Teaching quilting – peek into my classroom

Hi everyone,

last night I finished yet another Beginner’s Quilting class – what  thrilling experience it is, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I am teaching Beginners Quilting class for many years now in my fave quilt shop, Threads of Time. Class is usually 6-8 weeks, but my beginners really get as much time as they need (read – free extra classes always there if needed, till the project is finished).
Yes, teaching beginners does take patience and it is a bit different than teaching any other quilting class, but I really, truly LOVE it. My students are so dedicated, fun and enthusiastic to learn, it really is ME who benefits the most!

 Here are Persis, Linda and Dori with their finished quilts! (well, maybe few last inches of binding to stitch…)

and Sarah (who had to leave a bit earlier, so not in the photo above):

I mean – can you say FANTASTIC??

They were willing and brave to try everything I asked them to do – even do free-motion quilting for the first time, or use decorative stitches on their machine!!

I am just so proud of them all!!
My beginners quilt pattern changes from time to time, but it always involves all the basic elements and blocks (half-square triangles, Flying Geese, Nine-patches, Four-patches…), good useful techniques (like strip-piecing) and of course things that everyone is scared from – mitered borders, free-motion quilting, etc. I am the happiest when they say – “well, that is much easier than I thought it will be!” YESSS.
A different beginners pattern:

 Another one in the making…

I also recently taught a class called Modern Quilting 101 in another great local shop, Elmwood Village Fabric – same good old techniques, but pattern was closer to modern aesthetics. Full class of eight students – another thrilling, inspirational experience for me!! I didn’t get all of the photos, but here are some of my wonderful MQ101 students and their amazing creations:
Beautiful baby quilt…

 …with amazing back!

 Love these colors:

 Another great layout:

 And another! Love these colors too:

Another beauty:

Simple, yet stunning, don’t you think?

with great quilting details too:

I love teaching other classes too. Specially when it is a great technique, that just unleashes creative possibilities and potentials in my students – like Bargello class!

 Or lately, we took Bargello to another level of FUN – by skipping the strip-piecing part to get lots of colors and instead using amazing, versatile OMBRE (color gradation) fabrics. Here are few photos from a Spring Seminar last year, organized by yet another wonderful local shop Pine Grove Quilt Shop (really, how lucky am I to have at least a half a dozen amazing shops in 15 minutes driving radius!!).
Starting to build a design with ombre fabric strips…

Add some contrasting colors for fun:

And then some finished designs:

I mean – how amazing and creative are my students? 

I did this workshop in Museum Quilt Guild in Batavia, NY and just look at these creative ladies:

Make sure to check out their blog (link above) – these ladies know how to have fun and so many inspirational photos there! And also the post about this workshop and more great photos is HERE.
My class sample is the quilt I showed you before – I call it Still Waters:

So – guess what? I will be doing this class again!! 
This time in Threads of Time shop and if you are close and want to have some instant fun – come join us!! Class is two Wednesday nights, June 18th and 25th, from 6-9pm. Hope to see you there! 🙂

Have wonderful weekend,
Marija