Classes Anyone?

A quick reminder before I focus on the real purpose of this post. If you're participating in the potholder swap, this is the week to send out those potholders.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking to the Austin chapter of the American Sewing Guild. While I don't have any pictures of the actual talk, I did put together a flickr set exclusively for this talk. It seemed like the most streamlined way of organizing the images I wanted to use to illustrate my talk. If you're interested in viewing those image, you can check out that set here. Since the text is not included, you'll just have to imagine what I said and, if you do, make me funny, please.
One of the perks of speaking to this group was getting to meet a bunch of enthusiastic crafters. One of the women, Ann Randall, owns a local sewing establishment, The Stitching Studio. Here she teaches classes,organizes folks for various charity crafting projects, and runs a crafting thrift store where you can find fabric, patterns, yarn, and other supplies, all of which are donated to this non-profit organization. Ann suggested that if I was interested in teaching classes, she has a wonderful space for rent, complete with tables, cutting stations, design wall, and sewing machines for rent. I've been thinking about teaching lately, so I went out to see her space. People, it's terrific. She does indeed have large tables complete with power strips for plugging in machines, several ironing and cutting tables, measuring tools galore and plenty of space for 10-15 sewers to work comfortably. She even has a refrigerator stocked with beverages and sweets available to'm parched and sugar deficient sewers.



Having seen the space I'm very excited about teaching some summer classes. I'm thinking about a series of sewing classes where you can take one or all of the series. Each 3-hour class would teach a single project from start to finish. You probably won't walk out of the class with a completed project, but you'll have all the knowledge and a good head start. I've got a few ideas about how to structure the series. One of my ideas is a series that focuses on crafting various kitchen items. I've made potholders(to quote my teenage daughters, "Obvy!" Apparently, my girls can't be bothered to say the word "obviously" in its entirety), tablecloths, napkin rings, and placemats. Another possibility is a series that teaches some of the patterns I've designed for Stitch magazine like this and this and this. A third idea would focus on quilts. It's not as fully fleshed out as the other two.
Here's where I need your help. I need input. Tell me what you think and what you'd like to see offered. Obviously these classes are most readily available to folks who live nearby, but that doesn't mean that those who couldn't attend don't have valuable opinions to offer. So, I'm asking. What do you think?