Quilting is a beautiful form of art, but it can be daunting to try to learn how to quilt on your own and teach yourself the necessary skills.
An excellent option for many individuals, especially in these times of social distancing and lockdowns, is online quilting classes for beginners.
Also, not everyone can afford personal quilting lessons.
Online quilting classes are generally much less expensive than in-person courses.
Many of these online programs have videos and tutorials that you can watch an unlimited number of times.
And you’ll have access to all the content, literally, forever. That’s a huge bonus!
What To Look for in Online Quilting Classes
So you’ve decided you want to learn how to quilt, and that is awesome. But where to begin? Or, is there a specific skill you want to learn to improve your quilt-making abilities, but you’re not quite sure where to find the necessary information?
When trying to decide which classes are best for you, there are several key factors to consider:
- Cost: What can you afford?
- Skill level: Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced quilter?
- Duration of the class: How much time do you have to devote to learning?
- Content access: Can you still access the materials after the class is over?
- Downloadable patterns or materials: Can you easily keep these for later use?
- Teacher access: Will you have the ability to ask the teacher questions?
Taking the step to put your time and money into an online quilting course is a big deal, and I hope this information will help you figure out which class is best for you and your goals.
Reviews of the 8 Best Online Quilting Classes
iquilt Beginning Quilting
This website is full of different quilting classes for a variety of skill levels and quilting styles. iquilt.com was started by The American Quilter’s Society to share their love of quilting and offer accessible classes online for everyone to learn who wants to learn from award-winning quilters.
Pricing ranges from $20-$35 per class, but they also have a yearly membership you can purchase for $25. When you become a member, you can save 20% off each class. They also state that they add several classes per month, so that membership is well worth it if you want to learn continually.
Benefits:
- For many of the courses, you can ask the instructor questions.
- 20% discount if you become a member.
- Once you purchase the course, you own it—no expiration date.
- The courses are divided into several different lessons.
Cost of Class: Ranges between $20-$35
Missouri Star Academy
The Missouri Star Academy is an extension of the Missouri Star Quilt Company and offers both paid and free courses via their YouTube channel.
This site is an excellent option for beginner-friendly courses. Coupled with their free tutorials on YouTube, you can learn a lot from them without worrying about draining your wallet.
Their tutorials are easy to follow, and many of their paid courses come with free quilt patterns to implement the skills you learn in the course.
Benefits:
- Reasonable prices.
- Free tutorials available via YouTube.
- Confidence knowing Missouri Star Quilt Company is a reputable company.
- Once you purchase the course, you own it—no expiration date.
- Variety of different skills to learn at different skill levels.
Cost of Class: Free (YouTube tutorials) or $15-$20 paid courses
Annie’s Creative Studio
Annie’s Creative Studio is a monthly subscription program with over 1,400 classes covering quilting, knitting, crocheting, and other creative skills. Think Netflix, but it’s all crafty goodness!
It has a wide variety of different quilting technique classes for you to choose from, ranging from Crazy Quilting for Beginners to Color Theory for Quilters and everywhere in between.
This program is an excellent option for those who like to dabble in several different crafty arenas.
Benefits:
- Adds videos weekly.
- Monthly subscribers will get free patterns with the lesson they watch.
- You can purchase the courses instead of having a monthly subscription. Most classes are $15.
- It allows you to preview a course for free before you purchase.
- Once you purchase the course, you own it — no expiration date. You do need to access it via the website. You are not able to download the course.
- If you purchase a specific course, you can ask the instructor questions directly. Monthly subscribers do not have this ability.
- You can watch the lessons as many times as you want, whether you purchase them or have a monthly subscription.
Cost of Class: Monthly subscription is $7.99, or if you choose to purchase a course, most are $14.99.
Learn How To Quilt
If you don’t have the extra money to pay for classes, learnhowtoquilt.com is a great option for you. They have informational videos and tutorials for beginners that are entirely free to watch.
