Beginning quilt classes that want perfection!!
 

My sister-in-law is learning how to quilt. She went to her LQS (she lives in Albuquerque) and signed up for a class. The teachers are uber-perfectionists, to the point where if your seam isn't a perfect 1/4", you have to rip it out. Her machine is doing a fat 1/4" (which I told her not to worry too much, since all of her pieces will be a tad shorter, so it evens out), but they freaked out and told her it's awful. UGH!! It really bugs me since that is not how you teach new students! At my LQSs (in Tucson), they were always super nice. They explained how to adjust to get the right seam and ways to pin for accurate points but would never make you tear something out because it wasn't perfect (though I did have to tear out once because I sewed too far in and it threw off the block, but that was a construction issue, not a seam issue). And looking back at my first quilts, they were okay but not great (which is expected) and I DIDN'T GET DISCOURAGED SINCE I HAD KIND TEACHERS. I've repeatedly told her to not get discouraged or worry and such. It's just really bugging me, since that's such a bad way to teach anything. But especially something where it's practice makes perfect. :)

Not every one can teach ;-)

IF YOU LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH YOU CAN ALWAYS FINE SOMETHING WRONG FOR WE ARE HUMAN AND NO HUMAN IS PERFECT SO OURS QUILTS IS NOT ALWAYS TO PERFECTION.qUILTING IS FOR FUN NOT STRESS!!! TELL HER TO GET ANOTHER TEACHER.

If my first quilting teacher had been like that I doubt that I would be quilting today. Instead she showed me how to salvage the quilt after I made a mess of it. I value that lesson, since I still make a mess of it on a semi-regular basis. That being said, it is good to learn at the start how to make 1/4" seams, but not at the expense of feeling like a failure because your seams aren't perfect to begin with.

My first quilt teacher was like that, and, unfortunately my Mom was in the class and she does not, I repeat, does not follow directions well. The teacher was beside herself. She wasn't much of a warm and cuddly person to begin with, had just published a quilt book that became very popular, and admitted she was only teaching the class because she had commited to this one last one. By the time the six or so weeks of class were over you could tell she could barely look at my Mom, as well as another lady who was a bit of a challenge as well. On the last nigth of class someone asked if there were any guilds or clubs for quilting and the teachers response was "yes, but they are not for people like this group, they are for real quilters". I just about gave up on quilting, but, I already knew I was bitten with the bug, and fortunately, my Mom convinced me that we should try another class with a different teacher. She was right, the next class was a dream, despite my Mom being the problem child...... again...LOL

you should encourage your sister to try a different class-taught by someone else- some are like that- but i don't believe it's the majority- i think most teachers are more (accepting) of beginners....especially if it is a beginner class. when we had the sewing school we did not really stress perfection at all- i have one friend who makes great quilts- and her seams are always----horrible- they range from 1/4" up to an inch---seriously! but she makes it all work and the quilts turn out beautiful. i do wish she would start (she's been quilting 5 or 6 years now) to work on technique- but she really has no interest in worrying about it- she does on occassion take a class at a lqs---she just ignores them if they get===picky===she did get up and walk out of one class once---but it didn't slow her down-she just decided if that was the teacher she wouldn't take that class- she would talk one of (us-her friends) into taking it to learn the technique- then we can show her...
tell her not to let one bad teacher spoil the fun==

I think I would give up, in my mind I'd have failed at my lessons.

I don't think this woman should be teaching!

Well since I didn't have a teacher except for books and utube, I couldn't handle that . I am sorry for her, maybe she should find another class. I would love to have been able to take classes, sounds like they want everything perfect when nothing is except God. Even they make mistakes, they might not won't admit it. They didn't start out perfect

You are so right to offer her encouragement. I feel so bad that her experience is a bad one and it is so unnecessary. This perfectionist is ruining the quilting experience for a newbie. I bet her work is not 100% perfect either.

I don't take classes for that reason. I have taken a few, but seemed to get lost about half way thru and have to finish the project at home. I am self taught, my seams are good and most of my points are sharp. I spend my money on fabric.

Unfortunately, one needs to search for good teachers as one does for good friends. I have been put off needle turn applique because I was ignored by the teacher and received no instruction. She needs to hang in there and get more experience and she will meet plenty of helpful, sharing people who will teach her to love the art of quilting.

Is she online? Can you send her in HERE? We will encourage her! I hate it when the quilt police think they can teach!

As a quilter as of January when I retired from teaching, I have been teaching myself with "ALL your help and ideas and support" plus a desperate phone call to my 83 year old mother in North Carolina every couple of days. You all have the answers that I need or can tell me where to go ;-) and my mom patiently tells me it is okay saying "Dear, surely, no one is going to notice a couple of crooked corners on a queen size quilt" (to which I go back and fix them because she raised a perfectionist). There are excellent teachers on this board and they have my highest praise for all their help!!!!

I'm very surprised to hear this. I was just in Albuquerque about a month ago and had the pleasure of visiting 7 - yes 7 - LQS's there. I must say I was very pleased with how friendly everyone is each of those shops were. Especially considering I wasn't really buying anything of significance. I picked up some stencils and some fat qtrs. and eighths but that's about it. Since there are so many shops in that area I would suggest maybe she travel an extra couple of minutes and find another shop.

