I have to agree with jaciqltznok. I am grateful for teachers who have taught me how to do an accurate 1/4" seam. It allows me to do more difficult piecing with less frustration. But on the other hand teachers should never belittle a student....

I can see stressing that quarter inch seams are very important, but not to be the quilt police with a first project. It is very important, but there has to be a happy medium. I also don't like the teachers that say that their way is the only way to do things. I've had people tell me that they never do something a certain way, because a teacher told them not to. I really think a good teacher should be open to other options. Give the students more than one way to do things and let the student decide what works best for them. Of course, that's just my feelings.

The first, and only, quilting class I took appeared very relaxing for all of us. So true: there are teachers and there are those who can't and shouldn't teach. Our teacher was calm, however she stressed the importance of accuracy: 1/4 inch seams that she measured and demonstrated for accuracy. She only measured in one class, and yes, she did have some of us rip apart seams and do over..no big deal. She encouraged us to practice and reassured that in time it would all come together and it would get easier for us to sew an accurate seam.
We shouldn't get hung up on perfection, but it is important to know that accuracy counts and a teacher is only advising this or she's not doing her job. Teaching is an art. Some have it and some don't. Sounds like it's a very tense class and I'm sorry it had to be this way.

joy in the journey"
 

I have taken classes from time to time and have gained some pointers but have learned far more from friends in my quilting group, sew,sew,sewing and books and video. I am a great believer in the joy in the journey whether you are a perfectionest or a laid back sewer as I tend to be.

Quilting is fun
 

I teach classes and label them as Beginner, Beginner+(a person who has made a quilt or two) and advanced.
Often the beginner classes have students who have never quilted and I show them how to use the rotary cutter and cut before we start to sew. The classes are longer and I spend more time with them. There is always "homework" because this is where they will be doing most of their projects.
We talk about and I show them how to do the 1/4" seam allowance. It's very important, but, when doing a beginner pattern, such as QIAD Log Cabin, I feel it's most important that the seam allowance be consistent. The blocks will be smaller, and we adapt.
Not everyone invests in a the 1/4" piecing foot right away. They usually purchase one once they see the value of it or have cash flow. It all comes with practice.
If a seam needs to be ripped, I help.
It is never appropriate to be condescending to anyone in the class because we are supposed to be having fun.

I learned how to quilt by reading books, watching video's on youtube, and hints other quilter's gave me. I have been quilting for about 9 years and I am still learning. Please don't let a bad teacher discourage you.

I think it's important to get the basics down but not to the point of being discouraging. One real problem with LQS classes is they are project focused - not technique focused. I will say I learn something from every class I have ever taken. Recommend the Harriet and Carrie Hargraves series -- Quilt Academy series (Freshman/Sophomore/Junior year books are out). Working through those will establish the foundations for a fantastic quilter.

What a disappointing class and an inconsiderate teacher. I wouldn't be having her for a teacher again!

some people just dont have the patince or personality to be teaching. wonder how the teacher of that class would feel if someone treated her the same way.

My philosophy is to teach the proper way to do things, and then deal with what happens in reality. The secret to having a beautiful quilt is being able to fix what goes wrong. Some students want to rip out the seam until it is right. Others don't. I don't put down the people who are happy with good enough. It is their choice. I do show them how to make allowances where possible and advise them what will look wrong if they choose to not rip. It seems to work. I have people who keep coming back and each time their work looks better. If I had been super tough on them at first, I think they would have not kept up with quilting. They are doing it for enjoyment, not perfection.

Even if a quilt shop is the friendliest one around sometimes they get a bad teacher. Hopefully she was a guest teacher and not a regular employee. Steer her to the board. Also there are lots of things on You Tube. Tell her how to get on Missouri Quilt's website. Lots of good tutes there.

mltquilt

I am sorry your sister is having such a hard time with a difficult teacher. I always encourage my students even if I don't like their progress I keep that to myself.
I have also been the "difficult student", LOL.

