Stitch This

It’s been a while since my last post but you know how life gets in the way…in my case, Life and Clutter. You should see my sewing table. If you do can you tell me what it’s like, I haven’t seen it for weeks, there’s so much stuff on it…I digress.

so let’s start to think about the more formal or structured courses and lessons out there. Now, I’m based in the UK so there might end up being a British bias here, I know. If you’re reading this outside the UK then I hope it at least gives you ideas for what might be floating around near you…

Today, however, we look at a truly international site, Quilt University, found here. Damn they’re good. I’m not getting a bean for this btw, I just love QU.

I’ve done classes on borders, beading, EQ7 (I’ll explain in a later post), curved piecing, design….the list is pretty long and that’s just a fraction of what these guys offer. I’ve talked about my love for Quilt U before, but how does it work? Basically you peruse the current class timetable and see what grabs you. The bias (binding) is clearly towards the quilting arts but the range is huge. I just had a look and I’d currently be tempted to go for Exploring Log Cabin or Fun with Paintsticks if I had ANY time, but that’s another story. Once you’ve picked your course, you pay a fee. Yes, I know, but we’re not in Kansas now, Toto.

The costs depend on the course but c $36 seems indicative. If you’re not sure, there’s a (very good) free lesson called Border Crossings you can sign up to here.

Once you’ve coughed up you get access to the students’ forum where everyone on your course and the teacher can chat, swap notes and ask questions. Classes are normally in 3 or 4 weekly instalments. Typically you sign up ahead of the first class and when its time (I love the waiting too, but I think that says quite worrying things about me so we’ll park that shall we?) you get a password which unlocks each module as they become available. Each lesson has homework, ideas, tips etc as well as very well illustrated instructions. There is also a students’ gallery where you can post your finished assignments for everyone to coo over. What’s not to like?

Overall I’ve found QU to be a good balance between free form, independent learning and a more structured, paced environment. Plus you can make friends with fellow obsessives enthusiasts from all over the world. The attendees are mainly from the US, Europe and Australia. A veritable fruit salad of nationalities, indeed.

Next time I’ll get to some other cyber courses including the UK City and Guilds qualifications. I was going to cover them today but I’ve rabbited on about QU for far too long. I think we all deserve a nice sit down with a beverage of choice. What’s yours? I think you can guess mine