Soooo excited. I'll report back here when I get home tonight and let you know how it went!

Kate

beverly

There were four of us "beginners" (one other guy too, but I was the youngest one) and there were two other people from a previous class finishing what they started. The pattern for the quilt is called a short stack. Anyone know what that is? It's basically sewing squares and rectangles together, probably good for a first quilt.

The shop is small, and the owner/teacher is warm and friendly and funny. But, I don't think she knows how to teach. When I came in from the rain with my machine, she greeted me and talked a little bit and then went over to talk to someone else. She didn't tell me where to set my machine up so I had to find the table myself (there were a few machines already there). She told me to pick out any 14 fabrics I wanted to use in the quilt so I did. I brought the bolts over to the cutting table and her assistant either found the fat quarters or made fat quarters out of the ones that didn't already exist. The teacher didn't even explain what a fat quarter was. I already knew thanks to the internet, but a basic class should cover basic terms in my opinion. Then we had to press the fabric... very cheap Proctor Silex iron that spit and leaked all over the place. Then we had to cut, but instead of teaching us how to read the pattern, the teacher/owner just told us how many of each size to cut. That really bothered me. I wanted to learn technique! It seemed like everyone was always at a different stage in the process the whole time. I think a class should move so that everyone is always at the same place at the same time. I didn't like feeling left behind! The ruler was this crazy floppy square with vertical slits cut out of it. To cut, you put the rotary cutter in the slit and run it through. Well, there was a dotted line on the ruler, and I thought that was where she said to start. I was supposed to start at the first slit, not the dotted line. The teacher had already cut some of mine as an example, so some of them were cut to 1/2 inch increments (the ones she did) and others were cut to 1/4 inch increments (the ones I did). So... I had to redo most of mine and it was confusing and frustrating. The class was supposed to be from 5 to 9 and I left at 10:17. The other students left between 9:30 and 10:00. I spent the whole night cutting and measuring and felt lost the entire time. Another student made the same exact mistake I did, so I wasn't the only one! The tile floor was hard and there were no mats or rugs so my feet are killing me! I didn't sew at all, but the teacher finally got me to the place that I can sew on my own this week and return with some finished sections to assemble in class next week. She didn't tell us to label each section with the measurements or to bring sticky pads so I knew what each one was. Another student actually told me to that and was kind enough to share her post it pad with me.

I did get to help some of the other students with their machines though and that was fun. One didn't know how to wind a bobbin and the other didn't know how to thread her machine or attach the 1/4th inch presser foot so I helped with that and enjoyed it. The teacher was too busy doing other stuff (figure out how to fix my mistake) to help them so I was glad to be able to. I was surprised at how little some of them knew about machines... that's the easy/fun part for me. One lady who had a Janome couldn't get the needle threader to work right, so I helped with that. The assistant saw me showing someone how to draw the bobbin thread up and said that I was showing her wrong... I told her she could put the bobbin cover on before drawing up the needle and the assistant (who was cutting mostly) came over long enough to say that you have to draw the thread up before putting on bobbin cover. Nonsense! It was fun to see all the different machines everyone had. I had the only Brother (which was electronic and almost didn't survive the trip in from the car in the pouring rain), two ladies had Janomes, one mechanical, one small and electronic, the only other guy had a very old black metal Singer, another girl had an old brown Kenmore that the guy who fixes machines for the shop "fixed" for her and the needled wouldn't move... they called him and me came over and apparently had forgotten to screw something back together right.

I'm exhausted! I had a snickers bar and a bottle of water for dinner... the teacher had her husband bring her McDonalds right in front of everyone... which I understand, she'd been there all day. I guess it's good that I'm starting somewhere, but I think the teacher should be a little better at actually teaching. She didn't tell us how to pick colors or materials or threads... I think she really missed the basics. I also found out that we are ONLY "learning" to make the top... we will not be actually quilting in class so the quilt won't even be a finished product when all is said and done. It was 66 dollars for materials, pattern, and class. But, the class is 3 four hour classes.

