Originally Posted by
DOTTYMO
Surely health and safety doesn't allow to have someone wondering around. How boring sitting for hours just watching a group of ladies.
i live in UK and travel 80+ miles to a class once a month. I don't / didn't know anyone when I first went. In the last few months shop initially going to went into liquidation and tutor found new home. Now anyone from any class she taught comes along.we all chatter not necessarily about our projects.
I have pretty serious social anxiety myself, but I drummed up the courage to attend an open sewing forum. Essentially it's a 2-4 hour session with a group and an instructor. Everyone brings their own project and the teacher answers questions for individuals as needed. I went because I needed a distraction free environment to get a bunch done on a quilt under a tight deadline. Let me say a couple things: 1. I would have been easily entertained sitting around watching that group of ladies sew. I mean seriously, all 60+ women from NYC, conversation went from sewing to politics, to neighborhood/city history, in fact, one woman didn't sew a stitch. I am also fairly adhd and being able to have the low chat around me was helpful. I could focus on my project, but the wandering part of my thoughts just listened to them. 2. It wasn't all quilters. Most people were quilters, as it was a quilt shop, but several people had other projects. One was working on a bag, one was trying to make a bra (which was hilarious because the teacher was a male, and he couldn't figure out how to politely say that, ahem, there wasn't enough material). 3. They actually partly advertise 'why not bring your friends and sew together?'
So, I guess my suggestion would be to maybe start something like that, for less of a fee. Maybe a two hour class for $15-$20 (depending on your area, the class I took is $30 for 2 hours, but NYC is super inflated price-wise). Do it once a month, the week before your next round of classes start, and for these situations, you can say, "Well, I completely understand why she might be shy about attending. How about you both come to the open sewing forum and she can get to know me a little bit that way? Unfortunately, I can't let people sit in on classes anymore, plus it's nice to have all beginners in a group. I want everyone to be comfortable, and I don't want to make the other class members nervous by having a professional longarm quilter in their midst."
Just a thought, plus it really creates a nice social community. I haven't missed an open sewing forum once, and although I'm still shy and don't say much, I enjoy seeing the regulars and listening to their chat. It's also my most productive quilting time since I'm not interrupted by the dog or the hubby, or dinner, or blah, blah, blah.
