Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the foundational skills of watercolor at Beginning Watercolor from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Feb. 5, 12, 19, and 26 in The Studio. Instructor and former art educator Sally Walsh will walk participants through new techniques each week to create paintings focusing on landscapes, flowers, fruit, glass and special effects.

Pencils, erasers, clear plastic rulers, paper towels and spray bottles will be provided.

Participants should bring the following supplies:
— Basic pallet of cake watercolors (can be made available on request)
— Tube or cake watercolors
— Watercolor brushes of varying sizes
— Personal sketchbook or journal with paper suitable for watercolor (spiral bound is best)

$65/person. Register by Jan. 29. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Sally Walsh is a retired art teacher from Richland Community College in Decatur. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience and has led previous art classes at Allerton.

Experience Level: Beginner

No barn? No problem! Join the barn quilt movement by creating your own painted quilt block to use at your own home at Barn Quilt Painting on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

The workshop will start with a pre-primed board with a design already drafted (choose from a cardinal or poinsettia design during registration). Students will tape and paint at their own pace, choosing from a wide variety of colors.

Instructor Jane Cade will also share history of barn quilts, techniques, tips, and discuss how to properly seal your finished piece after the paint has dried for 48 hours. Leave with a 20×20″ wooden ‘quilt block’ to keep for yourself or share your talents and give someone a handmade gift.

$90/person. Register by Feb. 1. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

About the Instructor

Jane Cade is a retired teacher from Clinton Junior High School. She has been painting barn quilts for eight years and sells her work online and at craft festivals. She teaches classes at Parkland Community College and will be teaching classes at her workshop beginning next year.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn how to use the pattern originally used in armor for jewelry making at Link it! Chainmaille Jewelry on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in The Studio.

Historically, chainmaille was used as protective armor, as the linked rings resulted in a strong, flexible fabric. Jewelers have adopted the repeatable pattern of the rings to make unique pieces of jewelry. In this workshop, instructor Billie Theide will help students make and source jump rings, create patterns and make jewelry. Students will receive a toolkit to keep, along with a folder of instructional materials to take home.

$100/person. Register by Feb. 1. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the Instructor

Billie Theide is a former chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she is Professor Emerita. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler and ceramicist. Her work is in public art collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Racine Art Museum, among others.

She is the recipient of a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and five Artists Fellowship Grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Theide has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and is a Distinguished Member and Past-President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Experience Level: Beginner

Step back in time with turn of the century dances at Historical Dancing on Mondays, Jan. 27 through March 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion.

In this elegant setting, instructor Jeanette Watts will teach1900-era ballroom styles including the waltz and two-step, reflecting the graceful movements that captivated society early in the 20th century. Perfect for history enthusiasts and dance lovers alike, this course offers a unique opportunity to experience the elegance and charm of the Gilded Age.

$90/person for the entire series or $30/class. Register for the series by Jan. 24 or three days before each class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the art of needlefelting at Needlefelt Ladybug on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Stephanie Block will teach students how to make an adorable ladybug in honor of the beneficial insect. Participants will work through the process step-by-step and leave with a completed needlefelt ladybug.

$65/person. Register here by Feb. 10. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the Instructor

Stephanie Block is the co-owner of Sundrop Alpacas near Bement. She has been producing popular yarn from her own alpacas for more than eight years. Stephanie’s spinning style is self-taught, and she is continuously learning so that she can share that knowledge with others.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basics of working with a loom at Beginning Weaving I on Saturdays, Feb. 15 through March 15 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

This 5-week class led by Sharon Bowles will encompass all aspects of beginner weaving as students create a table runner. Participants will become familiar with weaving terminology, parts of the loom, figuring the weaving pattern for the width of the loom and project, measuring out the warp, beaming the warp back to front, threading heddles, threading the reed, tying on the warp, and winding bobbins.

$250/person*. Register here by Feb. 8. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a 4-shaft loom if they have one. All other supplies will be provided, including a loom if needed.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Sharon Bowles has been weaving for 34 years and has taught beginning weaving for almost 33 years. She was taught to weave in a one-on-one class and wove two table runners in 12 (approximately) 2-hour lessons, and she teaches the same method when she teaches. Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels.

She has taught many workshops and classes to weavers’ guilds in Florida, Ohio, and Champaign-Urbana. She earned her Journeyman certification from the Weavers Guild of Boston in 2021 and a master’s certification in April of 2022. Most recently, Sharon taught Beginning Weaving I at The Farms, and a 2-day workshop in four shaft patterns for the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about decorating wedding-themed cookies at Wedding Cookie Decorating on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 12 to 3 p.m. in the Mansion Carriage House.

Cookie decorator Jennifer Holhubner will walk students through decorating with royal icing, crusting butter cream and rolled buttercream as they learn wet-on-wet techniques, outlining, flooding how to make flowers. Each student will receive directions for five different cookies.

$75/person*. Register here by Jan. 31. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a take-home container.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Champaign-Urbana native Jennifer Holhubner taught herself how to decorate cakes when she was 16 years old and took up cookie decorating in 2019.

“Although they intimidated me, I forged on and got better with each order. I still have room to grow as we all do in whatever task we take on,” she said. “But I love to share the aspects of baking and decorating. I can actually now say, I am cookier!”

Jennifer also teaches decorating classes at Parkland College.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basics of working with a loom at Beginning Weaving I on Saturdays, Feb. 15 through March 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

This 5-week class led by Sharon Bowles will encompass all aspects of beginner weaving as students create a table runner. Participants will become familiar with weaving terminology, parts of the loom, figuring the weaving pattern for the width of the loom and project, measuring out the warp, beaming the warp back to front, threading heddles, threading the reed, tying on the warp, and winding bobbins.

$250/person*. Register by Feb 8. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a 4-shaft loom if they have one. All other supplies will be provided, including a loom if needed.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Sharon Bowles has been weaving for 34 years and has taught beginning weaving for almost 33 years. She was taught to weave in a one-on-one class and wove two table runners in 12 (approximately) 2-hour lessons, and she teaches the same method when she teaches. Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels.

She has taught many workshops and classes to weavers’ guilds in Florida, Ohio, and Champaign-Urbana. She earned her Journeyman certification from the Weavers Guild of Boston in 2021 and a master’s certification in April of 2022. Most recently, Sharon taught Beginning Weaving I at The Farms, and a 2-day workshop in four shaft patterns for the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild.