The class yesterday was good and bad. The good part was that I learned some new tips and tricks, particularly with outer corners and preparing applique pieces. The bad part was due to how the teacher treated me for the first half of the day.
I went with Deana, and there was only one other person (a gal named Sharon) in the class with us. Deana and Sharon both teach classes at this store, while I have never set foot in the store as it’s almost an hour from my house and I’m never in that part of the Austin metroplex. The teacher made a big show of “Well, let’s introduce ourselves since I don’t know you” and pointed at me while emphasizing the “you.”
Then she starts talking about how wonderful the Civil War repros are, and they’re just fabulous for Jo Morton quilts, blah blah blah. Sharon had bought fabrics akin to the ones in the book’s quilt; I brought the ones I posted Friday and Deana brought black for the background and some of her hand dyes for the colored parts. The teacher seemed really surprised that we both went with bright fabrics, and later in the day she made a snarky comment about my using blue and purple for leaves – really? (Deana, did you hear that one?) It’s not her quilt. And I didn’t WANT a traditional colorway for this quilt. Nevermind that my fabrics go well together…
For the rest of the morning, every time she talked to me it was in condescending tone and like I had never touched a piece of fabric. Did she ask what our experience levels were? No. She assumed that because she had never met me I was a brand-new quilter that couldn’t tell a fat quarter from a pincushion. Deana picked up on it, too, which meant it wasn’t just me being sensitive.
The teacher would say something like, “OK we’re going to cut bias strips now…anyone need help?” When we all indicated no, I got up to use the cutting mat. I was positioning the ruler to square the edge of my fabric before turning it to cut along the bias. As I’m doing this, the teacher comes flailing up behind me saying, “No no no not like that you don’t cut along the straight, no no!” When I told her what I was doing, she looked suprised and was like, “Oh. Well. Okay then.” Sheesh.
You would think that when I a) didn’t have any questions, b) had all sorts of handy notions that she would talk about and realize that I had them (e.g. the mechanical marking pencil) and be surprised that I already had them, and c) brought a high-end sewing machine with me that maybe, just maybe, I *might* know something about quilting.
As the day progressed, and it became clear that I was “getting it” as I was the fastest worker, she got better and started talking to me as a fellow quilter. Sharon is new to quilting but has been doing garment sewing for years, so she was still trying to figure out handwork, rotary cutters and such; Deana. while not new to quilting or handwork, is a perfectionist and OCD about handwork, so she was slow because of that. 
At least I learned a few things, and I got to spend some time with Deana as it has been awhile. Here is the start of my piece:
I’m getting better, bu it’s not perfect. I purpose did the leaves where not all of them are attached at the stem; I like the freeform movement of it like that. The little bit of turquoise isn’t out of place; the print fabric has that same turquoise in it. Also, the orange middle of the “tulip” flower is much more distinctive in person, and doesn’t really show well in this picture. There are leaves that go on the inside as well; I took them off for now so I can finish stitching the stem without the leaves getting in the way. I don’t think I’m going to make the whole top (with the pieced border), but rather turn this into a throw pillow and give it as a gift.
Besides, my knickers are snug as they’re almost ten years old at this point, and well, your body changes…