I like taking classes but not from teachers like that. Fortunately my beginner teacher was understanding and taught us how to correct mistakes without being to critical. I have and would recommend this teacher anytime.

I've taught several beginner quilting classes in 3 different states. Quilting is a skill that is LEARNED!! You will get better the longer you work at it and the more you work at getting better. My first quilt was so bad that I threw it out before it was finished...... and I'm a VERY good sewer!! I didn't realize that sewing and quilting are very different. There are so many techniques to learn with quilting to make it easier, or just plain more perfect if you want your projects to be more perfect.

I'd say, find a different teacher. It sounds like there are more shops in the area..... seek out one that has classes you will enjoy. I always wanted to turn people 'on' to quilting....... but for sure, I didn't want to turn them 'off'.

I've not taken a class and most of what I'm learning is from books and the wonderful people on the board. I would like to some day to learn certain techniques but am glad I haven't yet. I've learned the importance of the 1/4 inch seam, matching points and cutting accurately. I think if I had a teacher like your sisters I would have quit learning to quilt. I had a home ec teacher who almost kept me from learning to sew because of a similar attitude, I'm glad I didn't let her. Keep encouraging her and helping her, you may be able to help her enjoy quilting, something her teachers seem to be sucking out of the experience.

Unless the teacher was abusive, sarcastic or nasty, I think I would at least try to put my Big Girl Panties on and learn from these ladies. At least for the duration of the class... The level of their standards may be new to your sister, but if she puts aside her offense and listens and applies their "perfectionism" she could learn a lot. It may even help her bypass some of the bad habits that she might have otherwise developed.

Teachers are just people-- all different kinds. You will find some you relate to a lot better than others, but you can usually learn something from all of them.

quilt should be fun perfection comes in time we all had to start some where

Don't let a bad teacher discourage you. I took a one night class at a lqs and she was so rude. I am self taught and had been quilting for 2 years. During the class she mentioned chain piecing and I asked a question about it. In a loud, rude incredulous voice she stated, "Have you never taken a learn to quilt class!? When I answered no she stated, "It shows!" The other women in the class all looked appalled that she would be so rude. Also during the class a customer came in to pick up her machine that was being repaired and after she left the lqs owner told us "There was nothing wrong with her machine that reading the manual couldn't have fixed. Some people shouldn't sew." There were lots of uncomfortable looks around the class as we all wondered what she would say about us after we left. Needless to say I have never gone back ( I have a good job and I purchase alot of quilting stuff so her loss), I told everyone at work about her and they told their friends and families not to shop at her store. Oh and the worst thing she did was insult "Betsy" my Singer Featherweight.

Never had a class, Ive learned from watching free videos on the web.
The very best teacher is Eleanor Burns. She makes mistakes and shows them in her videos even though she could edit them out. She laughs at herself.

Tell her not to go there anymore! I can't imagine paying for something and getting that kind of "help". And at her last class she should tell them what she thinks about their lessons. I am an advanced quilter, probably, and I would get up and leave if I saw any of this going on.

The teachers at my LQS are great. I've been taking classes there for a year now. They often tell me not to be SO much of a perfectionist as I rip, re-rip and re-re-rip to get something just so. As they say, you're the only one who will notice it and if you stand 5 feet away, will YOU even notice it?

They teach us technique and alternative ways of doing things. In my last class, the teacher called out to me from her station, "What are you doing?" She came running over and asked why I was butting my strips together to make a long border. She showed me a really easy way to sew the strips on an angle. Of course, the class had a whole lot of laughs over my being "chastised." All in good fun.

Tell your SIL to try some other shops for classes. Classes should be for learning AND fun.

Please take a different class from someone different. How is someone going to learn anything in that hostile atmosphere. That is why i am SO glad we don't have quilt police here. I am all for constructive feed back. We all learn at different things in different ways. Beginners need a large learning curve.

In my beginner quilting class, I had a very strict teacher. She was kind and she was funny, but she was strict about the basics of quilting. She told us over and over again that we needed to learn to do things right. She always explained how important accuracy was if we wanted our projects to turn out correctly.

