What skills should be taught in a beginner class...

[Judith T.]

I have a friend who will be teaching beginner quilting classes at a local quilt shop. She has already decided that she will conduct separate LEARN to sew classes for those people who are new to sewing and need to learn how to operate their machines.

We were talking about what techniques would be most needed in the class. The quilt she is teaching is a sampler with multiple blocks containing different types of blocks using different types of skills.

She plans to teach...
Accurate and safe cutting techniques ... accurate pressing...
accurate 1/4 inch seams to get the block size expected

Blocks included but not limited to ...
St Lewis / Rail- fence
Blocks with half square triangles...
Quarter square triangles
Ohio star
Shoo fly ...
Flying geese
a curved block... yet to be decided

She is trying to include all the techniques that can be learned then applied to other quilts. She will also include discussions on color theory, selecting fabrics and traditional quilting technique to finish the quilt... hand quilting and stitch in the ditch machine quilting.

Her philosophy is that a class should contain enough skills that you can make basic, beginner level blocks and quilts on your own after the class if you so desire ( other advance technique will be taught in other classes if a student want to take more classes.

Have we forgotten any skills that a student will need?

What skills did you learn in your first classes?

[Hannelore N.]

1. Accuracy
2. Accuracy
3. How to have fun!
4. Accuracy
5. How to have more fun!

And somewhere between 1 and 5 quilts will be born!

Lorchen (who isn't always accurate and loves her seam ripper)

[Hannelore N.]

Do not assume that people know how to read a ruler. Trust me on this one... It is a basic skill...I know.
We have been doing a BOM in our quilting group. One of the gals actually said she was having trouble finding all the rulers for the cuts. I guess I looked confused...because she said she wanted to know where I bought all my rulers for the 'shapes'.
Apparently, she was using the rulers as templates.

Another skill...squaring up blocks. I consider this a 'success skill'.
When making a lesson plan for your group or class...don't assume that anyone has basic skills. And for some...it may not be a new skill but a review of something they may have forgotten.

Also along with reading a ruler...please talk about fabric grain... bias, straight, cross cuts...and salvages.

FW

[Hannelore N.]

How long is the class that I think should be in two parts

[Barbara B.]

Tis is Long--I've been teaching the beginning class at our local quilt shop for 20 years. The quilt I teach is the 5th one on my profile.

Assume they know nothing about how to cut and how to measure with the rulers. Even the self-taught can learn how to do that better.

Concentrate on just a few skills--after years of teaching samplers with all the things you mentioned as well as Lemoyne stars, I've learned that doing a few things well is most satisfying for the new student--success leads to more success. My class features half-square and quarter-square triangles, using oversized cuts to start, them trimming them down to the accurate size as they learn to sew an accurate 1/4" seam--by far the most difficult thing a beginner learns--they really struggle to get that.

My class is 5 weeks long, often with a week off between class 4 and 5. In the first class we shop for fabric and tools after I explain what the tools are that I recommend and why that brand/kind. I also explain in depth using a focus or theme fabric to help them select the rest of the fabrics. That week their homework is to master the 1/4" seam as much as possible by making a 4" rail fence block (using 4 rectangles 1.5" x 4.5") that they will sign and give to me--I show them a top I am making with those squares. It is amazing how much better those squares got when I started showing the students their names would be on the front of a quilt!

Class 2 is half-square and quarter-square triangles and they complete their first block in class. Class 3 I show them how to strip piece a 4-patch, make the diamond in a square block, and I teach the Birds in the Air block--they can choose to make these units to add interest to their remaining blocks or continue with only half and quarter square triangles. I also explain options for the pieced border if they prefer not to do all those pieced blocks. Most do them and love their quilt all the more for the effort it took.

Class 4 is lecture/demo on creating the top from their 12 blocks: sashing, borders, basting, etc.

Class 5 is demo and instruction on hand and machine quilting--the basics. Now almost no one wants to hand quilt this quilt--they do it by machine or send it to a longarmer. That's sad in some ways but most of them can't wait to start their next quilt, so that is good. Many come to hand quilting after they perfect their piecing skills.

Sorry if this is more info than you wanted. I am passionate about teaching beginners--I tell each class it is my goal to addict at least one of them completely to quilting!

Barbara

[Eileen K.]

My first quilting class was part of the Adult Continuing Ed program in a local school district. We learned the basics-how to make templates, we cut with scissors, mark the 1/4 inch sewing lines, and we hand pieced it.
The teacher's theory was that if we learned all the techniques by hand, doing them by machine would be a natural progression.
eileenkny

[Lynn K.]

This is such good information. I'm self taught and sometimes don't even know what I might have missed! ha

Lynn

[Lynn K.]

