I entered the world of quilting like I have most things in life, by the seat of my pants and self taught. My first few squares were, to kind to myself HORRIBLE. My first completed BOM quilt, it is a treasure of mine, that I rarely show in public. I really liked the creative outlet of quilting and decided to take a class. My first class was more on rotary cutting and I quickly got bored. About a year later I tried again and the instructor was friendly, critical but in a good way and I learned a lot. After that I found I liked classes. I have since then found that the stores that sell machines are like high school cliques and every mistake or issue is because you are not using their said machine. Most of the classes I go to do make a bit of profit off the pattern and accessories needed to make the quilt being taught but most do not care if I bring in fabric and stuff I already had at home. While I will never consider myself an expert quilter I can now show my work without apologizing. I feel that the shop classes have brought me a long way. -- Sorry not all classes and shops are that.