I have a friends who doesn't cook. But she tries to throw things together and wonders why they don't taste right. I've told her to use a recipe first and THEN decide what she wants to change. At least she will see ONE correct way of doing it before she decides to ad lib. Same thing with quilting. When you were starting,you had to learn from at least the book. If a beginner was taking from this teacher, they would have to learn to do something correctly at least once,before they start to wing it. You did your experimenting before you got to the class. Ignore what you don't want, try some new things, and keep going.... I think she would be a worse teacher to say " Yeah, whatever- you all figure out how to quilt without my guidance because someone might be offended if I teach you things that might help you".