Instructors in CCQ’s four classes meet regularly to share ideas about teaching in our prison quilting program. We also use email to communicate with each other. A recent email exchange focused on our goals for teaching.
One instructor zeroed in on the technical aspects of quilting:
- How to find the grain of the fabric
- The importance of pressing fabric
- How to accurately cut fabric
- How to sew a 1/4” seam
- How to press seams
- How to connect seams accurately
- How to measure and sew borders
- How to sandwich a quilt and baste it
- How to do simple machine quilting
- How to apply binding, matching the ends for a smooth finish
- How to do blind hand stitching on the back side of bindings
- And how to read and follow a pattern
Another instructor added some non-technical goals:
- The importance of finishing: sometimes it is just a block, then a row, and then an entire quilt
- The importance of learning from mistakes and persevering
- The importance of respecting each other and the instructors
- The importance of taking the time needed to do a good job
- The opportunity for creative expression