My only quilting class was one evening on FMQ. It was not successful. I had previously taught sewing classes at JoAnn's and I'm sure the participants got more out of my classes than I did from the FMQ class.

My first quilting class was in the mid 80's. I did the cardboard templates, scissors, etc. But, the instructor taught us to make the sandwich from the individual finished squares. And then hand quilt the squares. Attach each square to each other by putting right sides together and sewing on the 1/4" seam allowance. The seam allowance on the back was flipped under and hand stitched closed. Phew, what a chore.

My only instruction was a one hour hand quilting lesson with Nancy Halpern, back in 1978. I could not figure out how to do it from books (before the days of videos). Of course I knew how to sew, from making clothes. I taught my DH how to use the machine, and he did all the machine work and cutting. He was good at math so could make his own patterns. I could never get him to use a rotary cutter but I have recently started using them and love it!!

I finished my first quilting class several weeks ago. My quilt has returned from the quilter and now I am in the process of binding that and a lap quilt I made at the same time. I loved the class, the help from the instructor and those who were so knowledgeable and now have started my third quilt. I am looking at retirement for the second time and now have a group of friends who meet once or twice a week to quilt either one from the class, charity quilts or other projects. I could not be happier!

I've only just started my quilting journey. My mom taught me to sew when I was 6 years old, but I was never interested in quilting. 4 years ago, my mom and dad moved in with us, and I started taking her out to quilt shows in our area since I knew that was something she would enjoy. I saw a quilt at one of the shows that sparked my interest, but I didn't actually try to make a quilt until about a year ago, and even that was an experiment to use my embroidery machine. Now I have a couple done, and a few in line to start. I haven't taken any classes yet, just watched a lot of youtube videos and read a lot online. I know I have a lot to learn, but haven't found a class that spoke to me enough to attend.

I had been sewing for many, many years and didn't take a quilt class until I had made several quilts. It was a class that was so far above my level of piecing at the time and almost made me quit quilting. I stuck with it and got that one finished and I haven't looked back. Loving Judy Neimeyer's paper piecing at the present time.

Edited to add: I saw a quilt I liked...Just Can't Cut It... and figured out how to do the blocks without buying the pattern. Since then, I have bought many patterns, but still have problems understanding all the instructions. I frequently redraw them in EQ7 so that I can see the individual parts and make my blocks from the EQ7 block individual rotary cutting sizes. Sounds more confusing, but it works for me.