With: Juliana Stevens and Bob Brown

Class Fee: $30/adult; $45/adult and child pair

Class Size: 10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Create your own marble run using hand tools with wood provided by the Mill. Demonstrate how marble runs work and then bring home your creation. No experience necessary.

Juliana Stevens is a lifelong resident of Alstead. She found her love of reading at Edith Chase’s preschool and pounded lots of nails at Chase’s Mill. She is a retired teacher who taught physical education in grades kindergarten through college.  

Bob Brown is a retired science educator and administrator, having taught at Fall Mountain Regional High School for many years. Now an Alstead resident, he summered in Mill Hollow throughout his childhood and worked closely with Heman Chase at the Mill and surveying. Bob oversaw the rehabilitation of Chase’s Mill and its water power.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $40

Class Size: 6 / Ages 16 and older

Using grinding wheels and and hand sharpening stones, we move on from garden tools in the first tool sharpening class, to learn how to safely sharpen scissors, knives, or chisels. Bring some dull scissors to class and return home with sharp ones!

Jason Breen is a Brattleboro-based custom furniture maker and member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers. He studied instrument building and history at Marlboro College, which he paid for by building timber frames and cabinets. Traditional tools have inspired his work ever since he inherited his ancestors’ hand planes.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $30/adult; $45/adult and child pair

Class Size: 8 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

With free materials from your recycling bin or trash, X-Acto knives, glue, needle, and thread, we will make artistic / "junk" journals, sketchbooks, or notebooks. Be prepared to have fun!

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fifth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

With: Tricia Miller

Class Fee: $20

Class Size: 6-10 / teens to adults

Why is rug hooking being rediscovered as an outlet for creativity, imagination, community and fun? Hear about the roots of this tradition that morphed from a humble craft into an art. Many hooked pieces will be on display showing how methods and styles have changed over the years. There will be a demonstration of the process of how a hooked piece is created from an idea to an actual rug or mat. Attendees will be offered the opportunity to try out hooking. If there is interest, a beginner class will be scheduled.

Tricia Miller began hooking rugs in 1983. She has been inducted into the Rug Hooker Hall of Fame sponsored by Rug Hooking Magazine and has won many awards for her work, most recently in 2024 with Viewers' Choice for her entry in Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs 34.

With: Nancy Botkin and Juliana Stevens

Class Fee: $30/adult; $45/adult and child pair

Materials Fee: $10 / participant

Class Size: 8-10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

From the intrepid wanderer to the secret lover, folding paper has long been a creative challenge.

Come learn techniques for paper folding, from the practical to the whimsical. In addition, we will learn different ways of letter locking to keep prying eyes out!

Each participant will take home their samples as well as some tools so they can keep practicing: a bone folder, sealing wax, and a stamp.

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fifth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

Juliana Stevens is a lifelong resident of Alstead. She found her love of reading at Edith Chase’s preschool and pounded lots of nails at Chase’s Mill. She is a retired teacher who taught physical education in grades kindergarten through college.  

With: Laurel Iselin

Class Fee: $30/adult; $45/adult and child pair

Class Size: 6-8 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Come carve a cooking spoon! Learn to work with the grain of the wood using gouges and knives to shape a unique creation and return home with a functional and beautiful kitchen utensil. This class will include an introduction to edge tools and carving safety.

Laurel Iselin has enjoyed working with wood since she was a kid and has taught woodworking and craft classes at Kroka Expeditions, Gathering Waters Charter School, and the Roots School. She lives up the road in East Alstead with her husband and three children.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $30/adult; $45/adult and child pair

Materials Fee: $10 / participant

Class Size: 8 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Shibori is the Japanese art of indigo dyeing. We will create blue and white patterns on cloth by folding, using string, rubber bands, and wooden clamps. Watching the reaction of indigo dye as it oxidizes and turns the fabric from white to brilliant green and finally settling on a beautiful blue is part of the fun. The resulting fabric will be colorfast in the washing machine but will fade in the sun.

Nancy Botkin has been dyeing shibori-style for about 8 years now. She's enjoyed using the fabric in quilts and other sewing projects.

With: Laura Andrews and Ann Acheson

Class Fee: By donation. Registration is required as space is limited.

