Making room for making with Cottage Courses

My hope is that people leave with not only something they’ve made, but also a renewed sense of creativity, possibility and connection. —Natalie Baxter

Cottage Courses is a series of hands-on workshops led by artists and craftspeople in the Hudson Valley and Northwest Connecticut, offering participants the chance to learn everything from basket weaving and natural dyeing to quilting, spoon carving and candle making. Founded by artist Natalie Baxter, the program is designed to make creativity accessible — and to give people something increasingly rare: the time, space and encouragement to slow down and make something with their hands.

“You don’t need to arrive with experience, or even with confidence, to take a class,” Baxter said. “Cottage Courses is for anyone who feels curious about making and wants to spend a little time learning with their hands.”

This fall’s lineup offers plenty of opportunities to do just that. On Sept. 6, basket maker Angela Eastman will lead a basketweaving workshop at Troutbeck in Amenia. Sept. 12 brings bundle dyeing at Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook, followed by a natural dye workshop at Maitri Farm in Amenia on Sept. 19. In October, participants can make fire cider at Maitri Farm, spend a weekend quilting at Cottage Courses’ Quilt Camp in Wassaic and learn spoon carving with Kate Hawes at Troutbeck. November brings beeswax taper candle making at Troutbeck.

The natural-dye workshops are part of a new collaboration with Maitri Farm, whose flower farmers worked with Baxter to select flowers specifically for dyeing. “They met with me earlier this spring to discuss which flowers to grow for natural dye workshops, which was very kind of them,” she said. “I’m excited to partner with them for two workshops this summer and fall.”

There are changes behind the scenes at Cottage Courses, too. Baxter is now running the workshop series on her own after her former co-founder, Polly Shindler, moved on. She has also built a new studio in her backyard, creating a dedicated space for longer, more immersive workshops. The studio recently hosted its first weeklong adult Quilt Camp, with another weekend version scheduled for Oct. 16-18.

For Baxter, the longer workshops offer something that can be difficult to find in everyday life: uninterrupted time to make.

“Longer courses allow participants to take on a more substantial project and spend enough time with it to really settle into the process,” she said. “They offer the kind of uninterrupted studio time that many of us don’t often give ourselves in our everyday lives.”

And the community that develops around the work is just as important. For longer courses, Baxter prepares lunch so participants can take a break, share a meal and get to know one another. “The conversations, encouragement, and sense of community that grow in the studio can be just as meaningful as the projects themselves,” she said.

That sense of connection is at the heart of what Baxter loves about teaching. “I love meeting new people and learning what draws them to making,” she said. “It’s especially meaningful to see someone arrive saying, ‘I’m not creative,’ and then watch them surprise themselves with what they’re able to make.”

The upcoming courses also bring in instructors Baxter has met while teaching at other craft schools. “I am also bringing in more instructors whom I have met while teaching at different craft schools lately to hold workshops, which is always fun,” she said.

Whether you’re an experienced maker or someone who has never picked up a needle, carving knife or basket reed, Baxter hopes Cottage Courses offers a welcoming entry point.

“My hope is that people leave with not only something they’ve made, but also a renewed sense of creativity, possibility and connection,” said Baxter.

For details, registration and the full course schedule, visit cottagecourses.com