Pensacola: Improv Beautiful Quilts

This past week found us (Richard and me) on the road more than our bodies can handle gracefully. First, we spent three days in Pensacola where I gave two lectures and a full-day workshop. I’m generally not a nervous speaker, but this new medicine has a side-effect that makes me appear nervous, dry mouth. It’s a little more difficult to speak when your tongue is sticking to the roof of your mouth. Thankfully, my host, Cena, anticipated my every need and had a huge glass of iced water waiting. I tried to avoid holding that glass, but it didn’t take long to embrace it and move on.

The best part was teaching. I so love teaching! We started out with a few ground rules to keep everyone on the same page. Some people do not follow rules. Since I’m one of those people, I rarely fuss with them. I do, however, go through the whole act again. And explain why they need to do things this way. Regardless, everyone ended up understanding and capable of finishing their works at home,

I joked with one group of ladies who had all fallen behind. When one of them asked if they were doing things right, I said yes. Then, she asked why am I so far behind? My response was a question: Are you sitting near friends? Of course, the whole group burst into laughter and admitted that they were the problems.

Just as I had some rule-breakers, I had a couple of rule-workers. They got down to business and finished their small projects in class. Of course!

I learned a few things from this class, however, despite having taught it several times already. Firstly, be specific about the rules and explain why. Secondly, teach only a little at a time. Sometimes, when people try to get ahead of the class, they make time-consuming mistakes. (I’ve learned this the hard way.) Thirdly, be brave and tell people to get to work. They aren’t high-school freshmen, although they occasionally act the part. Push the slow ones, slow down the fast ones, and I won’t have 15 students at different stages. Now, the trick is to remember this in November when I teach the stained-glass workshop again.

The rest of the week meant spending precious little time with my niece and her parents. They were here because the parents’ house flooded when we got a horrible storm. They got 24 inches of rain overnight.

Then we drove like maniacs to Slidell to the GSQA Quilt Show where I had five quilts hanging. But that is a separate post because I have to process photos and think about the day.

And now to close. Have you noticed the online classes I’ve added to the website? While making the lace fabric, I made several bookmarks which are also in the shop. You can find them here.