Courses

Bring a favorite landscape image to class and create your own unique bead painting on felted wool (material provided). Your piece can be made into a pin for a wearable work of art, or framed for display. This workshop is for all skill levels, for those new to beading on…

Drawing inspiration from opulent hand embroidered Victorian Crazy quilts; learn how to construct a traditional 14-inch Crazy quilt block using the stitch and flip sewing method on a muslin base. Traditional Crazy quilts were not constructed for warmth or for the bed; instead they showcased the maker’s needlework skills. The…

Brightly-colored seed beads have been used to embellish and brighten clothing and homegoods for centuries. Learn to make a beaded doily in this short class and experiment with color and pattern repetition to create a unique piece. Beadwork artist Marcie McIntire will provide instruction and materials for creating these lovely…

Learn basic leather sewing and beadwork by making a drawstring shoulder bag. This three day introductory course will work with soft deerskin leather, and teach several different stitches and embellishment techniques. The finished bag will measure 9” x 5 ½”.

Minnesota's history is interwoven with the history of hat-making. Europe's hunger for beaver-felt top hats drove the voyageurs into the heart of fur country. Most of the fur traded at Grand Portage eventually became felt hats. There is no softer, warmer or more pliant fiber than fur-felt. We will use…

We know that butter makes it better. But which butter? And what’s behind the magic? We will learn three distinctive butter techniques as we explore croissants, Danish pastry and kouig amann, which may be the best “muffin” you’ll ever have. We’ll make cultured butter and demystify this ancient treasure.

Learn to weave a basic, wide-bias weave, birch bark basket based on Native Alaskan Athabaskan style work. The piece may then be enhanced with teacher prepared and dyed spruce roots, or kept a bit more basic with user-friendly waxed threads (or a combination of both). The rim and foot are…

Fully experience the craft of making a traditional birch bark basket for the gathering and storage of berries or anything you please. This course includes time focused both on basket making and on material preparation. Day one includes an extended session in the woods to harvest the birch bark in…

Scandinavians and Russians commonly kept small, flat birch bark boxes in their pockets in the 18th and 19th century for the then-popular taking of snuff. Larger finger and lap jointed boxes often held coffee, tea or salt. Today they continue to made and hold keepsakes, buttons, spare change, jewelry, dried…

In this class we will create two different birch bark boxes, one based on a classic style produced throughout the birch forests of North America by native peoples, and another typical birch bark container produced throughout the Scandinavian countries. The North American style is created from a single sheet of…

Birch trees have a variety of uses that can be seen all around North House. Discover the sturdiness and the beauty of the White Paper Birch by weaving with its bark. In this day-long course, you will learn about the bark harvest, how to process & treat the materials, and…

Whether woven into a basket, a shoe, a backpack or necklace, birch bark is a beautiful material, with natural tones of white, grey, brown, yellow and even pink depending on the tree, the harvest and the layer of the bark. Highlight the variations of the bark (and your fine motor…

Most birds are not known for sitting still. By learning to recognize their songs, calls and the habitats they live in, you can have a satisfying birding experience every time you step outdoors, with or without your binoculars! In this one-day workshop we’ll travel to various habitats and birding hotspots…

Most birds are not known for sitting still. By learning to recognize their songs and calls and the habitats they live in, you can have a satisfying birding experience every time you step outdoors, with or without your binoculars! In this morning workshop we’ll travel to various habitats in Cook…

The ash splint lidded basket has its roots on the north eastern seaboard of North America amongst early indigenous tribes, such as the Micmac and Passamaquaddy. Fine examples of workmanship can be found in collections in New York and Boston, to name but a few places. In this course, students…