I grew up and continue to live in Ecuador, a country rich in handicrafts, from weaving to wood carvings to ceramics, and just about anything and everything you could imagine in between. Except for quilting. My knowledge of quilts was reduced to photos from magazines and glimpses provided sometimes in movies. Not enough information to be able to make one myself.
And then came the Internet. I discovered a generous community willing to share tips and tricks, and little by little, piecing these bits and pieces of information together, I started to learn and eventually identified as a quilter. Oh, happy day!
Still, I was envious of the chatter in online forums, where fellow quilters would share their experience in a class taken, or the rich learning and camaraderie that take place at a quilting retreat. Oh, well. At least I was enjoying the process in my own little quilting world.
And then, just a few years back, along came Craftsy. And I was finally able to enroll in my first quilting class. Since then, the learning continues, and I still can’t get enough. More importantly, my skills in all areas of quilting have improved so much quicker than had become possible for me before, and I have been able to add new techniques and tools to my knowledge base.
There is not enough space here to detail each and every class I’ve taken, but allow me to share just a few.
Stupendous Stitching: One of the very first classes I took (and continue to go back to frequently) focuses on making the most of the stitches on your sewing machine. Play with the settings: change the width or length of any particular stitch, and include thread couching, decorative machine quilting, and hand embroidery to embellish your projects. One of the best resources that came out of this class for me was the stitch sampler I made for each of my sewing machines, and which I refer to constantly. For a more in-depth review of this class, click here.
Free Motion Quilting a Sampler: Until I took this class, I was a dedicated hand quilter, and pretty much out of sheer terror of messing up avoided machine quilting altogether. Using 20 different blocks, you are walked through different ways of quilting each one, adding depth and dimension to your quilt. To make it easier for a beginner, you can work on quilting each block separately, and then learn a super duper method to put them together… without any hand stitching. Since taking this class I do occasionally hand quilt a small project, but have now become a dedicated machine quilter. For a more in-depth review of this class, click here.
Piece by Piece: Taught by the legendary Marti Mitchell, you learn more than one way to quilt-as-you-go. That is, by preparing your foundation batting and backing, once you’re done piecing you’re also done quilting. Learn simple yet effective ways of finishing your quilt, and how to deal with complicated blocks. Worth every single penny.
Beginner Serging: Do you own a serger? Do you use it in quilting? Did you know you could do that? A-W-E-S-O-M-E. If you are under utilizing your serger because you never really learned how to use it, this is the class for you. ALL the basics. And another stitch bible to boot – so, so useful. These days I use my serger to secure the edges of my quilt before binding. Even better, there’s this thing called the flat-lock, which I use over and over again, especially with the leftovers from trimming quilted pieces. For a more in-depth review of this class, click here.
I could go on and on. With regards to quilting classes, let me just say this: 139 classes. 139. Do you sew garments, too? 185 classes. Like me, do you crochet or knit? 49 crochet and 135 knitting classes. Enjoy cooking? 111 classes. And the list goes one and on… weaving, spinning, jewelry, embroidery, woodworking, art…
When on sale, these classes can be purchased for as little as 14.99. A year ago, Craftsy went Unlimited, and you could subscribe for a yearly fee of $120 and have unlimited access to all classes. This year Craftsy became Bluprint and expanded way beyond what it was offering as Craftsy alone. Working also with either a yearly or monthly subscription, Bluprint is now home to 1,300+ in-depth classes in 20 categories, provides beginner to advanced guidance, an exclusive series released each week, articles with tips and tricks, and member-only free patterns. Best of all, the subscription plans have been reduced drastically, and you can now sign up for a monthly subscription of $ 7.99 (less than the price of most patterns!)
The yearly plan has been lowered from $120 to $79.99 (which would mean two month’s free as compared to the monthly plan), and in addition you get 12 classes of your choice to own forever, plus free U.S. shipping on supplies for one year. Better yet… at this moment you can get that subscription with an additional $10 discount, for only $69.99. I really don’t think this can be beat! But hurry… this offer expires on February 17.
Tempted? Try it out! If you’re not delighted, Bluprint offers a 30-day money back guarantee.… I promise you won’t be disappointed.
To sign up and learn more, click here.
I am a self-learner. I taught myself to sew and to quilt. And I taught myself how to draw. I am learning how to dye my own fabrics and am dabbling with mixed media. I am a quilt designer and teacher, and design and publish my own line of quilt patterns. With this blog I would like to share the bits and pieces of my life.