Empty Spools 2022 – Teaching

Two posts this week, the other one is here.

It. Was. Magic.

I was already contracted for Empty Spools 2023 when Suzanne Cox asked me to teach as a replacement for Cindy Needham who was unable to teach this year. It was late in the game and I scrambled to get ready. Teaching at Empty Spools was a Beyond Bucket List event for me. ES is an iconic bastion of the quilting seminar world, a 37 year-old tradition now owned by Suzanne Cox and Gayle Wells. The standards are high and there are many students who have attended for years and they keep that bar high. I was honored to be on the same faculty as world-renowned teachers. The stakes were high.

I am pleased to say that I actually remembered to take everything that I needed! My first day was hectic as I was trying to put half of my sewing studio into a new space. The way the days at Empty Spools are structured is that class time is 9 AM – 4PM, lunch at noon. Dinner is at 6 and on all but one day, there is an evening program with show and tell and teacher introductions.

The teacher had fun too! Wed night had no late program so most of us met for dinner.

We had fun exploring Katie Pasquini Masopust’s classroom after dinner.

There’s always a shy, reserved one in the bunch:

I fell in love with Kathy Doughty’s work. OMG, do I need to learn to applique?

My students were a gift! Each one was prepared, attentive, enthusiastic and delightful. The class was cohesive and the synergy was amazing. I truly loved every minute. I wrote each of my students ahead of time so that I knew what they wanted out of the class, what they wanted to work on, their experience level, preferences and more. So I knew a lot about them before we met. That’s how I roll, I want to be well prepared to meet each student’s needs. With 10 students there was time to focus on their specific needs.

I love to see what kind of gizmos everyone brings:

The experience level ran the gamut from exhibiting at Paducah to brand spankin’ newbie free motion quilter. I had four self described beginners plus some with a good deal of experience, so that did challenge my teaching skills. It all worked out! There was a lot of talent in the room from the get-go:

Apparently, this is a thing at Empty Spools – outsiders trying to get into the class and pose as students:

I started out each morning and afternoon with either a lecture, trunk show, demo or question and answer session. I worked hard to plan a variety of subject matter from ruler work to discussions on imperfection/perfection, showing your work, handling a big quilt in a domestic machine, fear of “ruining” your quilt and a lot more. We covered a LOT in our time together.

I am so. proud of my students and what they created and learned. They worked hard, had fun and got a lot done. This is just a sampling of their work; I believe each of these samples is a first-time experience for each student. First time featherers!

First time on these motifs!

Work of brand new free motion quilters!

Students with some experience:

It was a huge challenge for me to work with such a diverse group; diverse in terms of experience, goals and preferred genre. Fortunately everyone was so excited to be there, ready to embrace free motion quilting and equipped with a delightful attitude. It filled my soul. We were a team.

It hurt my heart a little bit to leave. I felt like I did as a little girl at summer camp. I had met kindred souls, eager to learn. We all made great strides in our time together.

I’ll be teaching at Empty Spools again and I think I’ll be leading “Independent Study – Free Motion Quilting”. And I can’t wait!

I’ll be posting at:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday.