Quilt class dilemma

Not only YES, but HELL YES!

Joan

I would send the note to the organizer. You appear to have been the victim of fraud, whether intended or not.

Difficult situation, Alice; but my feeling is that the students of the class were the only ones who lost out here. Presumably you also had to pay for the ticket to the show? So, I really do think you must send something.

On the other hand, if the instructor was *not* sent a copy of the class description to check, then it is entirely the responsibility of the organiser, if what she sent to the organiser was not what was 'printed'.

I think it might also be helpful to both parties to say that, although the class was enjoyable and you learnt what you needed to, it did not need as much time as was allocated.

Hope that helps a bit? . In message , AliceW writes

Send your feedback mentioning everything you liked and didn't like about the class. Emphasize your disappointment with not knowing about the required class kit. Keep it factual and unemotional.

Mancuso Brothers put on a great show and do a lot of things right. I've been impressed with their organization and troubleshooting and kindness. However, this problem of the class descriptions not accurately describing the classes, what's needed, and what can be expected, is not a new thing or unique to your experience. It's a place where they keep screwing up. (I don't know if other big shows manage this better.) I don't know if it's the teacher's fault or not, but I do know that Mancuso can't solve the problem if they don't know about, and if they solve it the wrong way (by firing a blameless teacher), that's their fault, not the teacher's.

Some students have taken to bypassing the website and emailing the teachers directly. Then the teachers complain about having to send email individually to the students to answer questions that they thought they'd made plain the first time. It's a big problem.

--Lia

Send it Alice. Shame on them. Taria

I did keep the feedback email factual and on point. I was just concerned about the potential impact on the instructor. Knowing now that the organizer has had past problems with classes just corroborates my intention to not take classes unless I can confirm the class requirements. Emailing the instructor is a good idea.

I think their is errors on both sides here, the instructor is definitely responsible for proof reading, it's only them who knows what it should say, so it's only them that can do it. On the other hand, whether you pay for a kit or not is a basic, like time and date that the organisers should check is correct. To you, the show organisers are the shop front, they are who you should complain to and how they fight that out with the instructor isn't a concern of yours.

Cheers Anne

Was the email the instructor referred to the only one? Did she perhaps send the information twice, one with class description and one with the added caveat about the kit? If so, the first may have been received and not the second one. And, you have no idea if the email/s sent by instructor got to the proper parties.

Yes, the instructor should have been given a copy to proof before the printing. If not, it falls to the organizer's responsibility for errors/ommissions.

My vote is to send the complaint to the show people and copy to the instructor. And you might mention that you have a network of international quilters who have now heard about this problem, and that the old adage of catching more flies with honey than vinegar definitely applies here.

JMNSHO Ginger in CA

Unrelated to the coplaints about the class-- Could you tell us who the instructor was? I've never heard of needlepunch and am interested in learning about it and seeing an example.

--Lia

Send it. If I read that "Everything else is supplied", I assume that it is included in the fee I have already paid. If I have to pay for supplies, I expect to see the cost of the supplied materials. I would expect that, in general, the supplied materials do not include reusable equipment, such as your special needle. It seems to me that that should have been included in the supply list with a note that it will be available from the instructor for a specified price, because some people may already have it, as you did.

Julia in MN

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AliceW wrote:

This site might help you see:

I was thinking about this topic in another direction (while sewing down a binding). This has nothing to do whatsoever with the original discussion, but does bring up another issue/dilemma.

I teach needlepoint. While we sell the equipment in the store, we don't require that students use our recommended needle or hoop. And in just about every class, someone shows up with some odd-ball needle or antique wooden embroidery hoop that absolutely ruins the learning experience for them.

Perhaps we should ask them what equipment they plan to use during the class and make some recommendations. Don't want to scare anyone off, but good tools sure do help!

joan p.s. And don't even get me started on people who bring lousy sewing machines (or machines they've never used ) to sewing classes! :>

Thanks. I also took a more careful look at the Mancuso site and found Mary Pierson that way.

--Lia

Here are some additional helpful sites:

Good point here, Joan. If I had never done 'needlepoint', I might well not realise that there was a difference between a large-eyed needle - such as a darning needle

- and a blunt tapestry needle. Gosh, if I'd had to learn needlepoint with a pointed needle I'd have thrown in the towel years ago! Something should be said about tools, with the proviso that they can be supplied at a cost. . In message , joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska writes

Alice: Send the email to both the Mancuso organization AND to the instructor. I just reviewed the class description. The students were mislead, though that may have been a clerical mistake; regardless of the intentions, they bore the brunt of the mistake.

I'd like to point out that the class descriptions were posted far in advance of the event. The instructors can and SHOULD review the on-line and the printed descriptions as soon as published! That little step to review would have 'caught' the error. Did anyone think to remind her of that, or were you all too surprised and upset? So, IMO, some blame does lie with the instructor. She should have at least discounted the supply fee.

Pat in Virginia

I don't envy the issues you must encounter as a teacher. I don't mind buying the appropriate equipment especially if it makes me do better at [insert craft activity here] and saves me from buying tools that won't work and just end up being a waste of money.

I mostly attend quilt classes and have been in more than one where a student hadn't even bought the fabric yet (which should have been pre-cut for class) or didn't know how to use a rotary cutter. I give them a lot of credit for taking the class but it really takes away from an even distribution of the teacher's time with each student. Teacher's are angels, IMO!

I don't know what the entire trail of emails were between the instructor and the organizer but that seems to be the major form of communication since the instructor basically lives in a motor home and travels from show to show. The ball definitely got dropped somewhere along the line. Mary did a nice job with the instruction and I was pleased with my completed hands on project at the end of the day. She is a very "colorful" instructor and did answer every question completely and made sure that everyone understood each step as it was explained. The issue certainly cast a strained shadow over the class, however.

Thanks. I think I like the texture more than the patterns. I'd want to add the technique to quilts and wallhangings.

--Lia