“Help! My walking foot is dropping little marks on my work” I posted in the UK Quilters United FaceBook group “You probably bought a cheap foot” came the sharp reply from one of our trusted experts. Well! I was well and truly flabbergasted and mightily embarrassed (hangs head in shame). But… she was absolutely right as I had bought an inexpensive model online because I didn’t want to invest over £90 on the Bernina brand accessory. A good lesson learned.
All the time in the UKQU FaceBook group people ask for help on threads, batting, sewing machine problems, colour combinations and techniques and a host of responses are always forthcoming including from experts in the field. Even in the UKQU Social group members ask for help and we learn from other people’s experiences; not all of these are quilting related of course but never-the-less we are picking up helpful information – and if we don’t want to know the effects of the flu jab, menopause or how to deal with cats hairs we can simply move on to the next interesting topic that does grab our attention.
Many times I hear people say that they can’t find a course or a workshop they want in their area. When an online equivalent is suggested invariably people howl that they want to physically go to a class! This is Bee in my Bonnet number 1. These are the same people who will search the internet for information, read blogs, trawl through YouTube, scroll through Pinterest and ask questions on FaceBook to find the help they need (is that you by any chance?). The majority of you are tech savvy and able to find your way around the computer and internet. Yes, meeting up with other people, and a teacher, is fabulous but not always possible or practical. Even if some of us are retired we still have a lot of commitments and calls on our time and if you are gainfully employed in work your spare time has to be used for all sorts of home, family and friend ‘things’. There is also the amount of stuff you need to pack up and the cost of transporting to a venue.
An online course has lots of plus points. You can do it generally in your own time and at your own pace so you can join in at 3 am if you can’t sleep just as easily as in the day time. Not all courses use systems that take you logically through course materials on your own… many have closed FaceBook groups where you can meet other learners and share the successes of current topics and get support when things don’t go quite right. It is good to collaborate with fellow learners and a tutor online (so ask about this facility if you are considering an online course – it’s an important aspect for many).
I know some people have had bad online learning experiences but that also happens in face-to-face learning events. Research the tutor, ask questions about the online format, make sure the content is just what you want, work out how this will fit into your life and then give it a go. Online learning programmes can offer a great and rich experience!
Bee in my Bonnet number two. “I don’t use my Kindle – I like to feel real paper in my hands”. Well…. let’s leave that for another day!
Getting back to the start of this blog….. in the UK Quilters United Facebook family we are so lucky to have experts at hand in our daily quest for help. They give information, support and advice willingly, for free and without being asked to. I know I am very grateful every time one pops up in a theme week or regular post in the UKQU Continuing Development group to add words of wisdom. I hope some of our experts will read this and know they are appreciated by many of us.
Now tell me… How many of you thought this blog was going to be about Sun Bonnet Sue?
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