to sew on Saturday morning, the coaches had prepared their sewing machines for a full day.  It was as busy as a beehive with machines running, irons pressing, pins put in place and oohs and aahs as the quilt blocks started to go up.

As each quilt top is finished, they will be sent to longarm quilters who volunteer their services.  They will then be returned and the coaches and rookies will meet to finish the quilts by binding and labeling them before they are distributed.

Thanks to the Island organizations and individuals who sponsored this event (American Legion Post 402, American Legion Post 402 Auxiliary, Bread & Water, Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid, Helene Meyer, Sievers, Washington Island Lions Club, Washington Island School Student Council, Women of Trinity Lutheran Church, and three anonymous donations).  There is already talk of another Quilts of Valor event next year!  None of this would have been possible without the work of Ellen Graf, who coordinated a successful weekend that began with finding support for the project, securing the fabric needed, putting into action Marianne Fons’ program for Quilts of Valor, “Under Our Wings” by gathering the coaches and rookies, giving quilting advice and much more.

  On Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9, Sievers will be hosting at least nine teams of coaches and rookies working on Quilts of Valor.  The Quilts of Valor program originated ten years ago when a Blue Star mom, Catherine Roberts, had a goal to cover all returning deployed service men and women touched by war with a reminder of America’s appreciation and gratitude.  A Quilt of Valor is a generous lap-sized quilt made of quality fabrics.  On March 8th, experienced quilters (coaches) will bring their sewing machines and prepare the fabric by cutting and pressing.  Any rookies who wish to come that day to observe are also welcome.  On March 9th, non-quilters (rookies) sew the 1/4″ seams and eat chocolate (!) according to Island coordinator, Ellen Graf.  At least nine quilt tops will be completed by the end of the event.  The coaches will then send the quilt tops, batting and backing to long-arm quilters.  After the quilts are returned, there will be an additional day set aside for binding and labeling the quilts and then they will be distributed.

For the past several weeks, Ellen Graf has been planning and coordinating this Island event.  A number of Island organizations and individuals have donated $100 each towards fabric and supplies for the nine quilts.  Donors include:  American Legion Post 402, American Legion Auxiliary, Sievers, Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid, Women of Trinity Lutheran Church, Washington Island School Student Council, Helene Meyer, Bread & Water, W. I. Lions Club and two anonymous donations.  Sievers is also donating the studio space and supplying the backing fabric at cost.  The quilt top fabrics have been supplied at a significant discount by Yoder’s Department Store in Shipshewana, IN.  Ellen has recruited the coaches and rookies who will be participating and will be contacting them soon.

The Quilts of Valor program, Under Our Wings, pairing quilters with non-quilters was created with the help of Marianne Fons.  According to Marianne, besides a way to express patriotism, the QOV program is a way to draw new quilters to the hobby.  Ellen added that the format allows for an ideal first experience for brand new quilters and is a great introduction to learning and perhaps continuing on with quilting.

Since the organization’s inception, over 81,085 Quilts of Valor have been awarded to combat troops who have been wounded or touched by war.  This is a wonderful form of National Service that anyone can do.

For more information, visit www.QOVF.org.

   On Friday, February 1st, registration will open!  All the class descriptions and full information will be on our website, www.sieversschool.com.  We want to thank Sandy De Master for allowing us to photograph the Fair Isle sweater she knit from an Alice Starmore pattern ©1988.  This will also be the cover for our full brochure, mailed out at the end of February.  In the meantime, here’s a look at some of the classes we’ll be offering in 2013:

 Navajo Weaving w/Betty Carlson – May 17-24

  Nuno Felting with a Twist w/Carol Riedner – May 28-30

  Quilting: Your Own Treasure w/Ellen Graf – May 31-June 2

  Patchwork Birch Bark Basket w/Karen Tembreull – June 10-13

  Handfelted Scarf Collection w/Chad Hagen – June 16-21

   Beginning Spinning & Rainbow Dyeing w/Deb Jones – July 6-11

Coiled Basketry w/Lynn Schuster – July 12-14

  Loom-Structured Lace w/ Rita Hagenbruch – July 14-19

  Weave, Cut & Sew w/Mary Sue Fenner – July 20-25

Willow Garden Art w/Jo Campbell-Amsler – July 25-28

Wood Covers, Mica Pages w/Daniel Essig – July 25-August 1

  Beg. Weaving: Table Loom w/Nancy Frantz - August 5-8

  Making Your Mark w/Stephanie Robertson – August 10-17

  Painting Warp For Weaving Scarves w/Heather Winslow – August 19-22

  Painting Warp for Weaving Scarves:Extended w/Heather Winslow – August 19-24

Basket Weaving for Beginners w/Kay Normann & Drew Tibbetts – August 23-26

  “Let’s Get Surrounded” Medallion Quilt w/Judy Hasheider – August 25-30

  Knitting on Location w/Carol Anderson – August 30-September 1

Weaving The Rainbow w/Judith Yamamoto – September 2-7

 Natural Color w/Donna Kallner – September 5-8

  Paper Mosaics & Paste Painting w/Lorrie Abdo – September 13-16

  Exploration in Weaving: Block Party w/Robyn Spady – September 17-22

  Beg. Weaving: Floor Loom w/Nancy Adams – September 22-27

  Bent Willow Chair w/Ken Workowski – October 4-6

  Knit-To-Fit Scandinavian Mittens w/Carol Rhoades – October 8-13

  Local Color: Landscape Surface Design w/Donna Kallner – October 14-19

   Rug Hooking w/Joyce Krueger – October 14-17

Here is the complete schedule, listed by category:

2013 Sievers Class List by Subject

You can also view it in chronological form:

2013-Sievers-Schedule-by-Date

Again, February 1st is the first day to register on our website, www.sieversschool.com.  Sorry, we cannot take any registrations before February 1st!

Basket week is in progress with two classes taught by Jeanette Biederman and Rich Prange. The first class, Basket Weaving Basics started Tuesday and finished yesterday while the second, Twill Basketry, started this morning.  We determined that it has been almost 20 years that Jeanette and Rich have been teaching basketry in the winter here at Sievers.  What a great tradition!

The most recent addition to the Sievers Permanent Collection is a Cherokee Tray made by Jeanette, now hanging in the Sophie Studio.

It makes our hearts happy to have this basket as part of the Permanent Collection, but even happier to share time at Sievers with Jeanette and Rich!