Student Orientation

Welcome to QuiltUniversity.com.  This page is a brief outline of what you need to know to learn new quilting skills at Quilt U.

During the past 7 years more than 20,000 students have taken over 50,000 classes at Quilt U.  Our classes cover traditional and contemporary quilt techniques, dyeing, surface embellishment and design.  Our 38 teachers come from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Kenya. 

Five to seven classes start each weekend from January until the end of October.  Classes have three main parts: the written lessons, a Discussion Forum for daily interaction with the teacher and a photo Gallery.  For a detailed description of each section, see How Classes Work.  Tuition for each class is listed both in the description on the Registration page and in the Catalog.

The Class Catalog is a list of all classes, grouped by subject, with a brief description of each class, number of lessons, tuition and tentative starting dates.  The schedule is updated twice a year.  Many classes are offered twice a year.  Basic classes are offered more often.  If a class is only offered once a year, it will be marked.  More detailed information about each class, including skill level and prerequisites, is also available.

The Road Map groups classes by subject and skill level.  This helps students find the next logical class as they move from beginner to advanced in any of the disciplines.  You make take any class in any order, unless a specific prerequisite is listed on the Registration page. 

The Registration page provides a detailed description of classes opening during the next 5 weeks.  It will tell you how many lessons are in the class, the tuition, whether it is a project or technique class, the skill level required. There will be a link to the Supply List.  You may pay by check in North America or use the Shopping Cart to pay by Visa or MasterCard. 

We offer a free sample class to introduce you to the Quilt University classroom experience.  This is a lecture class.  Unlike the majority of our classes, there are no step by step instructions.  

If you register in advance, an instruction email is sent two days before the class starts.  This includes your password.  If you register after passwords have been sent, the password email will arrive within 12 hours of your registration.

For students who wish to pay by credit card, registration remains open until the Monday after the class starts.  To allow for the delay caused by mail delivery, we close check registration the Tuesday prior to class.

You may use your password to access the lessons as often as you like, 24 hours a day.  We ask you to remember that you pay for the privilege of taking classes here, just as we pay our instructors to teach them.  Please do not share your password or print out the lessons to share with your friends or guild.

Quilt University classes:

Monthly Newsletter

In order to keep students informed of activities at Quilt U, we send a  monthly email newsletter which

You can receive the newsletter via email or read the newsletter on our site.  If you wish to subscribe, you may register here.

Important:  When you register for the newsletter or any class, please be sure that you have typed your email correctly.  If you have a spam filter, set it to accept mail from any address at QuiltUniversity.com.  Most white lists allow you to enter *@QuiltUniversity.com.

Class Sizes

Although there are no tables and chairs in Quilt U classrooms, our students tell us that too many conversations in the class Forum and too many photos in the Gallery can be overwhelming.  Therefore we have restricted the size of classes.  Whenever we close registration, we announce the date for an overflow session and when registration for that session will open.  We do not maintain a waiting list.

Tools and Supplies

Obviously, online learning takes more than a pencil, paper and a positive attitude.  There are some basic minimum requirements needed to access the information.  We will not be trying to dazzle you with our technical expertise, but we do want to make the best use of the available media.  If you are reading this, we know you have a computer and internet access. To see what else you should have, please look at our What You Need page.  

We have all gone to school and think we know about being students.  With distance learning, no one will take attendance.  More importantly, the teacher cannot see that puzzled look on your face.  If you do not understand part of your lesson, you have to ask the teacher. That is why we have a Discussion Forum in every class.  Using it will increase your enjoyment of the Quilt U experience.

In other words, instead of being a more passive environment, learning online needs to be a more active one. 

Exploring Our Web Site

The Campus Directory is located on our home page and will show you where everything is.  Here are some hints to great resources on our site.

The Library has sections for

Tip:  Click on the Quilt University logo from any page to return to our home page.

The Student Commons includes links to the

There is no live chat in our forums.  Our students come from all over the world.  The bulletin board format allows everyone to post and read messages when it is convenient for them.  The Student Lounge messages are shown with the most recent threads on top.  In classroom forums, the threads are chronological to match the order of the lessons.

The main Gallery page has hundreds of pictures of projects completed by our students.  They are arranged by teacher and course.

If you cannot find what you need, try the Search box on the upper right of the main page.  To search only the page you are on, use Find in your browser.

More questions?  Email dean@quiltuniversity.com

Questions about our site?  Contact us at .

  Quilt University.  All Rights Reserved.  Class content is copyrighted by the respective teachers.  Students may not teach these classes or make copies of the material for others.  All other content is the property of QuiltUniversity.com.  Participating students may reproduce class materials ONLY for their personal, non-commercial use.