THE ART OF FIBER ARTS & PAPER

Bev Molberg

Kathy Soukup

Kathy has always enjoyed a variety of arts and craft projects and especially enjoys sewing projects, re-purposing old items and adding her own “twist” to the items she creates. 

Her home, inside and out, is decorated with handmade items, which at any time may include quilts on the beds, seasonal table runners or garden decor accenting the flower gardens.

Kathy and her son wrote a book which tells the story of their journey when he was diagnosed with cancer at age sixteen. She likes to share this story with anyone who has ever heard the word “cancer” in their lives or with anyone who needs an inspirational story to share with someone they know.

Sandy Black

Sandy Black has been sewing for 45 years and three years ago she branched out into the machine embroidery world. She loves working with colors and embroidery gives her a world of opportunity to do this. 

Sandy started embroidering flour sack towels for family members and she quickly grew to embroidering hats, bags, hoodies, T-shirts, hankies and more. She has also started embroidering on lace such as lace crosses, bookmarks, Christmas ornaments and baskets. She embroiders towels and frame them for a picture. All of Sandy’s embroidery is done by machine.

Barb Groth

Barb makes a lot of her paper in the blender using a cotton linter pulp as a base.  Scraps of material, sawdust, recycled cards, dried flowers, crepe paper and various other materials are added to the pulp.  It takes on the color and texture of what is added to it.

After the pulp is blended, it goes through screens.  As much moisture as possible is taken out. A screw press is used to help squeeze moisture out.  Then it lays flat to dry.

After drying she cuts and tears into collages.  The paper colors are like paints in a pallet so she needs many different colors and textures. Barb tries to give the paper in the collages a three-dimensional look by folding it before gluing it down.

Prismacolor pencils are used to draw on the paper. Wire, shells, sand, ribbon, buttons, and various materials are used in collages.  Barb’s husband mats and frames the collages. All art is matted, some is framed. Ornaments and cards are also made from the papers.

Carol Kramer

Carol Kramer started her business, Three Moms N Daughters, to celebrate the creativity that was part of everyday life for her mother, herself and her daughter. The three of them had varied creative outlets but always enjoyed creating.

Carol has recently retired and is excited about being creative every day! Her art quilts are what she enjoys making now because they celebrate nature and are happy creations. Flowers are a joyful celebration of color that we see each summer and are represented in many of Carol’s quilts. Her love of the north woods is also evident in quilts containing birch and pine trees. Sewing art quilt is similar to drawing but with needle, thread and material.

Each art quilt will celebrate nature and will evoke special memories for anyone viewing them. Enjoy!

Wendy’s fiber art is created from tiny pieces of fiber which she then uses a free motion technique that enhances the design of the piece. She draws the design idea first, then starts laying it out on the fabric. For over 40 years she has enjoyed creating her own patterns for quilts and wall hangings for family and friends. She has enjoyed making wall hangings that are unique to a person’s hobbies and life, and uses a play on words to make them personal and unique.

Wendy’s jewelry art is a new item this year which started when she created pictures from jewelry for Christmas gifts for her family. She loves the challenge of finding jewelry pieces to use for her creations and turning those pieces into pictures. Her biggest challenge was the picture she created for her nephew, of his dog “Riggz”.

Sue & Ross Cornelison

Sue Cornelison is a children’s book illustrator, illustrating many books for children for over two decades. Along with painting and drawing, recently she has rediscovered her love for clay and uses a whimsical approach to her sculptures as well as utilitarian pieces.

She and her husband, Ross, collaborated on creating pull toys this past ‘covid’ year. She designed and painted and he did all the woodworking. Sue also likes to spin wool and creates felt hats and hand bags. Sue and Ross are new to selling their creations but have enjoyed attending the Art Crawl for many years. They have a seasonal cabin and spend their summers in Hackensack MN.

Pine River Mittens was created from her desire to use recycled, discarded clothing or fabrics that are sourced locally to make practical but gorgeous mittens that give a little bit of warmth and color to our long, northern winters. She has a particular love for wool, especially after raising sheep on her hobby farm. Though she still quilts and sews memory bears and other items, her passion is making mittens. Christine often use discarded jeans and leather/suede as well and has even made mittens out of damaged quilts. Keeping hands warm and hearts happy is something she has loved for the past 12 years.

