Julianna

I have been quilting since childhood with my Grandmother. I have sewn for my family, others, instructed in 4-H and Home Ec. classes (shame we don't have them anymore!)even costumes for church and our community theater. So I think I can do a bit of sewing. Anyway I decided to try a quilting class advertised "for all abilities and interests and lots of fun!". I did not even finish the 8 weeks. All the women there had very expensive machines and did not know how to thread them let alone sew a seam. All they talked about was their money, money and more money. I followed the directions, made friends with two other "poor seamstresses" and made the blocks. We were the only 3 out of 22 who did any sewing. The instructor and owner of the shop was always pushing us to buy her products. Well, enough complaining. My point here is 1 to warn others, 2 check out the classes before you pay the fee, 3 don't judge all classes by this horrible one in Nebraska, 4 do your own thing, 5 get help from the wonderful people on this site!

Jan in VA

As a former shop owner, it hurts me to read this sort of thing, to hear of a student so unhappy. We always handed out a class/teacher critique form at the end of class -- and it was collected by the staff at the register, NOT by the teacher. The forms went into a sealed envelop for MY desk. Teachers with problems were not invited back to teach. If they chose to leave their contact information, students were contacted by me personally to work out any problems or to hear more details of their complaint. Conversely, teachers who were highly praised got that recognition as well!

Even though, for most shops, classes do not fill the coffers, they do create new customers, keep regular customers happy, and increase general knowledge in the quilting community. WHY on earth would a shop shoot themselves in the foot by offending even a small percentage of the students?!

I constantly find that I ran my shop a bit differently than most I hear about, and I was quite successful, with a happy staff. I had to learn quickly that business was business and friendship was bull; the customer was highly important, but keeping a happy, empowered, loyal staff was extremely important as well. Thankfully, (honestly!) we did not sell machines, we were a QUILT store and it was definitely enough!

Jan in VA (for those who care, owner of the now closed Silver Threads of Plano, TX.)

Twilliebee

That's a great cautionary tale, Julianna. Not every quilt class is made the same, and some are simply a miserable waste of money and one long commercial. I checked out a quilt shop about an hour from my home that was offering lessons in handquilting. I was really interested in developing a good 'rocking' stitch and the owner seemed so ditzy (sorry, can't really think of a more generous word) that I asked to see a sample of her hand quilting.....she had none.......so I asked if she could give me a quick demo of her hand quilting technique. She did. Plain old stab stitch. When I called her on it she said 'people have to start somewhere'. I agreed with that but advertising an expensive class in hand quilting that had nothing to do with hand quilting didn't seem like a good starting point to me. So I was saved from that one. Sorry you had an unpleasant experience but I'm happy for the two 'poor seamstresses' who were lucky enough to meet you and have some success with their projects! Happy quilting!

greensleeves

Sorry you had a bad experience, but you did make two new friends and gleaned what you could from the experience. You made the best of a bad situation. I hope you did tell the instructor and quilt shop your opinion of the class. I've taken classes and often have been "pushed" to buy which is sometimes a part of why the class is given. I've learned to ignore the sales talk and quietly decline products that I don't want. I'm glad you aren't going to judge all classes on this one experience and hope future classes will have the advertised "lots of fun" waiting for you. And yes, this site is one of the best classes you could hope for. Happy quilting, hope to see pictures of your work in the future.

QuiltingHiker

I entered the world of quilting like I have most things in life, by the seat of my pants and self taught. My first few squares were, to kind to myself HORRIBLE. My first completed BOM quilt, it is a treasure of mine, that I rarely show in public. I really liked the creative outlet of quilting and decided to take a class. My first class was more on rotary cutting and I quickly got bored. About a year later I tried again and the instructor was friendly, critical but in a good way and I learned a lot. After that I found I liked classes. I have since then found that the stores that sell machines are like high school cliques and every mistake or issue is because you are not using their said machine. Most of the classes I go to do make a bit of profit off the pattern and accessories needed to make the quilt being taught but most do not care if I bring in fabric and stuff I already had at home. While I will never consider myself an expert quilter I can now show my work without apologizing. I feel that the shop classes have brought me a long way. -- Sorry not all classes and shops are that.

quilter41

I have had good and bad experiences with classes. No I have learned to investigate more.
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SherryLea

I have tried to teach myself but really need to take a class, I wish I could find someone to come to my house and sit with me and answer the many questions I have. I am so afraid to go to a class as I do not know how to do so many things you should know. I have made several quilts, but nothing like the beautiful ones I see on this forum. Mine are more just squares sewed together and attached to batting and a backing.

Candace

I think some women go to classes to socialize, not necessarily to actually finish a project. I would have been one of the 3 women sewing, but I've seen many women locally, who buy TOL machines and haven't even taken them out of the box for 3-6 mos. after purchase. I do think some people are more dreamers than "doers" and sorry to hear your class wasn't enjoyable.

Theresa

Some interesting comments. One cannot assume anything.

When I took my beginner quilt class at the LQS, 1) too much fabric was a "required" purchase 2) the instructor used my work as an example for a next step, used the wrong fabric so I had to buy MORE (unnecessarily). They should have paid for the error. 3) never went back to purchase more fabric for any project. Their loss.

zennia

SherryLea, is there a small group of stitchers in your town or night school teaching quilting. I was like you and thought I needed to know a lot about quilting before I went to LQS. I found the groups I mentioned above to be very friendly and helpful. Most girls in these type classes are there to learn to just like us.
I was at a quilt shop the other day and they treated me terrible because I asked a question. I guess I was suppose to know what they had before I got there. If this had been my first experience with quilting it would have been my last. Thank goodness I have other places to shop.