I grew very frustrated with the 1/4" perfectionism quickly too. Her being adamant about "how to press" and "when to press" and which "side you press" about drove me nuts. I have never been a perfectionist and knew I'd never change into one. I left at the end with mixed emotions about her.

Well, that was three years ago. I was in a quilt guild with her for awhile and liked her very much. After three years of making my share of mistakes and realizing that what she said was right, I would now have to admit that I am so glad she was a perfectionist because I now know how to find what I did wrong to fix my mistakes. I now know that if I take the time to be more careful, I am more likely to have an end product that is well-made and that I'm proud of. She was strict with us because she cared enough to want us to learn the "correct" way to quilt. I'm still probably not as "perfect" as I wish I could be, but I do remember what she taught me and am grateful that I know the best way to be happy with my quilting.

By the way, the final night of class, she brought many of her own quilts and wall-hangings to class to share with us. I had to fight laughing and pointing at some of the mistakes I saw in her quilts. Not all of her points were perfect either! That made me feel normal!!

Keep encouraging her! I too am 'self-taught' (sorta). I attempt to quilt because I love seeing the fabrics go together, enjoy the sewing process, and usually can hardly wait for final completion. During the entire process I'm looking forward to, and planning, my next project.

I live very near to Albuquerque and am also a beginner. I had sewn for many years but never pieced a quilt. I had a wonderful teacher. I would suggest that she forget the classes at the LQS and go to Ryan's Sewing and Vac on Montgomery and Eubank Blvd. Ask for Debbie. She is wonderful and does many different styles of piecing as well as teaches the long arm quilting. She won't regret it. I would be glad to talk to her if she wants. Just PM me her name etc. Good luck

what an awful thing for that woman to say! it's good you two stuck with it!

that's terrible. We all have to start somewhere. I've been fortunate to have had good instructors so far. And the way I learned to sew a "perfect" 1/4" wasn't until I took a class where we were making a "Plates around the World" quilt (I think this was my instructor's own pattern). Each plate had 8 angles going together (similar to dresden plate except there's no hole in the middle). If you didn't sew it exactly 1/4", you either had a gap in your plate when sewn together or you ended up with a hat LOL It took us about 4 months before most of us got it just right. It was a great teaching technique.

I hope she doesn't get discouraged. Just tell her to hang on and practice. I never worry about exact measurements of a pattern anyway. I figure as long as I make the same change (or booboo) throughout the quilt, it still goes together.

I did a small quilt one time that required 3-7/8" squares for HST. I didn't want to deal with that measurement so just used 4" squares. My quilt looked just fine.

Have your sister-in-law to ask the teacher if she has her "Quilt Police" badge LOL Maybe that will calm her down a little.

Good Luck to her !!!d

You make a good point about knowing now what she was trying to teach you. But, making a student rip it out over and over is just frustrating. Maybe working on scraps to teach 1/4" seams would have been better. And you are absolutely right about learning to iron properly. My neigbhor (and quilting buddy) always kids me about being a perfectionist but I figure if I'm going to spend all this time making a quilt, I want it to be the best I can make.

Mistakes?? I make tons of them but my favorite quilt instructor (who moved her shop to IN) always used 2 suggestions for dealing with mistakes --

1 - Can you live with it? If you can, don't worry about. If you can't, fix it.
2 - Can you see it from 5 feet away? If you can, refer to rule #1....If you can't see it don't worry about it.

This has made my quilting life so much easier.

I am mostly a self taught quilter. I came accross one of my first quilt blocks. It was a Cardinal on a branch with leaves made from HST. I was shocked, no two squares were the same size. On beyond bad, although I sure didn't see it when I made it. Maybe if I had taken a beginner class I would have been a better piecer sooner but again maybe I would have been discouraged and just quit. The important thing is don't let you SIL be discouraged, stress the fun, she will see her own mistakes in time.

