KiteMakers.org 2007 classes

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2007 Class List The Curriculum committee offered these class in 2007. You can see some of the finished class projects by using the links below. Come back this summer to see potential classes we will have in 2008. Be sure to get your name on our mailing list.
Pentagon Dragon Kite photo Rod Beamguard Vancouver, Washington Rod offers a large dragon style kite with a pentagonal head and 5 segments for the body or tail which taper to a point. A plan form will be sent to students prior to the conference so that graphics may be completed and the 6 pieces cut to the proper size before class. Construction technique is the emphasis, not graphic design.
Sentinel Kite photo second photo Brian Champie San Ramon, California Brian brings us an 11 foot unusual pod shaped kite, inspired by Ramlal Tien's design, re-engineered and adapted for easier building in class by Brian. The project includes long hems, long spar pockets and easy framing. Join Brian to make this elegant "Sentinel" kite.
Is that a kite in your pocket? Sled Kite kite photo Deb Cooley Lincoln City, Oregon The "Diva" will return to teach a patchwork pocket sled kite. There will be different designs and colors to choose from. The one in photo is the more challenging design. If you want a special color and/or design let Deb know in advance. Kits will come with a spool of line. The kite and line folds up into the drogue, ready to fly at a moment's notice!
Bag It! photo Deb Cooley Lincoln City, Oregon Think you may need a new kite bag for all the kites that you going to make at the Conference? Join Deb in her Let's Bag It! class and construct a bag from Cordova fabric. These bags will last for years. Choose either a duffel bag for spools or line art or a four foot to six foot kite bag. Special sizes will need to be ordered early.
*No Sew* Noodle Kite photo Donna's finished kite Georgean Curran Edgewood, Washington Join Georgean and create a large no-sew Bargello style Noodle kite. Yes, it is fabric! The kite is done in a Bargello technique but is put together with adhesives. It is an impressive 80” tall and 21” wide.
Star Kite Train photo Mark Engbaum Renton, Washington Mark teaches a small train of beautiful five-pointed star kites with loop tails. Easily added onto later, you will make a train of five kites in his class.
*Cellta Illusion* Kite photo Gary Engvall Cranston, Rhode Island Gary is ready to teach the fantastic Cellta Illusion kite. You will leave with a finished kite or the knowledge and confidence to complete it at home. The process is mostly straight-forward sewing, with one or two seams that people find difficult to wrap their brains around. Let Gary show you how to make those seams and complete this very unusual kite!
Of Course You Can Appliqué John Freeman Parksville, British Columbia, Canada Gandalf is back with more kite magic but this time you will learn appliqué techniques. Students will make a medium sized Rokkaku while practicing John's favorite appliqué method. John's project will give you several design options with different levels of difficulty. A photo soon will show one of the possibilities. He will discuss different appliqué methods, advanced techniques, and how to repair mistakes. This beginning appliqué class will give you a firm foundation in the art of the kitemakers' appliqué and send you home with a nice flying and attractive Rokkaku, too.
*Poster Genki Kite* photo Cliff and Gerry's finished kite Paul Horner Quathiaski Cove, BC, Canada Another new teacher for us is Paul. He will be working with students wishing to build his Poster Genki. This is a large (42" tall X 110" wide), easy to fly kite with an wonderful uninterrupted area for graphics. Participants will bring a plain or appliquéd sail and will apply reinforcements, spar pockets, and binding, do the framing and bridling plus make a bag during the class session. Students can contact Paul for red or North's natural color fabric.
*Upside Down Kite* photo Dan Kurahashi Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada With Dan, you will make a two foot high switch-back Rokkaku. It is a non-sewn kite. It can be flown right side up, then turned over in the air to fly upside down! Click on the photo to see his interesting graphic: view it "down" and then twist your head around to see it "up". You will use bamboo and Tyvek plus aluminum wire. Decorate your kite with the graphic after construction is complete. Dan will teach you his trick to make the decoration more visible when upside down. Dan will also explain in detail how to bridle a Rokkaku in the traditional Shirone manner in contrast to this flip-flop Rokkaku.
Pentagon Kite photo Mark's finished kite Ralf Maserski Dortmund, Germany Join Ralf, an experienced kite builder and teacher from Germany and returning Ft. Worden teacher, to build a Pentagon kite with mathematical patterns. Students will have their choice of colors and will use Ralf's special method to put the pieces of the pattern together. Don't worry if your German language skills are rusty, Ralf is fluent in English.
Muse Sport Kite photo Ken McNeill Lenoir, North Carolina Mr. Blue Moon Kites presents a two day adventure building one of his remarkable sport kites. Students will be building the Muse stunt kite using a variety of techniques which Ken has developed over the last 15 years. The Muse was developed specifically for workshops and is based on a “production” kite, the Mantis. The kit provides pre-built frames and bridles, as well as pre-cut sail panels. Choose your colors with his colorizer, which can be found at Ken's web site. You will also be able to choose between standard and UL framing. One of the primary techniques is the use of bonded seams, so you will be sewing through different types of adhesives. Please see the workshop information at the link above. Ken will be doing no cutting at Ft. Worden, so students must provide their color and framing choices at least 3 weeks in advance.