Pat Parenteau

As a retired grandmother, Pat Parenteau says she has a lot of time on her hands.

Pat loves sewing and crocheting and claims it’s very fulfilling to create a pattern and then make the item to be useful or just for fun. She makes most of her items from yarn and flannel. These are the mediums she enjoys working with.  

The flannel blankets are sewn by machine and then completed with crocheted edges. The afghans are crocheted with patience and love while keeping her hands busy. The stuffed toys are made with a sewing machine and then stuffed and finished by hand.  For the dolls, the hair is sewn on by hand and then the clothes are made to fit the personality of each as Pat sees it. The doll faces are fabric paint and are uniquely created.

Nothing makes Pat happier than seeing others enjoy her work. Over the years she has donated and gifted many items and hope the Art Crawl will be a new outlet to share her talents.

The third picture Is Lori’s specialty bandannas with parachute clips for each on easy off. Bandannas are triangle in shape and with hand sewn parachute clips on two ends of the triangle.

The fourth picture are her bow ties which have been a hit the last couple of years. The bow ties slip right over the dog’s own collar. Lori applies fusible bond inside to give all fabric used for bow ties a crisp look. Bow ties are not just for as she has sold to cat lovers, too.

Two pictures are the dog warmers/jackets great for after bath time and going for brisk walks when it gets colder outside. Again, easy on and easy offer using Velcro to put on your dog and to easily take off your dog.

And finally, dog carriers for smaller dogs.

Haley Friese – Crocheted Animals

Haley Friese has been crocheting since she was seven. She creates all her own patterns by looking at pictures of animals or pictures of other crochet items and then I take the time to make the item until she likes how it looks and document and documents the pattern.

Haley enjoys using blanket yarn that is soft and plushy and she stuffs the material with poly-fiber fill. She attaches plastic stuffed animal eyes onto the items to give them a professional look. It her about 3 to 5 hours to make a pattern and once the pattern done, she can finish most of the animals within one hour.

The broom makers craft is an old one which is not too common these days, but the joy or assembling a novel creation after sitting down with some string, a stick and a bit of broomcorn is enough to keep him going through even the coldest Minnesota winters. It’s just more fun to sweep up a mess or clean up a corner if the tools you are using have character and charm.

The brooms are made of harvested or downed branches or saplings and storm felled split logs (pine, birch, oak and ash). The processed broomcorn used is a traditional material identical to that produced in bulk in the Midwest USA in the later 19th century as raw material for the thriving cottage industry of broom making long before anyone had a Hoover or a Dyson for routine household cleaning. Colored nylon twine is used in tying the broomcorn and attaching it to the handle or just cinching the processed broomcorn when making smaller whisks or hearth brooms. Occasionally the broomcorn is hand dyed to add more vivid color than the natural tones or the raw wood and fiber.

In addition to the functional art that is found in the whisks, the cobweb catchers, hearth sweepers or Shaker style kitchen sweepers, Mark had also made some pieces especially for display. As an example, a well-crafted traditional wedding broom for a new couple on their special day is truly a fulfilling project well worth the extra effort. However, all of Mark’s creations qualify as “suitable for framing” and would be just as comfortable hanging on a wall for display as hard at work chasing dust and debris.

Kathleen Withers

Kathy Withers has been making on- of-a-kind pieces of wearable art for children since 1999.  She started off with the idea of making something different and unique for her daughter and granddaughter.

Kathy hand paints and hand dyes each garment using a scrunch technique or an ice- dye process.  After the dying process, she hand paints the artwork using a hand-cut stencil as a base and then uses various brushes and techniques to create depth and detail. Each design is from original art that she creates, but many of the art is from drawings her daughter did starting at the age of five.

All of the garments are pre-shrunk and machine wash and dry. Each piece is unique and done individually to create a whimsical piece of wearable art for a child!