I just love taking as many quilting classes as I can. And when I can watch them over and over again, that’s like icing on the cake! I just finished watching Cindy Needham’s Design It, Quilt It: Free-Form Techniques on Craftsy and let me tell you, it was time well spent!
The entire class is composed of 11 lessons about 1/2 hour in length (give or take a few minutes). I like this format because I can watch one section at a time here and there when I have a few spare moments.
In addition to giving tons of machine quilting tips and explaining many tools of the trade, Cindy’s class includes an excellent basting tutorial, too. Here’s one of my recent quilts that I basted, after watching this segment of her class:
In Design It, Quilt It, Cindy covers such basics as threads and tension, plus many excellent techniques and tools. She’s really good at trouble-shooting so you can get the most out of your sewing machine.
Cindy focuses a lot on designing your own quilting motifs by combining stencils and other ideas. She distils her designs down to three basic shapes which are repetitive lines, circles and S curves. Plus she has an entire section of the class devoted to feathers and another covering backgrounds or “filler” quilting.
She also includes some wonderful instruction on making borders fit. Cindy does a great job of covering all the basics, and I walked away really feeling like I had the keys to machine quilting success.
Cindy also does an excellent job of answering my questions whenever I have them. Each Craftsy class has a forum where you can post questions and read questions and answers posted by other students, too. Plus, you can strut your stuff and upload pictures of your work for others too see and comment on.
I just found out Cindy will be coming to my local quilting guild to teach a series of classes later this year and I can’t wait! She’s one of my machine quilting heroes because she encourages others to try it and quilt it themselves. I agree with her – it’s not that hard once you try. 🙂
Christa Quilts 
I love Cindy. When is she coming to LV and can outsiders join in? Maybe I could convince Melissa she really needs to see and hear Cindy. Mom Corry
How does this basted quilt differ from your usual way of basting?
maannie, she shows you how you can baste a quilt with one table for one, but the important difference is pin first then how to stitch in the ditch and baste across your quilt into the border. Half the quilt is basted in one direction and then in the opposite direction both vertical and horizontal. Also very important to SITD in every seam. This keeps your quilt from getting any puckers or wavy areas. It truly is a class worth taking and to have to war h over and over. She is also great answering questions and giving suggestions for quilting designs on your quilt. She also loves to do whole cloth quilts and shows us how to do that too. I can’t say enough!
Pam
She uses one table, while I use two and she finds a midpoint or center for her quilt to begin with – I start on a side. But other than that, it’s the same.
Christa, I couldn’t agree with you more about Cindy Needham and her class, Design it it Quilt it. I’ve taken this class and she has so much information, illustrations and ideas that its inspiring. She is also my quilting Hero and I’m so glad ill be able to meet her at the Maine Quilt show July 25-27th and take a class. So excited about that!!
Cindy is amazing.
Christa…..that for the feedback on the Craftsy classes. After reading your blog I have enrolled in a few as well. thanks for sharing………Marie