After reading more of these responses, I had to add more to my prior post. Like many of you, I am also self taught, mostly via books, internet, & some classes. I have been very fortunate to have good teachers for the classes that I've taken. Of course with the internet there are no interruptions, but there is also no comradery, no feed back & no sharing... of any kind, good or bad. I have also been a bit of a teacher, not professionally, but we are all teachers of sorts becuz we took the time to learn an art & some of us like to share. Sort of "paying it forward". My students have been 2 of my sisters & they are completely opposite. While my older sister is a slower learner, my other sister picks things up quicker & is also very hands on. I find that no matter what approach I take, I always spend more time with my older sister, while my other sister goes on ahead of us & later grumbles about how my older sister monopolizes so much of my time. Bottom line is, we are all different & those who are constantly interrupting or monopolizing the instructors time are just as eager to learn as we are who have already mastered some of the easier steps & just need to refresh or want to learn something new. To the seasoned quilters I say, have a little patience becuz we were all there once, clueless & inexperienced. Hoping to have our questions answered first before class was over & not wanting to leave the class with an unfinished project like some others so that we don't look like the only who didn't get it. Or is that like the new kid that doesn't know his way around the new school & can't even find his locker? To the newbies I say, heads up! If this is something that you are just trying out to see if you like it, then maybe doing a little research to get a feel for what you will be learning might be appropriate so that you'll know what to expect. Knowledge is power & no one can take that away from you. As a seasoned quilter I myself don't mind helping if I can, but my instructor is the one getting paid to teach, not me. And some don't appreciate having anyone step into their arena while others don't mind the help if the class is too big. But we all have a different way of teaching as well as learning & it is not fair to anyone to be so disruptive or rude in class that even 1 person walks away feeling as if it was a waste of time & money. We have to keep in mind that we are all there for the same thing, we love to quilt. Come on everyone, we're all adults, who want to be treated as we treat others. And lets not forget, that good or bad, instructors have feelings too.
1 last thought. If we allow even 1 person to take so much control of our lives that we are loosing sleep, always so angry & bitter over a disagreement that happened so long ago that you can't even remember what happened or how it all started, then you have allowed for that person to control you. And no one should be given that much control over you or your life. Because you have not been living your life for you, but for that person. And that is not living! That is 1 miserable person.