I was so lucky with my first quilt class because our instructor was great. Here is what she did for us. She showed us the importance of the 1/4 inch foot. She made sure all our seams were accurate. She taught us the do's and don'ts of rotary cutting. The difference between pressing and ironing. She showed us all the tools she used to get started on a project. She also gave us each a piece of muslin about 1" by 3" that she called a tail. This helps feed the fabric through the feed dogs and prevent those little nests at the beginning of a seam. We made 9 patch pot holders. I know it sounds simple but it has made my quilting very successful.Hope this helps.