I took a beginning quilting class 10 years ago at my LQS. The teacher was so positive and encouraging. Like others have said, she was really good at explaining different ways of doing things first, and then taught the method that she thought was best and told us why. We used Alex Anderson's beginner book and could choose from 3 quilts in the book for our class project. I think all 5 of us chose rail fence because there were no triangles! Mine is still on my downstairs table. She told us to pick a border fabric that we loved and then helped us pick the rail fabrics by teaching value & scale. I remember bolts of fabric scattered all over the place and how fun and exciting that process was. We met weekly and there was also a separate time each week that she was available in the store for extra help if needed. I really learned a lot from her.