*Delta Delirium* Kite photo Barbara Meyer Maple Grove, Minnesota Barb is coming again and will teach her Delta Delirium. This 4 foot tall delta has modified wings, sled panel, and 2 keels. It is a wonderful light wind flyer and, unlike a Genki, it does not overfly without tails. This modification of a standard Delta kite owes some to the influence of Neil Thornburn as the wing tips are raised to reduce spar length, maintain sail area, and give the appearance of a curved trailing edge without cutting or hemming a curve. Thanks go to Margaret Greger for the keel dimensions. Added touches from Barb gives you a very special kite, the Delta Delirium. Students will use up to three colors on their kite. Although beginners can successfully build this kite, experienced builders may learn some new tricks, too. Expect to learn a great deal in Barb's class including assembly techniques to join sail to keel to panel, hemming, simple attachments for tails to minimize weight, how to size the center panel, how to adapt design to a Conyne design or a double Conyne, plus how to make any sized delta.
Beginning Kite Making photo Gerry Pennell Olympia, Washington In the beginning there is Gerry! Let Gerry put you on the road to successful kite sewing mania. The ideal starting point for all beginners is this class! Gerry discusses helpful tools and “How To’s”. She takes you from “I want to sew” to “I can do this”. Get on the right track with her exercises to become familiar with your sewing machine. You will make either a wind sock or simple kite in class plus additional kits are available for a take home project.
The Shard Kite photo Charmayne's finished kite Donna's and Jean's finished kite Kevin Sanders Willunga, Australia Kevin returns to Ft. Worden in 2007 to teach his award winning Shard kite. The “Shard” is a triangular low aspect ratio single line kite designed by Kevin in 2003. It is a light pulling, bowed kite with twin ribbon tails, and is a steady flyer in a wide wind range. Visually different from most other kites, the unique shape lends itself to a range of graphic and decorative styles. This bowed kite uses progressively different diameter cross spreaders along its length to minimize weight while maintaining even frame tension along the entire kite. The 1.8 meter tall, carbon framed, ripstop nylon Shard is uncomplicated to construct but the ability to sew accurate straight seams in ripstop nylon and 4 oz. Dacron tape is a pre-requisite for this class. Some of the fittings used on the kite are hand-made from readily available hardware materials, and the making of these fittings is demonstrated in the class although completed fittings are included in the kit.
*Wood Block Printing* Scott Skinner & Ali Fujino Monument, Colorado & Seattle, Washington Join this Drachen Foundation duo to perform traditional Japanese wood block printmaking on paper before constructing kites from your efforts! They will present traditional Japanese materials and their development for use in kitebuilding. The design of your sails will be done with block printing, giving you a sense of how the Japanese traditionally used this media to decorate and mass produce their kites. Experience kitemaking with traditional materials (handmade papers and bamboo), techniques (printmaking), and designs (Japanese motifs) from one of the oldest cultures of kitemaking with the help of Ali and Scott.
*Mini Arch* photo Charlie Sotich Chicago, Illinois Charlie returns to show you how to create a kite arch, in miniature! Students will use precut tissue sails approximately 4 X 4 inches. The sails will be decorated with markers before the spines are glued in place. Message from Charlie: "Students should think of a message to put on the arch, i.e. “Go Fly a Kite”, “Up with Kites”, their name, etc. before coming to class".
*Eddy Kite* photo Sam's and Dawn's finished kite everyone's finished kite! Holm Struck Bliedersdorf, Germany Holm comes to Ft. Worden Kitemakers Conference for the first time. Join him and build a historical replica Eddy kite using cotton fabric. Holm's project will closely follow the W. A. Eddy original kite taken from the March,1900 patent. The kit Holm will provide includes cotton fabric for the sail, hemp cording for the bridle, bow tensioner, and frame, finished wood rods, plus stainless steel fittings and a manual. Students will be using metric measurements but Holm will be speaking fluent English!
*Patchwork Tube Line Laundry* photo Ken Tumminia Lincoln City, Oregon Try Ken's approach to Patchwork Play by designing, cutting and sewing a long patchwork tube. Use one shape but vary the colors to make different designs for your unique (and great looking!) line laundry tube.
*Stella Octangula Line Laundry* photo Miriam's finished Stella Bob and Charmayne Umbowers Gig Harbor, Washington Do laundry with the Umbowers! "Everything you always wanted to know about line laundry but were afraid to ask" will be discussed and shown and demonstrated. Learn the tips, tricks, nuts and bolts, what works, what doesn't, basics such as attaching laundry to the kite line, storage, shaping, bridling, etc. Then you will cut and sew this double tetrahedron line art from your own fabric. As part of the kit, students will each receive a laminate template which makes the polyhedron compound called Stella Octangula Tetrahedra. Make more at home to fill your kite line with geometric line art.
*12" Cody Kite* photo second photo Jerry's finished kite Rick White Renton, Washington Build a mini-Cody kite with Rick guiding the way. The students will learn how a Cody kite is made and flies including basics of bridling and adjusting the bridles. The class will construct a 12” Cody using rip-stop nylon. You will be trained on the use and safety of hot cutters. Sails may be hot cut in class or contact Rick for pre-cut sails.
*Paint A Hapi Coat Panel* photo Barb Wright Vancouver, Washington Spend some time with the Hapi Coat Queen! Take one or both of Barb's classes. In this first class, Fabric Dye A Hapi Coat, you will learn a technique to apply fabric dye to a poplin fabric and will paint the back portion of a coat. The kit will include instructions for completing the coat on your own or you may take the Hapi Coat 101 class to sew it.
*Sew a Hapi Coat* photo Barb Wright Vancouver, Washington Let Barb show you how to make a Hapi Coat (kite fliers' formal wear) to wear on the flying fields and at kite events. In this second class, you can bring your own fabric or use the masterpiece you created in her Paint a Hapi Coat Panel class to make your own unique Hapi coat. You will keep the pattern and instructions to make more coats later as desired. Contact Barb in advance for fabric printed with kite designs.