September 2021

Masks firmly in place, we returned to our meeting space at ArtWorks for a dye workshop with member Yvonne Ellworth, of LavenderSheep’s Dye Garden. Yvonne brought skeins of her lovely yarn bases for us to use, and we had a marvelous time squirting, smoothing, and blending dyes onto our skeins.

Yvonne, demonstrating dyeing a variegated skein. She uses One Shot dyes, which are also marketed as Country Classics Dye. They are very easy to use, and require no additional mordants or vinegar. Just apply the dye to wetted protein fibers, such as wool, silk, etc.

More dyeing in progress. By working on a sheet of plastic, you are ready to roll up the yarn once you are done applying colors.

A dyed skein, wrapped and ready to be steamed.

October 2020-May 2021

We met via Zoom. Any organization you, the reader, were involved with probably did, too. So. Much. Zoom. Your reporter did not document our meetings, and is ready to move on from the Year of Zoom, so we will pass over the content of our meetings for the time being, and move into a new meeting year with hope in our hearts and hands ready to work.

The 2021-2022 meeting year calendar is now up here. If you’d like to join us, read the About page, for more details and pack a mask to wear during the meeting.

September 2020

Carol Milne gave us a virtual tour of her Seattle studio, sharing details of her process for making knitted glass.

She uses the lost wax method. First she forms the piece in wax, then enrobes it in plaster. The wax is melted out and then molten glass fills the empty spaces.

After the glass has cooled, she carefully removes the plaster and polishes the piece as needed. It was a real treat to see a new piece emerging from the plaster!

Here’s a picture of the almost finished piece, titled Huddle. Carol plans to swap out the wooden knitting needle for a borosilicate glass one.

March-June 2020

For March through June of 2020, our in-person meetings were cancelled to due COVID-19. We have been holding business and social meetings via Zoom, and meetings with programs resume in September.  Very likely, the first few months of the 2020-2021 meeting year will be held via Zoom or another digital platform, but we look forward to resuming in-person meetings when it’s safe.   Many instructors are able to provide content electronically, so please check back in to see what’s coming!

February 2020

Seaview member Samantha Loftin led us in a fun needle-felting workshop, making delightful gnome figures.

Samantha’s showing us the very sharp needle-felting tool.

Here are some of the charming creatures she’s made.

We rolled white wool batting and needle-felted it to make a base, then added dyed batting for clothing, hats, and fun details.

Sometimes a little beard trimming is needed.

Here are our finished creations.  Thanks for a fun workshop, Samantha!

 

 

 

 

January 2020

Meeting cancelled due to icy road conditions.

December 2019

We had our annual Plaid Llama sale (like a white elephant sale, only more colorful) and enjoyed a delicious holiday potluck lunch.

The big news from this this meeting is that we voted to move from our long-time home at Maplewood Presbyterian Church to the ArtWorks studio space in Edmonds. It’s located at 201 Second Ave. South, Edmonds.  Our first meeting there will be next month, January 2020.  We are excited to be in a well-lit building that hosts artists of all types, and look forward to settling in there.   All we have to do is move our library…

November 2019

Award winning quilter Lisa Jenni gave a wonderful talk about her quilting history and working process.

Here she is holding  the first quilt she made, in a class.   From this beginning comprised of traditional blocks, she has gone on to create an incredible body of work, pushing  the borders of quilting new and exciting directions.

 

She makes a custom  label for each of her quilts, often a hand drawn image that references the quilt itself.

This is tour de force of piecing!  She also hand drew some elements, such as the maple helicopter seed detail.

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your astonishing work with us!

 

 

 

 

 

October 2019

 

Julia Ellis taught us a variety of beaded embroidery techniques.

Her free form work is  often dense with beads, and has a lot  of color and texture.

We all did small samplers, and considered ways to incorporate beads into our own projects.

September 2019

Seaview members Patty and Susan led us in “Paper Play,” a mini-workshop on two different techniques for adding surface design to paper.

Gelli printing use paints applied to a gel surface.  Designs are created using stencils or tools, then a print is made on paper.

 

Embossing involves stamping a design with embossing gel, then adding embossing powders which are melted with a heat gun.

This can be done on plain or textured papers, or add additional images to an existing piece of art.

Pieces can then be incorporated into cards, collages,  or other final works.