Patchwork Class.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a small advert. in the "What's New" section of our local paper. It was advertising Patchwork classes being held in Greensborough, a suburb near me. I called the number given, and spoke to J, a lady with a charming New Zealand accent. She explained that she conducted the classes from her home, during the day or at night, whichever was more convenient. J. said she only had four or five girls in a class at one time, so she could give more one-to-one help than if there were a lot of people. Her course goes for 10 weeks, during which time she teaches us a different technique each week, so by the end of 9 weeks, we should have 9 blocks with a variety of patterns, i.e. Dresden Plate, Fan, Amish, and so on. On the 10th week, she would show us how to apply the sashing, padding and backing. The beauty of her course is that she is very flexible; if you can't come for a class, you just pick it up the next time, so your 10 weeks might not run concurrent with the other students. She is planning to conduct another workshop in the future on how to quilt your patchwork.
I booked myself in for the Tuesday class for 10 weeks, starting this week. J. had given me a list of supplies, and I had great fun going through my stash of fabrics and deciding which ones to use! Over the time I've accumulated fabrics, I didn't have anything particular in mind - I just bought stuff because I liked it (or as S. would say, it "called to me"). Now it has a purpose!
On Tuesday afternoon I set out for J's house, and was introduced to the other three girls who were in varying stages of their blocks. There was one other beginner like me, so J. got us cutting out plastic templates for our first block - "Amish Diamond". She helped us select which fabrics to use from the ones we'd brought, and then we cut out the shapes. After that, she explained the order of piecing them together (hand piecing, no machining in this course), and showed us what to do. In the meantime, one of the other students had brought the block she'd started in the previous week, and asked J. why the fabric was distorted. J. pointed out what was wrong, and advised the girl to unpick it and start again, so that kept her busy for an hour!
J's method is to get her students to finish half of the block under her guidance, then take it home and finish it on our own - which I think is excellent teaching, as we have to think for ourselves instead of asking her help. If we mess it up, or don't finish the block, we just carry it over the next week. I finished mine, and am quite happy with it. The other girls loved the chocolate cake in the centre! Depending on what I do with it at the end, I may embroider or applique some small motif on the white homespun fabric, as it looks a bit empty. What do you think?