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Bob's and Charmayne's kites in 2010 |
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Bob's and Charmayne's kites in 2010 |
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May saw our third Pear Top replica flying with the La Crinoline Parachute lady and the soldier. Our first pear top kite was made in 2006 for Bob's Christmas kite. It was joined by the Parachute Lady, La Crinoline Parachute last year. La Joile is another wonderful old kite, this time Dutch in origin. To the right is the original picture we were sent and our replica. |
 original photo |
our replica |
 These are photos of the kite skin in progress. The layers are stacked and the sewing done. I have started the trimming and cutting away of the unwanted fabric. This happens on both sides, front and back. |
This is a section of the back of the kite before I have cut away any extra fabric. I will cut away the white layer on the Fool to be able to cut away the extra brown above his waist. I will also cut away the white to brighten the lettering and leaves and flowers depending on how the light shines through. |
 This is the skin, ready to be cut to size. |
 J. R. (Pete) Edmunds replica kite |
The Fanø 2010 Classic was antenna lifting kites. We had the perfect project to complete and take with us to Fanø. It is the J. R. Edmunds antenna lifing kite. We did a lot of research for this kite, first seeing it hanging in the museum in Long Beach, Washington several years earlier. We soon knew more about the Edmunds family from Colorado and the little town of Wray than we did about our own families! Once on Fanø we were stunned when another replica plus an original were also flying! Chris, one of our German friends had gotten his Seyfang Labs kite, an original, from a man in Canada. Except for the name, it is the same as our Edmunds kite. It is so wonderful to see the classic fly again. And what great stories we learn. I did an article for Kay and the museum newsletter. It is posted here in PDF format. (A new window will open.) |
Original Edmunds kite in the Long Beach Kite Museum |
 We don't seem to tire of our bird kites. This is our third cotton Voitländer. There are lines on the back of the kite which form pockets in the wind to help stabilize him. Makes it look like he has bones or ribs! The Voitländer was our class offering at Ft. Worden so I made another bird just before we taught to verifly our instructions and as a refresher for me. This one is a lovely teal color with a lot of blue in it. |
We also worked on a new project to offer at Ft. Worden Kitemaker's Conference 2011. The project would be a small peartop with a traditionally themed appliqué project. We took the four finished ones to Fanø for testing.
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We discovered this little kite will handle a LOT of wind by doubling the tail. I had made Jean-Pierre Ollive's wonderful tail double ended which made it easy to connect two together. We decided the red tail looks better.
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 German rescue kite Nothing like a grey, cloudy day for a rescue kite. It does show up quite well! Made on Fanø in the Classic's Workshop with Ralf Maserski's son, Lucas. |
 Bob's Christmas kite took 2 tries this year. Here is version one. It is a big version of the little guys. You can see the pile of little Pear Tops leaning against the door next to the "big brother". |
 It did not seem quite finished. Bob suggested we add a shooting star. Exactly right. |
