Live online teaching: I like it, I like it!

Free motion quilters from the Camarillo Quilters Association joined me yesterday for six hours of Fearless Free Motion Fills and Frills and it was a blast!

This was my first six-hours-in-one-day workshop and I was honestly worried about how that would go. Remember Mikey in the Life cereal commercial?

I feel like Mikey, he liked it, I liked it! I am so relieved and encouraged that I truly enjoyed the experience and I think my students did too. There is a different skill set to develop to engage students online and I continue to develop that new skill. Of course, I had some glitches, but I was thrilled that there were no internet issues for any of us. I worked long and hard to get my transitions from station-to-station smooth, and for the most part they were.

I was glad I pre-recorded videos of my quilting. They were well-lighted, with good sound, and it was easy to smoothly transition to each. I tried to do them live during my last workshop and it was difficult to make that transition smoothly.

Now that I have gotten past some of the tech barriers, I look back and think, well that wasn’t so bad! If I had just known at the beginning what equipment to buy and how to set it up, this would not have been that big of a deal. This reminds me of how it feels to try a new recipe. The first time through it seems complicated and a hassle. The second time through I look back and think that was a breeze!

Would you like an amusing peek behind-the-scenes to see how the magic happens?

It is not a smooth process! But it was fun and there are so many more opportunities for me also to learn from teachers that I never would have been able to take live. And as an instructor I feel that in some ways, live online was even better than live. I’m a convert!

WHOOP! I’ll be teaching MORE live online free motion quilting classes:

I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaching this same class on RaNae Merrill’s platform, Live Online Quilt Classes in two 3-hour sessions, on Tuesdays Sept 29 and Oct 6! You can find out more and sign-up for my Fearless Free Motion Fills and Frills class here. This is a great platform and set-up. RaNae provides a trained professional Moderator for each class and trains instructors on best-practices for online teaching. She also limits class sizes for the best possible student experience. I’m excited to be a part of this type of live online teaching. I’ll be offering more classes soon so stay tuned!

Craft Napa Uncorked opens for registration this Tuesday, Sept 15th!!

Yes, Craft Napa is virtual this year and registration opens on Tuesday. Last year many workshops filled right away so you’ll want to scan the offerings for this year and be ready to register. Pokey Bolton has put together a Dream Team of teachers and I will be taking classes too!

I’ll be offering Doodle Quilting:

We’ll have 6 hours of free motion fun! If you want to add some color you can do that too. We’ll be working together to create several small “doodles” that will release your free motion creativity! Newer free motion quilters are welcomed and all will learn how to quilt and combine a variety of designs. It’s fun and whimsical and you’ll take away a new inventory of designs to put on your own quilts. I hope you’ll join me!

And a new bonus this year, If you register for 3 or more Craft Napa workshops, you will receive a Craft Napa Box with swag, in addition to your class kits (where applicable) and it will be sent to you directly before the retreat.

In other news, I’m sure you are aware, California and Oregon are on fire. Yes, this happens every year, but this year is record-breaking in spades. Yesterday northern California experienced its worst ever level of air quality. It was bad.

That unnatural Gatorade color is NOT a glorious sunset. Our patio furniture was covered in ash. My headlights automatically came on during the day, all day long.

Let me be clear though, we are not directly threatened by the fires. We live about 100 miles east of San Francisco (“the Bay”), and their air quality is even worse and has been for over a week. The state of California has closed down all the national parks to preserve public safety.

The scene is other-worldly, apocalyptic even. It is greatly affecting indoor air quality also. Many in the Bay do not have air conditioning and have to choose between letting that air into their living space or being cooped up without a/c in 100+ degree heat. It’s bad. I pray for protection for all those in the line of the fires.

I will link up to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday and I always find good links there.