Teaching New Quilters

 For more than 30 years I have taught beginning quilters the basics of quiltmaking. More than 1500 students have come through these classes. 

Some learn this is not the sport for them. Some get head-over-heels addicted and eagerly say "What's Next?!" And some of these folks, mostly women, become lifelong friends.

Choosing a project for the beginner is not easy. The quilt has to be interesting and inviting. It must teach some basic principles but not be too hard. And it must be able to be completed during the length of the class by most students. 

My newest class is being offered at a brand new quilt store in my local area. Sweet Home Quilting and Supplies. Owned by Robin Price, a student who became one of those lifelong special friends. Robin is an INNOVA dealer and will offer longarm services as well as rent time for people to quilt their own quilts in her store. Classes for projects, including some that use wool, will be offered, along with exciting new fabrics and quilting supplies. 

I wanted a Basic project, that can  be completed in 3 weekly classes, 3 hours each. Keep it simple! 

Twelve 9 Patch blocks will be taught by my favorite "sew first" method in the first session.  Simple sashing and borders follow in session 2. Finally, during the 3rd session we will discuss quilting, by domestic or longarm machine or even by hand. A binding demo tutorial will be discussed in the last class but must students won't remember that info  nor need it until the quilt is actually quilted.

A great follow-up to this Basic class is my much more comprehensive Quiltmaking 101 class taught at another local shop Patches & Stitches. When classes resume there, hopefully in January 2021, this 5 week class moves on to Half Square and Quarter Square triangles and lots more detail for precise piecing:

For many years this was the Quiltmaking 101 Sample--and it got lots of new quilters hooked. It is based on the Glad Creations pattern, Mix and Match Stars. It was a real stretch for most students to complete this top in 5 weeks but most did: 

Before that I had another favorite beginning quilt project. These 6" blocks were fast for students to make and they had a wide variety of blocks to choose from, making each quilt unique to the maker. It came from the book Blocks and Quilts Everywhere, by Debbie Caffrey, out of print now. 

There were a few other beginning class quilts over the last 30 years but I don't have photos of them and must have given them away because I can't find them either. 

The original class featured a sampler quilt many beginning quilters made in the 1980-1990's. It is from the book Teach Yourself to Quilt by Leisure Arts. My quilt is long gone, no idea what happened to it, but Ricky Tims made this in the early 1990's and had it on set a few weeks ago when he taped The Quilt Show. So here is Ricky's first quilt, the Sampler on the right:

If you took this class with me, oh, a hundred years ago, I would LOVE to see a photo of your finished quilt!

Do you still have your first quilt? Do you still like it? What did it teach you?

Some things change, colors and fabric styles go in and out of fashion, but the passion for quiltmaking lives on. We know that making quilts is just one of those things we MUST do, for lots of reasons. I love bringing more excited quilters into our Tribe.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Quiltmaking 101

For thirty years I have been teaching the beginning quiltmaking 5 week class at my local shop, Patches & Stitches.  This has allowed me to work with well over a thousand local students who want to learn to quilt.

For the last 13 years the project has been this quilt, Mix n Match Stars by
Glad Creations patterns:

Class Sample, 48" x 60"

The 9" block is made with basic units: half square triangles, quarter square triangles and squares. The pieced border is optional, about 25% of the students tackle that. They can use "super simple borders" if they choose--I teach that too.

Students come from all age groups, the youngest being a very motivated 14 year old, to those much older, even older than me. Many are women but over the years there have been a few men. Some are young mothers eager to make a baby quilt for their child. Some are newly retired women who say "now is my time, I want to learn to quilt". As I live in Rocket City USA, Huntsville, AL, many of the students are engineers or are married to them. The engineers take to the precision of piecing a quilt pretty quickly. Some are more "laid back"--whatever their style, the desire to learn what I can teach them is all that matters to me.

I am not the quilt police. When asked how perfect something has to be, I give them the 3 tests:

1. How does it look from 6 feet away?
2. How does it look to a man going by on a galloping horse?

and the MOST IMPORTANT TEST of all:

3. Can YOU live with?

This is supposed to be fun, not stressful, and everyone gets to decide their level of perfection as they learn.

Some student work:

Donna

Stacy

Sophie, on the right in the photo

Peggy

Beverly

I could post hundreds more photos--this just gives an idea of how the student can make the quilt her own. 

Currently, one of the students is really making this project her own. Catherine has taken several classes from me and is most definitely not a beginner. She showed me a quilt she found on Pinterest  that inspired her fabric selection. Her blocks take much longer to make than the other students since she cuts all the pieces separately, arranges the block, takes a photo--very smart!--then sews the block together--every piece in the block is a different fabric but a specific color:

I think she is right on target with the look she wants. She is not in a hurry, and is taking her time to enjoy these blocks. I am so eager each week to see what she has done so far.

Having taught beginners for 30 years, I usually change the project every few years but this one has proved to be such an excellent project for those who really want to learn as much as they can. AND I have kept it because in 2009 I was asked to work with a film crew to create a "class" for the website Monkey See. Over the course of 6.5 hours we recorded 7 three-minute videos that supposedly teach you How To Quilt.  I jokingly say "I can teach you how to make a quilt in 21 minutes."

The block I am making in the video is the block from this class, Students have found it so helpful to go home and have me continue to "teach" this block online. I still find it pretty hokey, BUT students tell me they really benefit from it. So, this is the project I'll stick with for now.

Many of the students have become friends, many have joined local guilds to continue to learn and find support. It is really my honor and privilege to teach all these students. My goal for every class is that I addict ONE of them, completely and totally to quiltmaking--so the industry will continue to grow and we all benefit from that. And I am always successful at that.

Let's quilt!

Barbara