Barbara, great information, even for those of us who aren't teachers and are self-taught!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

[Lynn K.]

This whole discussion began because my GF wants to teach a more effective class then the one being offered now but the instructor that is moving out of state. I agree with my GF ideas because if I had learned just to make a TAKES FIVE as my first quilt I would have quit taking classes... real nice lady but I would not have learned anything from her and so would not take the classess.

I am passing on the information from here... ( acutally I think she is signing up for TQS and will be coming to the forum) I think she is planning to divide up all the classess into Session One and Two but really stressing the importance of accuracy.


It seems like alot of shops are hosting classess in way to easy techniques and not enough advance techniques... I have not decided if that is because NO ONE signs up for those types of classes or because in our area there are not enough teachers of more advance techniques.

[Lynn K.]

If your local quilt shop is 'hosting' or offering the class...perhaps for new quilters the shop could offer a package deal for tools. Just like on the first day of school...your student could have a rotary cutter, ruler, cutting mat, marking pencil...etc. The 'starter tools...LOL
Sometimes giving a list of supplies to a new quilter is overwhelming. Once they have the basics...they can expand on their needs.

FW

[Lynn K.]

As a newbie quilter myself I would love to chime in here.

I took my first quilt class less then a year ago and It was wonderful.

We recieved a beginners set of tools (cutting mat, ruler, rotary cutter, pins, etc) A pattern (turning 20) , we were taught how to read our patterns, It was a 2 day class

We were taught about fabric and thread and how to use our tools, we cut and pieced our tops, we were taught several quick piecing techniques. we all finished our classess with a finished quilt top. The shop also offered us 50% off and a bump to the front of the line to have our quilted done on the longarm there.

Within a week I had a completly finished project and for me It was the best thing, really encouraged me and I really got the satisfaction of something finished.

I would say as much as you want to put all the beginner techniques in a class don't throw so much in that you overwhelm the student. sometimes instant satisfaction goes a long long long way.

Jess

[Lynn K.]

I've never taught a class, but my future DIL wanted to make a quilt for her new baby sister. We shopped for fabric and thread, then we came to my house and I walked her through it. She made a simple nine-patch with alternating plain blocks. It covered alot of basics-1/4 in seams, rotary cutting (and safety!), nesting and matching seams, pressing. She loved the process and her mom loved the baby quilt.

Sherry

[Annette R.]

A new woman joined our quilt group today and needed some advice and assistance. First off she is left handed and was having trouble using a rotary cutter. Well her first teacher had not explained about right and left handed cutting with a rotary cutter. I helped her by first changing her blade to the other side and then showing her how to rotary cut and line up the ruler left handed. I am right handed but I understand the differences. She was amazed. Then she was looking for some easy blocks to begin with and since we are not doing a sampler quilt this year in the park, I loaned her my Fons and Porter - guilt basics book Can't remember the title but it has a brown cover and if you did all the blocks you would have a sampler quilt. Anyway we reviewed the blocks together and I gave her some hints about things to do in the beginning. I am no expert by any means but I have made 99 % of the mistakes so could steer her away from some of them. I am excited to be able to help her and through the process make a new friend. When she wins her first prize, I can say "I knew her when"

Ann

[Judy M.]

I really like Eileen's and Barbara's ideas. I'm pretty much a self-taught quilter. I am so glad I learned to hand piece and hand quilt. I think this has made me a much better quilter. Many of the things Barbara mentioned were things I learned over the years in guild classes or from friends. It would have been nice to learn these things in a class over several weeks. I can look at my quilts made 20-25 yrs. ago and see the improvement. If I had known how to properly measure a quilt for applying borders, for instance, all my early quilts would have better borders. That information just wasn't out there back then. I lived in Las Vegas, NV, and we were lucky to have one or two quilt shops! I learned ALOT from the older ladies in my sewing circle.

[Judy M.]

Barbara, do your students have to do quite a bit of work at home? The star quilt looks like an ambitious project to start with! I am teaching a beginner class at the moment, it's a rail fence quilt with a couple of different options on the borders, and even with this simple quilt the students have had to do some work at home. I decided to go with this design because there are lots of straight seams for them to practice getting an accurate 1/4", and the rail fence block is quite forgiving. It also gives plenty of practice on cutting accurate strips with the rotary cutter (and all the safety stuff), nestling seams, strip piecing, sandwiching the quilt and basic machine quilting, plus putting on a binding. Although we do have longarm professionals here in the UK, they are quite expensive and I want my students to finish a quilt themselves first time out. Pictures 4 and 5 on the second row in my profile show what I'm aiming for students to complete at the end of 5 weeks (5 hours each Weds). Three lessons in and we're looking good!