I took an online course last week

Tips and Techniques
Written By Linda Pearl
 
I always want to show my work - I need to come back to this.

I always want to show my work - I need to come back to this.

For most of 2020, my experiences with zoom and online events had been mostly with me as the person in front of the camera. This past Saturday, I had the chance to take a class as part of a guild event, and it was a lot of fun to be the consumer for once. My guild has brought in a number of teachers for their membership this year, all via zoom, and this class, in Threadpainting was one I had been looking forward to a lot. I don’t have a lot of photos from the class itself because my phone died the night before (as in I had to order a new one), and from a technology standpoint, I had to use the tablet (plan B) to connect to the Zoom. That was the only glitch to the day.

Threadpainting is something that I had taken a class long ago in, and it’s been a skill that I had been wanting to revisit for a while. Nina Clotfeltter was our instructor, and she was a great teacher. I would take another class from her in an heartbeat - she was encouraging, very well prepared, great preparation (I’ll get to that in a moment) and it’s obvious that she loves what she teaches.

Everyone got a care package from the teacher in advance

Everyone got a care package from the teacher in advance

There are a lot of classes where class supply lists can be sent to students electronically, and in many cases, that makes a lot of sense. Because of the way that Nina set this class up, that wasn’t possible - because each student received a physical package from her. The biggest reason was the fabric we would use in class…she wanted each of us to have the same piece, so she sent it to us - along with thread, the correct needle for the class, chocolate (!!), and a very handy reference guide from Schmetz which explains the difference between needles types. I keep Nina’s with my sewing machine needles for easy reference.

There’s a lot of information in this booklet

There’s a lot of information in this booklet

The sample fabric that she sent (well suited to this class) is the thumbnail at the top of this blogpost, and the goal is was to practice your stitches and play with your threads. I didn’t need to be told twice. This is something I’ll be working on going forward. It was really nice to be a student for this, and I look forward to doing it again soon.

A big benefit to taking a zoom class is that you have your entire room with you - no need to pack! And in prepping for this class, I found yet another UFO to work on…

I found this stuffed in a box - this is something I can now finish (that’s water soluble stabilizer).

I found this stuffed in a box - this is something I can now finish (that’s water soluble stabilizer).

Have you taken an online course since the pandemic started? What did you like? What didn’t you? Please leave a comment below…

Linda Pearl
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