Author: jsharp

CLASS LOCATION:  HILLSBORO CLASSROOM, 37 HILL ST. HILLSBORO, WV

Participants choose your favorite four, nine, or sixteen patch quilt block and join us to paint it on a barn sign.  If you need help choosing, your instructor is a pro and can help you.  Signs will be 24″ by 24″ approximately.  Boards will be primed both sides and ready to paint in the class.  You can pick up to two colors and a background color.  Paints will be acrylic exterior latex (water soluble).  Paints will be provided by the instructor.  Please note that the cut and prepped boards and paint will be provided by the instructor.  Instructor will also provide trimming brushes for participants to share.

Participants need to bring:

3 paintbrushes, one for each color.  1′ to 1 and 1/2 inch recommended.  Sponge brushes also work.

Yard stick, pencil,

Dress in old clothes that you don’t mind getting paint splattered!

Diana Beverage is the instructor for this class!  An award winning custom quilter and edge to edge (if that’s what you prefer), she was once a sign painter in her early years. All of this makes her the perfect instructor for learning to paint a barn quilt!

This floral design class will teach basic design principles: balance, proportion, and harmony, while familiarizing participants with the materials and tools of floral design.  Participants will explore various farm grown and wild harvested flowers from Pocahontas County, WV.  We will discuss organic gardening advice while learning to identify and care for flowers.

Materials for this class will be provided by the instructor, Katie Mullins, who was born and raised just down the road in Nettie, WV.  She received a Bachelors degree in Medical Technology from WVU.  Katie also studied agriculture while attending college.  She is a self taught artist/crafter/floral designer, now residing in Hillsboro, WV with her partner and her three children!

Participants are welcome to bring some flowers from their own gardens and pruners, if they have them, but this is not necessary.

Let’s make a beautiful woven, reed basket you can use as a catch all,  a lunch basket, or a lovely work of your own art to sit on a shelf!  This class is in two segments:  Wednesday Sept. 15, 6:00-9:00 and Thursday Sept. 16, 6:00-9:00.  John and Margie Sparks will team up to show you how to create a beautiful basket that you can be proud to hold and show or give as a gift.

The instructors will provide all the materials you need.  All you need to bring is an eagerness to learn a new art form!  If you’ve already been introduced to basketry, you will enjoy making another beautiful reed basket to add to your collection.

Margie Sparks is a retired dental assistant who enjoys gardening and the craft of basketry,  both as the artist and the instructor to introduce others to her love of basketry.  John Sparks is a retired painter who also enjoys basketry, making music and gardening!

Learn how to make a simple candle and ways to embellish your candle; glitter and other decorations.  The candles you make in class will be soy/blend wax candles with a variety of scents  and colors from which to choose.  All materials will be provided for you to make TWO candles.  You just show up with a desire to learn another simple and creative craft just in time for Christmas!

Instructor is Debbie Walker, former owner of Deb Ann’s Fabrics and long time quilt class instructor.

Just in time for Easter!  Pysanky is the Ukrainian word for “eggs that have been written on.”  In the Ukraine, the symbols that are written with wax on the eggs bestow upon the recipients love, health, fertility, and more.  The method used to layer the colors is a type of Batik work.  We will learn a brief history of the symbols and the coordinating dyeing techniques.  Our instructor for this class, Cris Bartlett, says that the act of decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs is very relaxing and for all skill levels!

Participants do not need to bring any supplies because Cris will provide these.

Cris Bartlett is a local artist, farmer, business owner (entrepreneur), who sits on the board of Pocahontas Country Arts Council and is a member of the Pocahontas County Artisans Guild.  She is also owner of Saffron Flats Farm and the site manager for  Droop Mountain  Farmers’ Market for the PCFM, where she and other growers sell their fresh produce.  There are many different forms of art she has explored and she has found them each to be equally enjoyable.  As a participant in the Droop Mountain Studio Tours in 2020 and again in 2021, she found that teaching relaxing arts and crafts is a rewarding experience and she is now offering classes and workshops in Pocahontas County.  In a word, Cris  continues to evolve and try new endeavors.

Here is another opportunity to learn the art of hand built pottery from the talented Tracey Walker!  In this class, participants will be given the choice to make either two coffee mugs (hand built) OR one charcuterie platter!  Tracey is also giving you the choice to make multiple projects, mixing mugs and charcuterie platter, but this may result in an extra cost for materials at the time of the class.

This pottery class is in two segments.  In the first segment, participants will hand build either the two mugs or their charcuterie platter.  These must be given plenty of time to air dry.  In the second segment, participants will glaze their creations.  Arrangements will be made with Tracey to pick up your finished, glazed, and fired projects when they are ready.

Tracey provides all the tools, clay, and glaze we will need for these fun and useful projects!

Tracy Walker is a renowned jewelry and clay artist.  She has exhibited her creations in many festivals throughout West Virginia and beyond, in addition to selling her wares in several high market gift shops in the Greenbrier and Pocahontas County areas.  We are delighted that she will share some basic pottery techniques with our community.

Sewing machine with zigzag capability, fabric glue (available at Sunflower Fabrics), a rotary cutter and mat,  1 and 1/4 yard of fabric in a continuous piece.  This will be cut on the bias.  50 feet of clothesline rope (available at Walmart hardware dept or Sunflower Fabrics)  Thread that matches the fabric. Bring scissors, pins, and other basic sewing supplies.

Class taught by Pat Paxton, a retiree who has become a passionate quilter, among other craft hobbies.  Pat is back by popular demand to teach her fabric rope baskets.  The result is a beautiful, professional looking basket, worthy of gift giving!  Her hobbies include: quilting, sewing, and reading (lots of reading)!