If it wasn't for my LQS I would not be quilting. The class she offered, a beginning "sampler" got me started. I also started the Mariner's Compass which is my Avatar at her store.
She also does a Block of the Month. You pay $5.00 to start, the rest of the months are free, she provides the fabric for the blocks, and the pattern. I go to a monthly meeting (offered 3x a month so it will fit your schedule some how) and show my completed block to her or her assistant and get the materials for the next one.
It is intended to get customers in the store, see what classes are offered, and get us to shop there. She freely admits that.
I like it because I get out of the house, go show how "wonderfully" matched my points (not so wonderfully when I started!) She says she is not the "quilt police" she is just checking if it's done... I get to chat with other wonderful people, aren't people who sew wonderful people?
There is also a "show and tell" and I love seeing what others are doing!
At the end of six months I buy the borders and backing to finish the quilt.
btw there is a drawing for a free yard of material at the BOTM meets, and I won one time!! That was really exciting for me because I've been entering sweepstakes for years, back in the day by snail mail, now daily online.