Anyway... that's how it went. I was too excited I think, maybe just because my expectations were different than what actually happened. I really wanted to learn theory and technique before doing anything else. I wanted to learn to quilt and to gain knowledge that I could use in other quilting applications, not just be shown how to make one specific quilt!

They did have some fabulous material that had whimsical vintage sewing machines printed on it and I will buy some of that to make pillows with. I'll post a picture of whatever I make no matter how it turns out when the last class is done.

Kate, if you go to the shop, it is right across from Home Depot and Petsmart in the Sherwinn Williams plaza... kind of a whole in the wall type place.

In the meantime there are a couple books you might want to look at. I like Better Homes & Gardens basic quilting book - it covers all the basics and I still go back to it for answers. McCalls also has a beginning to quilt book thats excellent. And for color theory I would highly recommend Jinny Beyer's book on color, called Color Confidence.

Hope that helps!
And I hope next week's class is better for you and for the teacher.

Kate

SharonG/FL

At the risk of sounding redundant, I think you should check out the on line "starting from scratch" class at Quilt University. I tend to learn by watching, but I've been amazed and impressed at how good these instructors are at explaining and showing pictures using the internet. Also, you end up getting a lot of personal attention and you don't have to worry about catching up or waiting around while the instructor is helping others.

Here is the description of the class: Have you wanted to learn to quilt but were daunted by long supply lists? Are you lost when the instructions tell you to buy 2 lights, 2 mediums and 2 darks? This class is for you! It is a soup-to-nuts approach to quilting for the absolute beginner. Carol will teach you how to buy your tools, how to select your fabric, which patterns to use and how to size them. The class is geared toward quilt making with a rotary cutter and a sewing machine, but some hand piecing instruction will be included and much of the information is the same for either method. You will learn the basic square, half square, flying geese, and quick-pieced 4-patch units. Students will then make a medium square or a lap quilt, using the two basic blocks learned in class. Variations will be included. Instructions will take you through the batting, hand quilting and binding. You CAN learn to quilt! Six Lessons. There will be an extra week between Lessons Four and Five, so you will have time to complete your blocks.

A sew along sounds fun... I've been an active member of the cooking forum here for years and have been to a get together and met several members and it was a total blast. There isn't one specific thing I need help with though... I just wanted to learn the basics! I felt like the teacher was "giving me a fish" rather than "teaching me to fish" to use a cliche.

I thought of a couple more things about the class last night... There were several kinds of fabrics there. Some of them had white obvious selvages and others had selvages that were hard to find and were the same color as the fabric. The teacher was talking about my fabric selections and said she'd never had mixed and match those two kinds of fabrics (she said the name, but I forgot), but that was just her. She didn't tell us not to do that or even what the difference was! Then when I was putting the post it tags on my cut stacks, I asked her where the pins were. She said not to pin the labels to the stacks because I would just be adding more. I didn't. Then she got hot and flipped on all ceiling fans. I was chasing my labels around the room for 20 minutes. I found the pins and used them without her permission after that. I only hope I didn't moon anyone while I was crawling under the cutting tables after my labels.

That said, your teacher should be able to recognize that in herself and should delegate the teaching part to someone else.

Every class I have ever attended had people working at different paces. Sometimes they say you should have certain skills before you come to class, and there is inevitably one or more people who have no clue at all, which is frustrating for the ones who came to learn what the class is teaching. Some teachers will wait for everyone to finish a step, and some will try to make sure everyone understands the step and go on to the next one. But everyone works at their own pace.

I hope the 2nd class goes better. Maybe you could let her know you feel like you're not learning what you thought you would.

Donna

I think if I were a teacher I would start by helping the students to set their machines up and having them read the pattern right off the bat. Then I'd go into a brief history of quilting and tell why I love it or how long I've done it for. I'd ask them what they are hoping to learn from the class and what their goals were. Then I'd explain the class objectives and basic quilting terms. Then talk a little about fabrics and colors and have them pic the materials. I'd probably bring in some brownies and punch or something too if it was a long class. I'm sure it's not easy to run a quilt shop and teach though so I don't want to pick her apart too much but I do think that there are better ways.