We are a family owned and operated business handcrafting Saxony spinning wheels from local Vermont materials. We also handcraft a variety of spinning accessories from Vermont materials such as niddy noddies, lazy kates, drying racks, and orifice hooks. To go with our wheels, we sell a variety of alpaca and alpaca/wool rovings from our own alpacas, and local sheep.
We show our wheels in several Vermont stores, and at fiber events and farmers' markets. We welcome visits (by appointment) to meet our animals and see our products.
-Paul and Kris
Mission: As a family, we strive to create and share beautiful, durable, affordable spinning wheels and accessories.
We hand treat natural fiber fabrics - cotton, silk, bamboo, rayon and watercolor paper for a nineteeth century photographic technique called cyanotype. This process is also known as blueprinting or sunprinting. Each print created is unique and is archival. (Photo on the left is cyanotype over batik by Linda Stemer.)
Each piece is individually hand-treated, dried and sealed in a light proof bag - ready to print! Full instructions are included with every order.
Mission: The cyanotype process is one of the earliest photographic processes discovered. The first book ever published with photographs was "Photographs of British Algea - Cyanotype Impressions" by Anna Atkins - She is widely recognized as the first woman photographer. Examples of her cyanotype prints from the 1850's are in museums today and they are as clear and blue as the day they were printed!
We are dedicated to preserving this unique historical process and keeping the magic of cyanotype available for children, contemporary artists and educators of history, photography and surface design.
We are ‘our’ journey…
I take great joy in the process of telling visual stories through my quilt art and the transformation of fabric through surface manipulation and embellishment.
I had spent 20 years bringing ATM/POS networking and products to life, and I find it amazing now that I get to share my creative spirit and joy as a quilt artist, author, teacher, lecturer full-time. It has truly been exciting path I have followed since leaving my corporate job in 2003. A path that has let me share my method of quilt top construction, (Fast-Piece Appliqué™) through my first book Dream Landscapes: Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Appliqué and now brings me even more fun opportunities as my second book, Exploring Embellishments: More Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Appliqué, is due out in June 2010.
In my earlier Dream Landscapes I introduced the Fast-Piece Appliqué construction method that makes curves and circles easy to sew—opening a world of design possibilities. It set me free from squares and blocks and leaves me lots of time for my favorite activity of stitching and embellishment.
I travel and provide a line-up of related workshops and lectures, and I love to teach Fast-Piece Appliqué™, and designing the world with shapes along with many, many ‘how to’s on using embellishments of all types and using wonderful materials to create surface design and one-of-a-kind embellishments.
I really enjoy that in my workshops I get to help each student find their individual voice by providing possibilities. I do this by teaching fun ways to add color, texture and dimension to fabric and quilts.
My quilt art journey has taken me on twists and turns I had little expected, like appearing on Simply Quilts, or as in June 2009, I appeared on The Quilt Show, with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. Just the other day I was filmed for an episode of Quilts Out Loud! Seeing my work and words in print on websites and blogs and on the pages of personally revered magazines like Quilting Arts, American Quilter’s Society, Quilter’s Home, and Quilter’s Newsletter magazines is really wild. But, best of all I take great pleasure in sharing my quilt art in regional, national and international exhibits, galleries and museums.
In 2009 I had two solo exhibits and a traveling exhibit, Back-Road Journeys: Quilts by Rose Hughes. My personal exhibition journey continues with a full schedule in 2010 and I have quilt art scheduled in exhibits with Studio Art Quilt Association, Quilts on the Wall: Fiber Artists and other group and solo events.
Artist's statement: My mission is to use my personal art, inspiration and teaching abilities to encourage others to enjoy the color and art of life's simple things and find time and opportunity to pursue these fearlessly.
I have always been interested in cultural connections and have been fortunate to have done a lot of travel. I landed in Ghana, next to the ocean.
In Ghana I am called Aba, a female born on Thursday.
My guest house/cultural center is in a fishing village in a suburb of Accra.
Many people go to Africa and only have a superficial connection. We want to change that by introducing you to the culture and people on a personal level. We offer culturally relevant tours, volunteer opportunities, workshops with indigenous artisans, opportunities to write curriculum or perhaps you'd like to learn how to cook African food.
I divide my time between Boston, MA and Ghana. When in Boston, I sell work by Ghanaian artisans from my house. Because I work with so many artisans, the stock is always changing. My best sellers have to do with adinkra: the adinkra stamps, charts, cloths... I am also willing to ship, so if there's something you're interested in let me know, or if in Boston, stop by. Email me for more info.
-Ellie Schimelman
Mission: Cross Cultural Collaborative, Inc. is an educational non-profit that invites people to Ghana to promote cultural exchange and education through the arts.
Our vision is to place people from different life experiences in an environment where they can exchange ideas and find universal connections.
