Dear Prospective Instructor Certification Participant,
Sue Pelland Designs is excited to continue our Instructor Certification Program in innovative Rotary Cut Appliqué techniques. We are looking for additional instructors to spread our techniques in every state and around the world.
Sue Pelland Designs Instructor Certification Program is designed to help each participant fully understand the many varied uses of the appliqué tools. We expect you to have prior experience and knowledge of Leaves Galore and Hearts and More basics. Participants will learn how to present the tools to students, how to demonstrate, and how to trouble shoot student’s use of the tools. The skills you teach will make your students better quilt-makers as they apply rotary cut appliqué techniques to many future quilts.
We need confident, educated instructors who empower students to apply our techniques and unleash creativity. Let the team at Sue Pelland Designs help you hone your rotary cut appliqué skills and help you develop your own teaching style. You will become a better instructor, a more educated quilt-maker, and a valued member of our team.
Prior to completing the application for certification, carefully read this entire page, including:
- Benefits of Completing Certification with Sue Pelland Designs
- Requirements for Attending Instructor Certification
- Sue Pelland Bio
Our next Certification Program: To Be Scheduled
Contact us if you would like to be be notified when details for our next Certification Program are finalized. Email donna@suepellanddesigns.com
Taking the Instructor Certification course does not guarantee certification. Certification requires confidence in Sue’s techniques as well as teaching skills that cannot be mastered in three days. To ensure you are ready for the course there are a variety of requirements for participation. If we are not able to provide a Certificate of Completion you will be asked to practice your technique and work on improving your teaching skills before being awarded a Certificate of Completion.
Tuition for the class is $750.00. Lodging costs will be determined when details are finalized. Tuition includes the class fee, class materials binder, and one year Certified Instructor Benefits. Transportation and meals are not included. Credit cards will not be processed, and deposit checks will not be cashed until you are accepted into the program. Sue Pelland Designs reserves the right to cancel the class with 30 days notice to participants. Do not book flights more than 30 days in advance unless refundable.
Maximum number of students is SIX due to a limited class room space and the need for personal attention from Sue and her assistant.
If you are interested in signing up for our Instructor Certification Program when dates are finalized, complete the application form, mail or e-mail the information, and we will email to confirm your enrollment.
-- Donna Hopkins, Sue Pelland Designs Training Coordinator
If you are ready to join us, here are the next steps:
Visit our Certified Instructor Application Forms and Instructions page
and complete the following three tasks (all can be found on that page):
Complete the Application Form
Complete your Quilting Biography
Ask for and submit Letters of Recommendation
Benefits of Instructor Certification with Sue Pelland Designs
- Your teaching abilities will improve. Our program combines discussion and hands-on skill development. We will make sure you are proficient with the tools for appliqué, understanding uses other than appliqué, and how they apply to patterns other than our own. We will improve your demonstration skills, teaching skills, and your class fun index!
- Gain credibility with students and shop owners. Students and shops will have more confidence and students will be more successful in class with a Certified Instructor.
- You will leave the course with valuable teaching resources. Each instructor will leave class with a variety of teaching materials, some available only to certified instructors. You will be allowed to reproduce certain copyright protected materials for teaching including class descriptions, supply lists, and class handouts, saving hours of class planning time.
- We will help market you as a teacher. Once you have successfully completed our course, we will add your contact information to our online list of certified instructors. Shops and guilds looking for instructors in their area will use this list to identify you as a qualified instructor.
- You will learn what it is like to run your own lecture and vending business if you choose to take certification one step further. If you love teaching, but are interested in more opportunities to lecture, present trunk shows, and vend at shows, we can help you get started. We receive frequent calls for these opportunities that we do not have the capacity to fill ourselves. We are looking to create a pool of instructors that guilds and shops can draw from to provide excellence in education while explaining, promoting, and even selling our products.
Requirements for the Instructor Certification Program
Instructor Certification with Sue Pelland Designs is right for you if:
- I am passionate about teaching and have confidence to teach all levels of quilters.
- I have mastered the curved cutting skills needed for Leaves Galore and Hearts and More and I am excited to teach others these skills.
- I have made at least one quilt/quilt top with Leaves Galore and one with Hearts and More. We ask you to photograph these quilts and send your photos to us along with your application.
- Also, please send us a photo of one “signature piece” that represents you as a quilter. This piece does not need to be made with SPD techniques, just something you are proud of! We want you to bring all SPD projects to the course so we can photograph them for our website’s Instructor page.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTENDANCE in addition to the above
- You should have at least some experience teaching quilting to get maximum benefit from this course. We cannot teach you to be a great teacher in three days! However, teaching crosses over in many cases. If you have experience with students in other disciplines, you may be right for this course.
- You should plan on being in training sessions from 9 am to 4 pm for all days of the course. Commuters are welcome, but you will get the most out of the course if you plan to stay with us at the retreat center. Early mornings and evenings are open sew sessions to help you get your teaching samples done, and to network with other instructors.
- There will be supplies required for class (a list will be provided upon acceptance in the program). We can make arrangements for a limited number of sewing machines to be available if you are flying, but please check with us at least two weeks prior to program date.
Biography for Sue Pelland
Sue Pelland Designs is an industry leader in innovative rotary cutting techniques for appliqué. Sue Pelland’s Leaves Galore templates, Hearts and More templates, and Quilter’s Chalk Line are the latest must have gadgets for those who want to speed up their appliqué process. Unique patterns featuring Leaves Galore plus Hearts and More cutting techniques will delight the traditional or not so traditional quilter with quick and easy twists on old favorites as well as contemporary designs. Design possibilities are endless with a wide range of skills that can be applied to every quilt using Leaves Galore and Hearts and More techniques.
Sue Pelland began quilting at age 13, started teaching at 16, and has never stopped teaching. Sue and her mom, Elaine Nadeau, owned a quilt shop for eight years back in the 1980’s, so Sue understands the challenges that quilt shops face. Shops are in business today because they offer personal service, wonderful classes, and unique products not available in chain stores. In order to help shop owners offer new and innovative classes and American made products, Sue needs more instructors who are proficient in teaching Rotary Cut Appliqué methods.
Sue’s quilting history also includes working in the Textile Industry as a Textile Chemist for a major textile printing factory. This science and research background is the foundation that drives Sue to trouble-shoot current quilting methods and to invent and design innovative and timesaving methods. Her long quilting history has built a firm foundation that balances innovation with quality and precision of workmanship.