Hopefully you can undo the bad advice she's getting and encourage her to keep quilting. Tell her there are a few "Quilt Police" out there and it was just her misfortune to run into one so soon.

When I started out I took a class at the LQS given by the manager. She was not a teacher, but she is a snob. She decided within about 10 minutes who she would cater to and who she would ignore. Fortunately, I found a group in my community that helped me. You could have knocked her over with a feather when I took my finished quilt in! That was almost three years ago and I am still muddling through, but having fun!.

I am still new to quilting but have been lucky in the teachers I have had and from this Board.

I am a new quilter and my first class was different than I expected and I just did what I knew was good for me to do. I didn't hand quilt like was expected. I did one small section and then made a practice sandwich and learned to FMQ, it is not perfect but it is my first and I love it that is what matters.

Ummm. I took my very first piecing class in Albuquerque 25 years ago. Sounds like the same place LOL! The instructor didn't like my choice of fabrics ("too traditional"), didn't help me understand the concept of light/medium/dark for fabric selection ("I don't know why you have so much trouble with this - it is so easy!"). She did think my stitching was ok, but it was a hand piecing class and I was an accomplished embroiderer and therefore used to good hand work. I think I did two blocks and put all other quilting away for 15 years!

Hope your SIL doesn't get as discouraged as I did. Keep up your encouragement!

Pam

I am a believer in experience, the more you do the better you get. The first experience should be a happy thing. You should learn a lot. There are certain quilts that if you use the same seam allowance throughout, it comes out well. But I would explain how to get the perfect one and tell her to do it on the next one.

My friend, Patty, is slightly handicapped, she couldn't hold the ruler as the teacher said and was told "if you can't do it right, don't bother". Can you imagine. I teach how to adapt. If you are getting good results, I don't care how you do it unless I think you will harm your body. There are many different ways to do everything. I think I should give you options if something doesn't work for you. I was asked to teach at the shop that had "the mean teachers" including the one who was so nasty to my friend and I refused. I didn't want to be lumped in with them.

I'm sorry for your SIL. :( Send her here! :) It takes more than skill and a desire to pass it on to make a teacher. Even more than technical ability, it takes empathy, a positive attitude and a love for providing encouragement.

Students will eventually get the technical aspects of almost any skill - but beginners need encouragement even more than they need facts and technical details. Derision and tsk-tsk critiques may salve the ego of a teacher who needs that kind of reinforcement, but they do nothing for raising up students and giving them confidence.

If you're going to be a teacher and you want to make a living at it, plan to put the catty remarks and critiques away. Cultivate a positive attitude.

If a student comes away from your class with a less than perfect finished project but she likes it and she has lots of enthusiasm and courage to try it again, you have a convert.

If you have snippy-sniped your superior attitude at them, they may finish a class with perfect 1/4" seams and a very nice quilt that they absolutely hate. They may have also developed an intense dislike of anything quilt-related.

My first class had an instructor that would shut us down early so she could get home and watch ER (remember that show) She didn't deter me, I just tried other classes and found out some instructors are great and some are not! Tell your SIL not to give up.

I had a great teacher for my first class, made me feel it was okay to make mistakes, :)

I took a techniques class a couple of years ago and the first thing the instructor asked was if anyone was left handed.
All her instruction were for right handers and when I did something with my left hand she tried to change it to right handed. Needless to say I stopped going to class and and have learned more from this QB. I still quilt left handed and still enjoy it.

Sound like your sister needs to find another teacher. I am a teacher by trade. I would never talk to my students in my classroon like that. I would be fired! I have taught a few beginner level quilt classes, and make it a point to encourage, not discourage. If they are not encouraging, then you must do it, and it sounds like you are. There is nothing worse then feeling bad about your sewing.

Too bad. I have had excellent teachers and classes, real friendly and helpful. I would try another class elsewhere, maybe hit up some other quilters in your area that can recommend a good patient teacher. I think patience is something that is really necessary in teaching, which is why I didn't go into that field. I have absolutely no patience, while I would like to teach quilting to someone, I really don't know if I would have the patience for it.

I taught my daughter like this. She just wanted to sew and did not think that 1/4" seam was important. So I let her try to make one block HER way...after that..she ripped, and ripped and ripped...and NOW...she can make a perfect 1/4" seam in her sleep. I was really proud of her when she phoned one day just to say THANK YOU...because of that perfection on seams, she was able to quickly strip piece a rail fence baby quilt for a friend with NO pattern. She still has her first seam ripper and says she rarely uses it, because she knows her machine and it's 1/4" seam line!

Sometimes...striving for perfect is NOT a bad thing! And if you don't learn that seam early on..while doing the simple seams, then trying to figure out what went wrong on your more complicated blocks later will only be more frustrating!

I teach beginners on paper first..then fabric...and only straight bar blocks..till they get that seam down pretty close to perfect. It really does matter!
I tried teaching a class you all said...all nicey, nice, nothing is wrong, do it as you can..and I got royally pinned to the wall by two ladies who were seriously upset that their projects did NOT meet their standards. SO..no more playing nice. You want to learn a skill with a machine..be it a sewing machine or bandsaw then learn to do it right the first time...even if it means undoing it...at least in sewing you get that 2nd, 3rd of 10th try to get it right..in welding, pottery, woodworking,, you don't get those chances! AND if you are paying to learn this craft, why wouldn't you want to learn to do the BEST?

Wow that's horrible for them to do they would have thrown me out the door then if they saw my first blocks and quilt. I would get so frustrated because it wasn't coming out as nicely as other's. My teacher was fantastic she told me that it was fine no one would know the difference besides it was my first quilt. When I have to learn something new I have a hard time just reading the instructions I prefer to have someone walk me through it the first time and then I'm fine. I'm more a hands on learner. I certainly wouldn't have fit in their class structure, I take classes on different things once a month because of the great teacher's we have. Now instead of feeling nervous going into class I'm a little bit more confident.

However I took a tote class this past month that one it was too many people, and the instructor was not on her game. So she was always scattered all over the room they only blocked off 2 hours it wasn't enough time, one person completed the class. The rest of us went home with a half completed project she said "oh the rest of the assembly is easy just follow the directions" and gave us her phone number. I've called twice no call back, so I will wait until the end of the month when we have a problem 101 session. That is for anyone to come in that is stuck on a pattern or block and they help you get it finished. Did not leave good marks for that instructor.

I completely agree! Those that are saying get a new teacher....sorry, but I would want to learn correctly, not sloppily. The teacher doesn't want perfection, she wants her students to be happy with the finished product.

I was put off sewing for over 40 years by a discouraging teacher at school. Then a friend insisted that I could make a quilt. I laughed at her, but had a go. Thanks to her encouragement and natural teaching skills, I made one - and have made many more since. I still find classes difficult: I don't find it easy to learn new practical skills, and can panic if I feel I'm falling behind the rest of the class. For that reason I tend to stick to Quilt University and this board for my learning, though I did go to a brilliant day on free motion quilting recently, taken by an ex school teacher who had planned the day well and was able to cope with the very different skill levels among the group.
Accuracy IS important, but learning curves have to be allowed too!

Goodness, this drives me wild...Beginner class and they want you to do it perfect. Well, how long is that class? Forever? I wonder what the pattern was or was it a sampler? Sometimes things don't fit together perfect so teach them a simple pattern. I did strive to make things perfect when I started and still do but I am not perfect. I'ms sure if someone goes over my quilts with a critical eye they will find something wrong....ie: that color doesn't belong with the others (but I like it), Oh my goodness the points don't match exactly...on and on. I make quilts to enjoy my way. You can teach me the "right" way but many teachers as I've had over the years have told us in classes...sit back and relax. This is what it should look like but we are human. So I put that tweak in an applique piece or turn a corner different from the others..I wanted it that way! Making a quilt is not a race and the "quilt police" can say what they want.

I went to one class and had the same experience...not only ripping them out. I also have the 1/4 foot. there was only one other girl in my class and she had taken this class Three times and did all of her stuff at home. She was only there to be social which is fine but she kept saying we only have one more class after only 3 - the other issue was the classes were not everyweek sometimes two weeks apart sometimes 3 I stopped going and my unfinished top is in the closet. that was my one and only class I attempted. There are better teachers here on this board and friendly.

If I had to be perfect I would not have made hundreds of quilts in my 70 years of quilting.

I am impressed that w have got to page 4 and no one has mentioned the urban myth about ancient beliefs about no mortal being perfect. Are we debunking that one?!

I disagree that perfection is the primary aim in quilting. Enjoyment is the primary aim in quilting (I'm assuming no-one here quilts because without it their family would not have bed clothes).

Sure, aim for perfection, there is nothing wrong with that, but not to the exclusion of everything else.

A good teacher should be able to tell the difference between someone who is doing their best, not getting perfection, but is OK with the learning experience, and someone who is not getting perfection and is therefore getting discouraged.

For a beginners class encouragement should be the order of the day - whether that is in relation to the 'can't see it from a galloping horse' category or the 'try again but do it this way' category.

It doesn't sound as if your SIL is getting the encouragement she needs, so I would vote for finding another class and/or send her here!!!

Wow!!! She needs to try a different shop.

Why would you want a perfect quilt, isnt that the beauty of it.

Good news! There are two quilting groups in nearby Rio Rancho (13 miles from Albuquerque) besides the two in Albuquerque (one being for long-armers). I got that information from: http://www.quiltguilds.com/new-mexico.htm
where she might find some other nearby areas.

Also, tell her to avail herself of the many basic instructional videos online, particularly those at Missouri Star Quilt Company (YouTube).

In parting, remember the term "Wabi Sabi," A Japanese term indicating beauty in imperfection ...

This little ditty by Leonard Cohen comes to mind:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There's a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

My first quilt went on the dogs' bed. They loved it! I hope she learns to simply enjoy the journey.

What an awful experience for you and your mom! Actually for the whole class. I hope I never purchased her book - that is no way to treat someone who is paying for your services!