Casual Cam – Packing up after a Workshop

Yesterday I taught a workshop at We’re Sew Creative in Concord, NC and had a great time sharing my love of free motion quilting with a small class of awesome quilters. Today I’m getting reorganized and figured I’d share a video on how I pack my bags for teaching:

I really like letting students try a variety of products and tools in class so they have the opportunity to find what works for them. I also like bringing as many quilts to show all the different effects you can create using just thread and awesome free motion designs.

Unfortunately this makes for a LOT of stuff to bring to a class and I’m tired of it all being stored in separate, extremely disorganize bins. After my last workshop I went to Walmart and picked up the biggest suitcase with 4 wheels to hold all my workshop gear in one place.

Why 4 wheels? I found after my last flight to Denver for a Craftsy shoot that it’s very easy for bag handles to get jammed or broken. My bag had 2 wheels and the pull handle jammed making it almost impossible to move, especially when I had another bag, laptop case and purse to juggle as well. Having 4 wheels means the suitcase will roll even without the pull handle working, so hopefully that absolute catastrophe won’t happen again.

So have you ever taught a class before? One of the biggest challenges for me is making a clear progression through material. Believe me – I have a LOT to say about free motion quilting!

 I’ve found the easiest way to make it through a large amount of material is to teach it out of a book. I teach my beginner class out of the book Free Motion Quilting From Feathers to Flames and we focus a bit at the end of class on feather designs in particular.

This keeps me on track and moving steadily through each chapter of designs and covering extra content – like how to use designs in real quilts, how to quilt quickly, and understanding how much quilting a quilt actually needs (not that much these days).

I do love teaching in person, though it’s still not the sole focus of my business. I like being home too much to get on the road full time, but I’m definitely keeping my eyes and ears open for bigger shows and festivals that sound like fun to attend. My next stop? MQX East! Click Here to read about it!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day