Materials Fee: $5

Class Size: 6-8 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Beautify Alstead together! Chase's Mill is partnering with the Beautify Alstead group to build flower boxes for the town's bridge. In this workshop, we will assemble and decorate wooden flower boxes to be mounted on the Alstead Village bridge over the Cold River. You will see your creative handiwork every time you drive over the bridge this summer! This is a free event, and if you choose, each participant will have the opportunity to build and plant a smaller wooden flower box to take home. For this there will be a small materials fee. This is a fun opportunity for adults or families. No experience necessary.

Registration is required as space is limited.

Laura Andrews learned woodworking from her grandfather in his basement workshop. But it was "Woodworking for Women," taught through Keene Community Education by Gail Grycel, where Laura learned about power tools and other building skills. Laura now lives in Keene and is the University Director of Institutional Advancement at Antioch University.

Ann Acheson, in the first year of the Mill's programs, took Woodworking for Women from a great crew of instructors including Laura. She has been practicing her skill set ever since.

Tuesday and Wednesday, JuNE 24 and 25, 9AM-Noon

With: Donna Lund

Second class in a two-class program.

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Donna Lund

Class Fee: $50

Materials Fee: $20

Class Size: 6-8 / Appropriate for high school age to adult; children 10-13 accompanied by an adult

This two day introduction to watercolor will help both the beginner and those who wonder how to start. We will talk about paper, paints, brushes, and needed supplies. We will cover terminology and try out techniques and tools. Donna will supply a watercolor pad for each participant and will have extra brushes and paints to use for the lessons, if needed. Bring any watercolor supplies you have, or if you haven't started painting yet, just bring yourself and a willingness to experiment and play with this wonderful medium.

First class in a two-class program

Donna Bascom Lund has enjoyed living in picturesque East Alstead for the last 40 years. As an artist, she plays with many creative media, including sewing and blacksmithing, but is most drawn to painting with watercolor as she feels that no other medium offers the feeling that watercolor does. View samples of her work here.

Optional second session: afternoon of Saturday, June 28, location TBD

With: Barbara Davis

Class Fee: $40/adult; $60/adult and child pair

Materials Fee: If you attend the optional second session, please bring about 6 arm-width pieces of dry wood for the firing.

Class Size: 5-10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

If you have wondered if the clay you may have seen while walking or driving around NH is usable, the answer is YES! If interested in learning about how you can use it to make your own pieces of pottery, this is the workshop for you! In this workshop we will dig clay (from a deposit one mile from the mill), begin to process (clean) it, and then form a few pieces from clay that is ready to use!
The second part of this workshop is optional, but VERY exciting! We will fire the pots we made using wood and other materials to bring these pieces to life in an outdoor firing.

Barbara Davis is an East Alstead potter who loves sharing what she does with the community. Her workshop at Old Settlers Pottery is right around the corner from Chase’s Mill. She sells her work, teaches classes, and gives workshops.

With: Kristy Rhoades and Jenny Kazati

Class Fee: $20/adult; $30/adult and child pair

Materials Fee: $20 per participant

Class Size: 12 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Flower pounding, also known as Tatakizome, is a captivating and ancient Japanese technique that involves hammering fresh flowers and other botanicals to create intricate patterns on fabric or paper. The process is surprisingly simple, loads of fun, and yields stunning results. Learn the basics of flower selection, preparation and technique, and bring home your own masterpiece! Materials will be provided, however you are encouraged to bring along some fresh blooms of your own. No experience necessary.

Kristy Rhoades only recently picked up this craft, but it spoke to her so deeply she has found herself trying the process with every flower she finds. As an accomplished seamstress, she has found ways to incorporate her flowered results into everything from cards to curtains to foraging bags.

Jenny Kazati is partnering up with her sister to co-lead this workshop. They share a joy and curiosity in this art form. She lives in Oregon with her husband and child.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $40

Class Size: 6 / Ages 16 and older

A favorite is back! Bring your garden tools to the Mill and get them ready for action! Jason will instruct you how to manually sharpen your tools using sharpening stones. You will learn how to take your tool apart to access the blade, and then put your tool back together after sharpening the blade. For those interested in learning how to use a grinding wheel for sharpening, this approach will also be available. No experience necessary.

Jason Breen is a Brattleboro-based custom furniture maker and member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers. He studied instrument building and history at Marlboro College, which he paid for by building timber frames and cabinets. Traditional tools have inspired his work ever since he inherited his ancestors’ hand planes.