Opening the door to the Craftsy studio kind of reminded me of Charlie Bucket getting to peak inside Willy Wonka’s factory for the first time. And yes – there was chocolate!!!

Last week I filmed a Craftsy class! It’s been on my bucket list for awhile, and many of you wonderful readers have been asking me to do one now for over 2 years. The stars finally aligned this year for it to happen. Craftsy first approached me at Spring Quilt Market but I was right in the middle of some crazy deadlines, so I told them I wouldn’t be available until the fall. (Can you just imagine how scary that is when someone asks you to do something big and you have to say “I’d love to – but not right now!!”) My class will launch in early January, and I’ll tell you all about it then. But for now, here’s a little recap of how last week went:

I have a thing for old red-brick buildings!!! This is a view of downtown Denver, (not Craftsy HQ!)

I arrived to Craftsy Headquarters in Denver, Colorado last week and couldn’t help but admire the architecture of this amazing city. When you live in a city known for imploding buildings when they get too old, seeing old brick buildings and interesting architecture is such a treat!

The day after my arrival, it was time to head straight to Craftsy studios which is housed in a one-story industrial complex that used to be a bustling taxi depot back in the day. Very cool. Day 1 consisted of meeting the crew, getting some publicity photos taken, and going over the lessons and agenda so we could begin filming the next day. As an added bonus, I got to participate in a couple of promo videos for the new year. Craftsy has some creative marketing on tap for next year, and it was fun to be a part of that!

Getting made-up by Danica. What a great way to start each day!

On Day 2, we began filming. I felt quite pampered getting my makeup done and my hair professionally styled each day. That’s something I could definitely get used to! The production crew at Craftsy are super smart – for first time instructors they film some of the lessons out of order so that we can get used to the whole process and not look nervous at the beginning of the video! I loved that I was able to use a teleprompter to help me stay on track whenever I needed it.  By the afternoon, I felt like I had hit my stride. 🙂

Using a teleprompter was such a luxury. But I tried not to rely on it too much!

On Day 3 we wrapped up the series of lessons. As we shot each scene, the producer would make notes and confer with the technical director so that they would know where to splice and dice any scenes that needed post production editing. The camera guy was pretty amazing, too. He knew what shots to get and used a series of 3 cameras so that we could get some really great closeups of my quilting.

The set was very comfortable even with cameras and lights everywhere.
I even got to quilt on a BERNINA – score!!

The whole process from start to finish was completed over a series of about 3 months from concept planning to the actual filming date. I worked with a content editor to flush out the idea, and the producer was able to help me plan how each concept I teach would show up best on camera. I have to say one thing for sure – it’s a whole lot faster and easier than writing a book, LOL!!

Sneak peek of one of the smaller samples I quilted live on camera.

Overall, it was a fabulous experience, and if the class does well, I’ll be invited back to film more of them in the future. My class is called The Quilter’s Path: Plan It, Stitch It,Quilt It! It basically explores the steps I take to machine quilt a “real” quilt on a home sewing machine while sharing some of my favorite quilting designs using both the walking foot and free motion techniques.

My fabulous production crew – they made me feel right at home!

So barring anything out of the ordinary happening between now and release day, it’s scheduled to launch in early January. I’ll keep you posted it gets closer. 🙂

For now, be sure to create a Craftsy account if you haven’t already so you’ll be ready to order once the class becomes available. I can’t wait to share it with you! And click here to check out their current holiday promotion using my affiliate link. They have some super deals happening now through Dec. 12th!