Now that I’ve taken a deep (metaphorical) breath after this year’s first Live Online Fabric Collage Class, I’ve launched into a new fabric collage piece. I’m very excited to get back to creating my own work again. And now that a first draft is in the works, I’ll be better able to come back to it in between this spring’s upcoming travel and teaching dates.
As Tom and I look ahead to the rest of the year, we’re considering when our next Live Online Class could be scheduled. We know that the 5-day Live Online Classes, first introduced a year ago, have successfully exceeded our expectations. We also know that these week-long, intensive, focused commitments of time and energy are not a viable option for everyone—among other reasons, it may just not fit into everyone’s schedule.
An alternative option for prospective students has been (and still is) Fabric Collage Coaching. Fabric Collage Coaching is one-on-one Zoom meetings with me to discuss, annotate, and give feedback on your fabric collage quilts. These hour-long consults are great for those who want to start, continue, and finish a project. But the very nature of individual coaching is just that—individual—without the camaraderie of working with others in a classroom situation (regardless of the friendly banter I try to provide). 😉
But what if there was another option? Something in the sweet spot between the commitment, intensity, and shared energy of others in a five-day class and the flexibility of time and the adaptability of needs and subject matter of one-on-one Fabric Collage Coaching?
How about Customized Coaching?
With the groundwork and experience of the last couple years in place, Tom and I are ready to throw something new into our online teaching mix—something that can work for absolute newbies all the way to experienced multi-class students. Something that meets you where you’re at—either experience-wise or location-wise, works with your schedule, your pace of working, and your energy level.
Customize Your Coaching
Tom and I have put our heads together and have combined the feeling of a classroom situation and the concentrated intensity of a coaching session. In other words, customizing your coaching by creating your own fabric collage class built around your schedule and with the option to choose your classmates.
An example: Four friends sharing four two-hour sessions scheduled weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly.
We’ve come up with some guidelines for such a coaching/class hybrid based on feed-back we’ve received from online class participants. Here’s some of their thoughts and how they’d relate to customized coaching:
1.) Would like to work with friends and share a small class experience.
We’ve found that a good small group size is four to six based on our experience with the Zoom breakout rooms. At least four participants create good energy—a fun back and forth of ideas, suggestions, and questions.
These sessions would be 2-3 hour blocks of time and we’re requiring a commitment of at least four 2-hour sessions. Tom and I team up to handle classes and coaching sessions, and the more students involved the more time it takes to prepare for class or consult, so it needs to make sense on our end. I’m sure you understand that.
Each group coaching session would cover a step or two of the total fabric collage process, addressing issues of the moment and providing guidelines to move forward. How many sessions are scheduled will depend on the group—their collage projects and subjects, their individual or group needs, experience, and goals.
Price? Let’s go back to that early example: four friends sharing a series of four two-hour sessions together. Based on a regular one-on-one 1-hour coaching session at $129, the single 2-hour session in a Customized Coaching series would be doubled to $258.
With four people in the group, and four sessions scheduled, essentially each person’s cost for the shared series of four sessions is $258. Of course, the cost (and math) will vary depending on the number in your group (4-6 people), the length (2 or 3 hours) of each session, and how many sessions (4 or more) are scheduled.
2.) Would like to work on a more complicated subject, such as a portrait of a person. Would like to hear the feedback given to other classmates.
Regular one-on-one coaching sessions are an ideal way to tackle more difficult subjects, however if it’s more fun for you to work along with others, then Customized Coaching could be a way to go.
Keep in mind that the more involved a subject, the more sessions you may need. When more than one person in a group is working on the same sort of subject matter, there is definite benefit in overhearing my feedback to others. Everyone has different issues with each step of the process—photo selection, drawing of design, fabric selection, getting started, finishing up, and everything in-between—and an answer that may not be relevant for you at a particular moment, may come come in handy down the road.
3.) Would like more one-on-one time with Susan than an online or in-person class can provide.
In a regular Fabric Collage Coaching session you get a lot of time from me—looking at and discussing your work—more time, definitely, than is available in a regular 5-day class format. In our end-of-class surveys, a not uncommon comment is, “would have liked more time with Susan,” which comes up after in-person classes as well. I get it, but again it’s a math thing—time available divided by number of students in a class.
Now consider Customized Coaching for a group. Each session is maximum three hours long and, let’s say, there’s a maximum group of six. In that case, everyone still gets a half hour total each session (which, if desired, could be divided as two 15-minute sessions per person), and that’s a good amount of time to view, discuss, annotate, and develop a plan for moving forward toward the next step.
4.) Would like their coaching time to be stretched out with days or weeks between to work on their project.
So how far apart do sessions ideally get scheduled? Is your schedule open enough so you could make good progress in a week? Need more time? That’s up to you and your group. Monthly seems like the longest stretch you should take between sessions though—spreading them out too much could lead to a loss of momentum and the excitement of seeing steady progress on your fabric collage subject.
But no matter what, starting date, ending date, and everything in between is up to you, your friends, and your schedules.
In conclusion, here’s where the sweet-spot lands: time working with others based on your schedule and availability, plus a decent amount of time consulting with me, plus time to work on and the incentive to start, continue, and finish a fabric collage quilt.
If you’re ready to work with us and raring to “Customize Your Coaching,” click button below. Tom has set up a basic form that can fill you in and submit to get the ball rolling. You don’t need to know who may join you in this fabric collage adventure or when it may begin, yet. There’s time to figure that out. Remember, this experience is customizable, options are expected!
Please leave your thoughts, reactions, or other ideas of how we could customize your coaching, in the Comments section below.
Further questions? Please contact us ([email protected]).
This is the best idea ever!
I love this idea!
You and Tom are the best, coming up with new ways more of us can learn from you.
Thank you for all you do!
This is an amazing concept, Susan and Tom! It will make for a more intimate classroom experience and more coaching time from you. Sounds perfect to me and I will definitely sign up at some point.
Fascinating idea! I look forward to exploring this idea with friends; one of my best experiences was your workshop at Asilomar 2019 with my creative buddies: Beth, Linda and Judy. It would be wonderful to recreate that collaborative learning environment!