cjsews

At the end I would explain that there may be many ways to accomplish the same steps. Learn the way you are teaching. As they find someone making suggestions to do another way, try it. Then decide which way they prefer. No right or wrong

cashs_mom

I like the idea of doing a disappearing 9 patch. While all those squares in the Irish Chain and great when they are matched up, that can be awfully tedious when you starting out. My thought is to do something that they can do easily and it's fun. There's not so much matching and having to be conscious of where all the colors will end up. Truthfully, if an Irish Chain had been my first quilt, I probably would have gotten bored and never finished. I also agree with not pushing finishing the whole top in one weekend. If its not fun, they're probably never going to do another. There are tons of patterns that don't have lots of matching and can allow them to play with color. This is much more attractive to me.

Peckish

I agree with the others that you're planning on covering a LOT of ground. However, you also don't specify how long the class is. Will it be a couple of hours, one whole day, or something more like one day a week for 2 months? In which case, that's a lot more digestible. How big do you anticipate the class size to be?

LI_diva

I would skip the section on sewing machine issues. Basic knowledge of sewing machine operation should be a prerequisite for the class. Driving teachers don’t teach car maintenance; sewing teachers needn’t teach sewing machine maintenance.

If (when!) sewing machine issues come up over the course of the class, you could definitely use it as a teachable moment, but I wouldn’t put it in the syllabus to begin with.

Onebyone

There are lots of 3 Yard Quilts by Fabric Cafe that would be perfect for beginners. They have several free patterns on their website. The LQS here does the 3 yard quilts for beginner classes.

cashs_mom

Oh! Good idea! Fabric Cafe's patterns are easy and effective.

Rhonda K

That's an ambitious agenda and could be very overwhelming for a new quilter.

A Quilting 101 class needs to be simplified for a beginner's success.

Start with the concept of how to master the 1/4 inch seam which is one of the most important foundations to quilts.

Show them how to square up blocks. It's a concept that can be difficult to understand for many quilters. Explain bias and stretching of the fabrics, how to press blocks and not iron them.

Provide samples of different quilt blocks and how to construct them. Play a game recognizing them.

Keep the class simple to bring them back for more.

Onebyone

The ones that get the quilting bug will want to learn more. The basics of sewing one pattern will be all it takes.