For 23 years The Professional Quilter has recognized outstanding quilt teachers with our Teacher of the Year award. This year’s recipient is Margie Engel from Satellite Beach, Fla. One of our goals as quilters is to see that young people are introduced to quilting, and Margie created a program just to do that. Here’s a portion of our interview with Margie:

What standards of workmanship do you require of your students and what do you do if they don’t attain them?
I believe standards of workmanship are to be encouraged rather than required; each individual needs to establish her own personal level of quality acceptance and expectations. Along this line, not all students see workmanship quality in the beginning so they also need to be taught to see the differences. To do this, at the outset of a class, I show them variations of quality and explain that I will show them how to accomplish their best, but they have to decide just how precise they want to be. Since we quilt for enjoyment, some students prefer not to worry about exactness; others definitely enjoy seeing just how fine their best is. When working one-on-one in the class, I point out places that need better work, but I “sandwich” this between compliments on what they are doing well. I also make suggestions with a “have you considered…?” comment to help the student look at her work and the possibilities for improvement. Improving one’s quality is part of the learning process.

How do you encourage creativity in your students?
Creativity is encouraged first by an atmosphere of freedom and relaxation; then it increases as students observe a variety of samples. I offer project options at the outset and encourage students to rely on their intuition and ideas. To get them thinking, I always show various ideas and uses of color, then suggest that they continually ask the “what if” question: What if I change this? Move that? Alter this shape, line or color, etc.? I take flannel-backed tablecloths with me and a small design board that I use on a tripod to encourage visual answers to our “what ifs.” I also use a projector to show variations of projects, especially color changes, as a springboard into classes. My class topics vary from appliqué to design to mixed technique quilts to quilting. All of those topics are conducive to having students add their own touches and experiment in any way they choose.

Creativity is the underlying topic in one semi-regular class titled “Quilters’ Workshop.” (The title grew out of the desire to foster experimentation.) Recently, I tossed in a “secret” workshop, telling the students only to bring scissors and pins as tools. They learned to create landscapes, realistic or abstract, looking first at pictures, then turning to pencil and blank sheet of paper. The creativity sprang from seeing the samples and waking up the images in our brains – had I handed them a blank sheet of paper at the outset, the response would have been less positive.

What do you feel is your greatest contribution to the field of quilting?
Oh my goodness, my greatest contribution to the field of quilting? A sharing attitude. Enthusiasm and passion are meant be shared, both in professional, paid teaching venues and in volunteer efforts. I think that EduQuilters and the kids’ program is the best example. In 2000, I began The Kids Quilt Project in the local schools and enlisted and taught volunteers to teach kids. We provide everything needed from fabrics to sewing machines, so I secure grant funding and sponsor support for this. The school quilts are group projects, and the quilts are given to local children’s charities, thereby teaching the children to look beyond themselves. Hundreds of students are involved in KQP. We also hold summer camps in which each camper makes a personal quilt. Because many campers return each year, I have to keep increasing the numbers of groups (set by level of a student’s experience) and the number of options. Student interaction is greater now that we have the new student guild.

Teaching the next generation of quilters not only gives the students new interests and increased self-esteem; it also highlights quilting in the community and supports and contributes to the continuity of our quilting world.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Creativity, Teaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.