"Hutch Saturday Event"

~ HUTCH EVENT ~

This Saturday, November 5th is the middle of the annual Art's Alive weekend in La Conner.  That just so happens to be the weekend we reopened our shop as Hutch 2 years ago.  To celebrate our Hutch anniversary we will be having art demonstrations throughout the day.  From noon to 2 pm I will be demonstrating the process of how our whirligigs are made and from 2 pm to 4 pm the creative Kristin will be demonstrating her magical technique of making continuous line drawings in thread using a sewing machine.  Whether you are a quilter, artist, or candlestick maker, you will find this to be an amazing thing to watch.  If you've visited Hutch in the past it will be great to see you again  and you know where to go if not just look for the whirligig fence and the balloons on the right right as you enter the town of La Conner.

See you on Saturday!

Recent whirligig workshop creations

~ Whirligig Creations at Hutch ~

I know that I always say that the last workshop was the greatest to date and the truth is they are all fantastic .  The whirligigs pictured above were made in the July workshop.  I'm always excited about the "stuff" that everyone brings to create their personal wind statement.  Often the funner the item the bigger the challenge but the challenge is fun and thrilling when we make it work.  These folks were into it big time.  Two of them had already planned and prepped many of the components that went on their gigs.  LOVE IT!!!

I also love getting emails from workshoppers after the class is over with questions about new gigs they are now working on.  To think that hutch may be spreading the joy of whirligigs throughout the land puts a big smile on my mug.  If any of my former workshoppers would send me a picture of themselves standing by there whirligig wherever it ended up being installed I would love to create a blog page called "As The Gig Spins".  

The next whirligig workshop is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th.   The October workshop date will be posted soon.

Paper Bride Part 1

~ Paper Bride Part I ~
the boat train

I have to say the part of this project that was the most fun for me was creating the water like paper train with pop up fishing boat.  I wasn't at all sure if I could manipulate the heavy paper of the charts to make convincing waves.  

Wave by wave I began scrunching and folding the chart being very careful not to capsize the boat.

I have to say I had to do a wee bit of reinforcing to keep the boat afloat.  Very thin strips of card stock are glued to the back for support and rigid strength.

The paper train flows behind the bride like ocean waves.  I hope she catches one.

The paper bride

~ The Paper Bride ~

A little while ago a few of us hutch minds were discussing ideas about story telling  and in particular the story of our company's original inspiration "Elsa".  She was the grandmother of our company founders Krys and Suzanne and a seamstress of dresses, gowns, and just about anything she could think up.  I wanted to come up with a very special object that married her family connection to "fishing" with her passion for creating beautiful dressess.  Pictured here is the bride that I constructed out of many old nautical charts.   Being a fan of the competitive design show "Project Runway" I couldn't help but pretend I was in one of there crazy "think outside of the box" challenges.   I took many photos of this project and I'm sure there will be many posts to follow.  If you notice the cut out fishing boat casting it's net in the train of the dress,  I like to think she is trying to catch a good one.

"Keeping them spinning."

~ Keeping them spinning ~

"Maintaining the old gigs at Hutch"

There are a few whirligigs (five I think) that have been on our front fence at Hutch for over 20 years.  Even though they were very well crafted they are still subjected to the elements all year round and in our climate that means a great deal of rain and wind.  They are mostly made of  light metals that even though they are partially painted will rust.  Screws will loosen and parts will fall off.   Fortunately these are easy fixes. As I watch them spin in the wind I notice if one is not keeping up I bring it in to the shop and examine it more closely.  This one pictured here is an old timer I call the "Everything Gig" and was moving slowly, so I brought it inside for a check up.  It was missing a couple of small windcatchers that I easily replaced with new ones but the problem was not as simple as that.  It was internal. I took the hub apart, cleaned the bearings and repacked it with a generous amount of grease but it still wasn't moving smoothly.  There comes a point when the metal that the ball bearings are in contact with gets rough and pitted and at that point there isn't much you can do.  It will still move, but will need a stronger wind.  The older I get the more I can relate.  One old whirligig to another.

Spin on!

Lovin Spoon Pulls

~ Lovin Spoon Pulls ~

What can you do with all that old flatware that collects in your kitchen drawers?  Make door pulls that's what.  I'm certain this isn't an original idea and I'm not sure where I saw it for the first time but it sure is clever and fun.  It can really turn the spoon into a more decorative item and add something special to a cool cabinet door or hutch.

These "Betty Lou" spoons are very fun.  There was no question they had to be on the hutch in our little girl's room at the shop.  

This was the very first spoon handle that I made.  It was probably about a year ago when I refurbished this glass display cabinet.

These are two of the four spoon pulls on the doors of the "Hutch" hutch in our library/study room.

Large spoon pulls
$28.

to order call 360-466-2303

Medium spoon pulls
$24.

to order call 360-466-2303

New klTees at Hutch!

~ New klTees at Hutch! ~

We have the very latest and greatest selection of kltworks organic cotton Tees at Hutch right now.  So many colors and styles and sizes that you are sure to find the perfect cozy creature to wear.  Above is a selection of the unisex tees in many different colors.  The newest image in print right now and perfect for Hutch is the rabbit and my current personal favorite.

The new grey owl cardigan would be so cozy and stylish for the fall or even right now if you live here in western Washington.  Seriously, it's late July and I'm still in thermal underwear.  Come on summer!  Well we can use our imaginations and pretend we have fur or feathery coats like the birds and animals on Kristin's super soft tees.

For those of you that aren't familiar with the Kristin's design process I have to fill you in.  She sews each image freehand using a sewing machine.  One continuous unbroken line of thread that grows into an owl, or a squirrel, or a rabbit.  It's an amazing technique that captures the line quality of a blind contour drawing or the feel of an Alexander Calder "circus" sketch.  Pictured above are examples of the women's tees.

As you can see, one of our hutches is alive with fun critters hooting and hopping just to be worn by you.  Adult men's and unisex styles are priced at $26.  Adult women's styles are $28.  Child sizes are $24. and infant sizes are $20.  Stop by, give me a call 360-466-2303 or order here.

You can always find me rockin a glue gun and a klT at Hutch Wednesday thru Sunday 11am-4:30pm.