I’m working on prettying up an interview with Paula Reid that’s been in the works for a while. In the meantime I watched Paula’s Craftsy Class Start Machine Quilting with Paula Reid with the intent of giving it a review. You all know that I love Paula very much in part because she’s just a kind woman but in part because she took me under her wing at my very first national teaching gig and nurtured me along. I will be forever grateful for that.
About a 100 years ago Paula was a guest on a then popular quilting show. Her machine quilting episode is one I’d go back and watch now. Paula’s approach to machine quilting – essentially shoving a quilt into the machine, smoothing out around the needle (fluff and stuff) and stitching really spoke to me and influenced how I quilt and how I teach quilting.
Over the last few days I’ve watched her Craftsy class with great interest. As a teacher I’m looking for things I can pass onto my students. As a student I’m looking for tips and techniques I can bring into my own machine quilting. Start Machine Quilting has everything a beginner quilter needs to get started well and improve skill pretty quickly. One thing I like a lot is that Paula pin bastes the quilt and you get to see her method and why it works. One of the things she gets to do is start dealing with anything in the quilt that might be a little off during the basting process.
Paula shows how she deals with the bulk of a quilt, using her lap to carry the weight of the quilt as she gets started and then through the quilting process. This is one of the things that we all struggle with, particularly when we are new to machine quilting. The good thing about the Craftsy class is that you get to SEE how this is done. The camera work is fab.
One of the cooler things is Paula shows how she uses the walking foot (even feed foot) for doing the stitch in the ditch work. The walking foot is a tool every quilter needs and this falls into the note to self – get the walking foot for your machine. The coolest thing is the lesson on using stencils. This is worth the price of the class. Paula uses the stencils to add beautiful motifs to the quilt AND to figure out the stitching path as she is marking the quilt top.
The best thing about Paula’s class, it’s Paula. You get to see her and how she teaches. Paula is engaging and fun in real life and this comes across in the class. So here’s my honest opinion as a quilting teacher, if you get a chance – take this Craftsy class with Paula. You get the knowledge of a quilter who has years and over 1500 quilts of experience. That is priceless!
Happy Quilting!
Teri
I couldn’t agree more!! Paula’s class is one of the best I have seen. I would love to make a class from her personally. I started FMQ less than a year ago and have much to learn but I have a great start from watching her class.
I am loving this hop. Your post about the book is so sweet and reflects the nature of this hop.