Two of my friends have asked me to teach them to quilt. They both can sew a little. Where should I begin? What are the first techniques they should learn. I am not an expert quilter, but I do enjoy it.

Teach them:
How to use a rotary cutter
Sew a 1/4" seam
Proper pressing (not ironing)

Maybe practice with a 9-patch so they can see how the intersections are sewn.
Stress to them that quilting is fun!!!!

In the beginner class my LQS teaches, they make one block, add a border, then quilt and bind it so it ends up being a small wallhanging.

I think this way they would learn rotary cutting, piecing, pressing, quilting, and binding. You could start with an easy block, and progress from there.

I vote for making placemats. Use the same fabrics in each mat but work on a different skill in each one. Depending on how fast they learn you could make a set of 4 or 6 or 8!

I think a place mat or the wall hanging are both great ideas. They end up with a finished project and that always feels good.

Currently, I am teaching three women at work how to quilt. We've met six times. Two are trying very hard to be precise in their cutting, 1/4", and pressing. The third, she tries but unfortunately she's had to miss a couple of classes due to funerals and such. She's an excellent sewer but she gets frustrated with the cutting. I added Invisigrip to the back of her ruler but it always slips near the end of the cut because she's usually anxious to get it done and hurries, trying to catch up. So, lesson 1, expect differences between your students' results/approaches/patience.

Do they already have their tools? Rulers, mats, rotary cutters? I made the mistake of having my students buy the Fiskars starter kit that includes a rotary cutter (which I told them NOT to use because it's not self closing), an 18'x24" mat which is good, and a 6"x24" ruler which has absolutely no slip-stop stuff on the back. The kit saved them money, even after buying a better rotary cutter, but the ruler is a disaster. Lesson 2, don't buy the kits. Spend the money on getting the best they can afford. I highly recommend the Olfa self-closing rotary cutter and Creative Grids rulers (usually have to find in a quilt shop).

We started off by them purchasing two sets of fat quarters, each a different color from light to dark (e.g., light red, med red, dark red). My thinking was they could use these to practice their 1/4" seams, cutting, and such. Nope. They went right into using the FQs to create baby blankets! That was fine with me but I was (stupidly) surprised by their ambition which was lesson 3 for me.

Lesson 4, despite my nagging and such, none of them have signed up for the Joann coupons! They've even seen me use my 50% off and they still haven't signed up!!! _:? _ So, hope for a sale. Luckily for my students, we went shopping in April when most of the quilting stuff was 50% at Joann's.

These classes have been SO much fun! And, very rewarding for me; i.e., I've learned I really can teach something. We meet Tuesday nights from 4-7pm which we've found is early enough that we're not over tired and just enough time to complete one phase of a project.

I've attached the list of supplies that I thought they needed and approximate prices. The second file is the first two "lesson" I wanted them to try: Chinese Coins and a Four Patch. We're still on Lesson 1 because, as I said, they want to go thru the whole process and create baby quilts. What I wanted them to learn from Lesson 1 was about color gradations, accurate cutting, 1/4" seam, proper pressing, and the structure of a quilt (blocks, sashing, borders) with layers (top, batting, back) to come later. I think they learned a lot from starting here. All three of them sewed at least four feet of rectangles together in a long strip; it was interesting to see just how wonky each turned out or, just how good. Again, more laughter.

Best of luck with your classes! I hope you enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed teaching.

Thanks to all of you for your quick replies. These are all great ideas and I especially appreciate the files from QBeth.

You're welcome! :-)