Crazy Shortcut Quilts Book - Tips for Teachers and Shops

Quilt Shop Newsletter blurbs and Teaching Tips

We've had awesome success teaching the techniques from our book in shop classes and we want you to enjoy that same success. Please feel free to cut and paste the Newsletter Blurbs to your own shop newsletter or website for advertising the class and Teachers - please feel free to use our tips for preparing for your classes. If you have any questions at all about teaching the techniques please email us at quilters@crazyshortcuts.com and we'll do our best to help you. If you want us to come teach at your place, take a look here at the WORKSHOPS page or just email us - we love to travel!

FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER - CLASS TITLE & DESCRIPTION - 2 versions

Crazy Shortcut Quilt Class - In this class you will be making a "crazy" quilt with fat quarters instead of scraps! We'll help you with fabric planning, coordinating the colors with your home decor and best of all you'll be you will be using the decorative stitches on your sewing machine to do all of the quilting, in small and easily manageable sections. This class is for anyone from beginner to expert - but watch out because we change a few of the "traditional" quilt making rules, making this a fast project that gives you a finished quilt in hours!

Crazy Shortcut Quilt Class - Forget everything you know about quilting, and if you don't know anything then this is the class for you!No Fear Quilting - your sewing machine will do all of the hard work, using it's decorative stitches, and this is a class that gives you a finished quilt - not just a "top" - in 3 weeks!

If you need help with fabrics and want to coordinate your quilt to a specific room in your house, bring a small item of a favorite color from that room (vase, paint chip, photo frame) and let us help you find just the right coordinating fabrics for a full room makeover.

TEACHING TIPS
Before you teach the class we suggest making a quilt as a sample for the shop or at the very least, make a small 5" sampler, using 4 different fabrics. It will help you understand the process and it's wonderful to have on hand to show customers.

As you make your quilt, keep track of your hours so that you can tell students just how fast it was to make your quilt. This will also give you a better understanding of the timing of the class sessions. Sarah suggests having 1 class session per week and advertising a finished quilt in 3 classes. Remember that we made a queen quilt in 3 weeks - finished, quilted and on the bed!

When creating your materials list, be sure to list the fabric requirements for the batting, backing, sashing and binding material and the decorative threads because this is an integral part of the class - - the students will be quilting their squares before they sash them together to make the finished quilt. Additionally, they will need at least 1 decorative thread, and we recommend the heavier/stronger threads, 30wt & 40wt rayons, any of the polyester threads and cotton wrapped polyester threads are marvelous. Please be sure and list the book on your class supply list.

Students do not need to have a machine with 100 stitches, they can use just 1 or 5 or whatever they have to make these quilts, however this is a super chance to show off machine stitches if your shop sells sewing machines. When planning your days for the class, remember that the quilting comes in the middle of the class and the sashing and binding are at the end.

Sarah recommends the first class being a cutting class, teaching rotary cutting and chain piecing - of about 3 hours. Homework before next class is completing the cuts - remember no squaring up! - and cutting the batting and backing squares. Teachers can offer to help with pressing in between cuts.

The second class should be layering and decorative stitch quilting - for 2-3 hours with homework being finishing the quilting. This is the perfect time to let students "test drive" new machines if your shop is a sewing machine dealer. Sarah has made many machine sales during her classes!!

The last class is trimming (squaring up) and sashing. Have the students cut their sashing under your watchful eye - in this part accurate cutting is important and remember our suggestions for grain line and cutting. Teachers may offer to help press the top sashing strips for students. Give a demonstration of binding (including joining the strips) and schedule a 1 hour follow up to show off the finished quilts! Ask your students to bring in their finished quilts to show them off and be sure to email us photos too - we want to start a gallery of quilts on our website ~ please help us with your photos and student photos ~ Many Thanks :)

Shops should have on hand many copies of the book and the following supplies available for sale: cutting rulers long enough to cut across a fat quarter (we love our 6" x 24" rulers), rotary cutters (the 60mm size is super for these quilts), mats (big enough to fit a full fat quarter and still have room to cut) and the bigger 20½" x 20½" cutting square (Omnigrid and Creative Grids both make these big rulers). Teachers should be prepared to demonstrate the use of all of the above.

Also have in stock lots of decorative threads on large spools, good pins, a stiff batting (we like Warm & Natural), and have on hand for students to use: spray starch (or sizing), tape to mark sewing machine 1/4" seams, sewer's aid for thread breakage issues. Machine dealers should be prepared to sell machines and lots of bobbins.

HAVE FUN!!~ Marguerita & Sarah