Sip & Felt Birds with Claudia Paillao

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Location: MNHC
Cost: $45 MNHC members/$50 non-members.
Add your MNHC membership to your order when you check out!

One of our most popular artists is back with a spring Sip & Felt class! Spend an evening with Claudia Paillao of Patagonian Hands and craft a small, beautiful Montana bird from wool – a perfect decoration for your home or a unique gift for someone you love. Claudia will instruct you on how to use a special barbed needle and local wool in the needle felting process. Needle felting is the process of using a barbed needle to activate the fibers in the wool, causing them to compress as you rapidly poke the wool. First you’ll create the shape of the bird, then finish your piece by layering on colored wool. Claudia will show you how to add just the right details to make your wool creation look like the real thing! Join us for an evening of creating, relaxing, and enjoying a beverage (or two). No experience is necessary!

Note: The bird pictured is an example. The actual species is TBA.

Included:

• Barbed needle you get to keep for future projects

• Wool

• Handmade creation you bring home

• Beverages – wine, beer, cocoa, tea, or fizzy water

Instructor: Claudia Paillao is the owner of Patagonian Hands. She is from Coyhaique, Patagonia, Chile, and has been living in Missoula, Montana, with her husband Karl since July 2012. She used to be a school teacher in Chile and has become a self-taught fiber artist and jewelry artisan since she moved to the northern hemisphere. Claudia creates animals, mostly birds, using only sheep wool that she gets in Hall, MT, and some from her family in Chile. She doesn’t use any glues or stitches to keep sculptures together, but the compression she gets through barbed needles that push the fibers every time she pokes the wool. This process is known as needle felting.