I was very lucky and had a professional quilter who also was a homemaking teacher. She was actually a substitute for the class! When we got ready to sew 1/4 inch seams, she handed out small index cards which the top line was actually 1/4 inch from the top of the card. She had us place our machine needle on that line making sure the card was stright! Then we took Blue painter's tape and put on our machines at the edge of the card! We put enough layers to make a sewing guide to push our seams up against. If the fabric wants to slip over the tape, then you haven't put on enough tape. We all sewed like pros from then on! She felt like the card was a more accurate method than trying to put the tape on the mark of the throat plate, and it was a lot easier!

I was/am a teacher.

Yes, learning a consistent 1/4" seam is impotant but it is the way a teacher goes about it that makes all the difference in the worl. It is one thing to stand over someone and say "Rip it out. It's not right." as oppsoed to saying "That was a good try. Let's see what we can do to get your seams closer to 1/4"." Especially since we are adults and should be respected as such.

As for LQS classes: I am convinced that the vast majority of the "techers" should not be there. One class the teacher showed the technique one time and then sat there while we struggled. One class the teacher did not like my approach and fabrics and thus I was ignored the whole class. One just was there to sell kits. I am saving my money for fabric. Learn more from videos on line.

Fortunately my beginners quilting classes at my LQS wasn't like that. My teachers did stress the importancy of accuracy in both cutting and sewing but at the same time told us over and over again that those things weren't instantly going to come to us. Accuracy is important, but it is some thing we all work toward. It's a learning process. Please tell your sister that she should consider taking a class somewhere else and before she signs up she should let them know about her previous unfortunate experience.

I don't agree that this student is getting "bad advice". The teaching approach may be wrong but the concept is not. Accuracy not only produces good work but lessens the frustration level. My advice is to work thru the class and try to overlook the attitude and the method of teaching but learn the concepts being taught. You will benefit in the future when you select other classes.

I'm a newbie at quilting and i joined the BOM the owner is very nice .A friend of mine suggest i do this and she has been great in helping me when i get stuck or discourged.I tore out my blocks 4 times and then just gave up she told me to bring it to her and she would try to figure it out.She measured all my 1/4 seams and they where on but my whole block was off.We came to the conclusion the reason its off is that i tore it out to many times and stretch the fabric. I hope the next one i do comes out alot better then the first one.But don't get discourged pratice does make perfect.

I would encourage her to find a different LQS, or a different teacher. Early impressions really do matter when starting out.

I agree with what has been said, but some patterns will not work well, will not line up properly without 1/4" seams. I am getting the monthly quilt blocks from my LQS, already cut out, and the flying geese do not work with a fat 1/4" seam which is what my machine foot measures. I had to force myself to make a 1/4" seam, using a piece of tape to line up the fabric.

aww that`s too bad...hope it won`t discourage her.....when i first learned it was at our local senior s club.....the teacher was so awesome and encouraging...even when things didn`t match up perfect she showed me little tricks to even it out....i still have a hard time with my 1/4 " seams...lol

What a wonderful way to kill the creative ways of a fledgeling quilter. I'm sorry your SIL is in such an un-nurturing environment. This is so old school. I hope you can intervene so she won't lose her desire.

I am probably a teacher's worst nightmare. Went to one of my classes once when I was in a totally frazzled way. I only took my notebook because the only thing I was capable of that day was taking notes. The teacher got really angry with me and told me that it was a sewing class. I told her that I paid my fee and if I simply wanted to sit there and take notes that was my business - not hers. I am not disruptive. She finally backed off. Next week, I went back and all the notes had been turned into the project so I could keep going with the class.

I think that a quilting teacher should encourage the student to sew the 1/4" and explain WHY it is important. The student needs to realize that the better the prep work is done, the better the final result will be. However, it should be up to the student whether she wants to take the seam out and start over.

My goodness! I can't even imagine having such a discouraging teacher. Hopefully you can just keep encouraging your sister-in-law, and she will continue quilting.