They also provide free patterns, which are extremely helpful, especially if you are just learning how to sew a quilt, and you wish to dip your toes into quilting. Go to their “Beginner Basics” tab and learn all the basic skills and terminology you will need to begin quilting.
Benefits to this site:
- Beginner-friendly.
- Easy to follow instructions.
- Everything is free, from the videos to the patterns.
- Teaches the basics.
Cost of Class: Free
Academy of Quilting
The Academy of Quilting is a unique site that offers two different types of courses. They have their “On Demand” classes you can purchase and access right (away as soon as you create an account and buy the course).
There is a questions and answers section at the end of each lesson in this class format.
The second format is “Scheduled” classes with a specific start date (just like a regular academy or school) and a forum that the class instructor manages. You can share photos of your progress and see your “classmates” photos as well.
This program is an interactive course and can be a great way to make some quilty friends along the way! Classes will take between 4 to 10 weeks to complete.
Benefits:
- Wide variety of courses.
- Beginner through advanced courses available.
- Interaction with the instructor and other students.
- Two different class formats.
- Professional site and faculty.
Cost of Class: range between $28-$73
Craftsy
Craftsy.com is another subscription-based site, though they do have a few free classes you can get. This is also another site with a wide variety of different crafts you can choose from.
So if you also like to bake, knit, or paint, this could be an excellent option for you to get the best bang for your buck.
Benefits:
- Hundreds of quilting classes and tutorials.
- You can either opt for the subscription or purchase the course a la carte.
- Beginner through advanced courses available.
- They have experts available to answer any questions you may have.
Cost of Class: A few free courses. Subscription is $7.99 per month or $79 per year. Or classes a la carte range from $5-$70.
Quilting Daily
Quilting Daily has a fantastic selection of quilting classes, big and small. They not only have their online education, but they also have several quilt-related magazines that you can subscribe to on their site.
They pride themselves as quilt experts and work with some of the big names in the quilting industry. Their workshops are incredibly detailed and worth the money and time you will invest in them.
Benefits:
- Experts in their field.
- Beginners through advanced skill levels.
- Free patterns available.
- Once you purchase the course, you own it — no expiration date.
- Hundreds of workshops, classes, and lessons to choose from.
Cost of Class: Range from $3.99-$605
Creativebug
Like Annie’s Creative Studio and Craftsy, this site is subscription-based. Paper crafting and baking are some other popular crafts they offer on this site.
There are around 100 quilting classes to choose from, and they range from 7 minutes to several hours each. A great feature of this site is that they offer free patterns and downloadable templates with their subscriptions. They are also releasing new classes every day, so you are sure to find new material each time you check in.
Benefits:
- Variety of class lengths.
- Free patterns and templates.
- Access to forums and community galleries.
- With their Unlimited Plus subscription, you can keep one class a month forever and get exclusive discounts to Joann.
Cost of Class: Unlimited Subscription is $7.95 a month. Unlimited Plus is either $9.95 a month of $95.40 a year.
More Related Articles:
How To Make a Baby Clothes Quilt: A Step-By-Step Tutorial
9 Beautiful Types of Quilts Every Quilter Should Try
A Beginner’s Guide To Binding a Quilt
Our Pick for the Best Online Quilting Class
These are eight excellent choices for finding the perfect quilting class for your needs. The wide variety of skill levels that most of these sites offer means you can keep coming back as you progress in your quilting journey.
Our top pick here at Quiltdom is Academy of Quilting. The amount of student support they offer is above and beyond what most would expect from a quilting class. The classes are also decently priced, and the option between their “On Demand” and “Scheduled” courses set them apart.
With an art form like quilting, the possibilities are truly endless. I know every quilter is continuously learning, even the extremely advanced quilters teaching some of these courses. That’s the great thing about quilting; you can always learn something new!
About the author: Miriam Ronne is a lover of all things quilting and sewing. She is a self-taught quilter and is constantly learning and broadening her skill set to create one-of-a-kind quilts! When she’s not behind her sewing machine you can find her playing with her fur babies or trying her hand at other crafty things.