Good news for those wishing to learn the ins and outs of shaded blackwork!

Tanja Berlin is running an online embroidery class for her Blackwork Love Birds. Registration is open now and ends on September 2. The class runs September 12 – November 21st.

There are so many great advantages to taking online embroidery classes!

Online Embroidery Classes – Advantages

For one, you have access to a qualified teacher who will help you, one-on-one, through tricky spots. Even at face-to-face classes at seminars and the like, you rarely have the undivided attention of the instructor for any extended period of time. When you’re working online with an instructor, you have access to the instructor via email (or a class forum) for any and all of the little difficulties that you might run into with a given technique. You receive feedback when you need it – either the “yes, you’re doing that right” you need to encourage you to go forward, or the constructive criticism and helpful tips to make you a better stitcher.

Another reason: online classes are affordable. In an online setting, you get to work the same level of projects that were only available in seminar or workshop settings, before the advent of online classes. You can still go to seminars and workshops today – and they’re a lot of fun! – but in addition to daily class fees and kit fees, you also have to pay for for travel, food, and lodging for the number of days you’ll be at the workshop. Online classes eliminate the bulk of the expense required to attend seminars and workshops – the travel and lodging.

But perhaps the greatest advantage of an online class is the flexibility that an online affords the person who otherwise could never take the time to travel to a seminar and devote two, three, or five days solely to needlework.

With an online class, you work at your own pace. If you can’t spend time stitching on this day or that, well – you don’t have to! If your family reunion is scheduled for the end of the month, no big deal! You can go, and you can still participate in your online class. If you work full time and you have no vacation time left, not to worry! You can stitch around your work hours, conveniently adapting the online class to your own schedule.

So, lots of advantages! And while I agree that there’s nothing more fun than hobnobbing with enthusiastic stitchers face-to-face at a workshop or seminary, many of us can’t afford to go to seminars, either because we can’t afford the time off or the extra travel expenses.

So the online class is a great substitute – it’s flexible, it’s affordable, it gives you access to quality instructors, and you can communicate with fellow stitching enthusiasts via the online classroom setting.

There. That’s my plug for online classes!

Blackwork Love Birds

Now, why the Blackwork Love Birds class in particular?

It’s perfect for beginners and beyond. If you have any interest in learning blackwork – and especially in learning how to shade effectively in blackwork techniques – this class is a great way to learn!

Tanja’s instructions are absolutely at the top of the industry when it comes to detailed, step-by-step instructions written for beginners (and beyond). They are clear, easy to follow, and easy to learn from. As a graduate of the RSN and a long-time world-traveling teacher, she knows how to teach.

And finally, if you’ve kept up with Tanja’s latest blackwork pursuits, you might know that she’s recently designed this gorgeous blackwork elephant, which she’s teaching at the Embroiderers Association of Canada National Seminar in Calgary in 2015. If you have an interest in taking that class or working the elephant or something similar down the road, the Love Birds makes a perfect prelude for learning the basics of blackwork shading.

And now…the give-away!

Blackwork Love Birds Class Give-Away

Today, courtesy of Berlin Embroidery Designs, I’m giving away a Blackwork Love Birds class – the full materials kit, 12 inch stretcher bars and thumbtacks, all the instructions, and classroom access ($120 total value).

If you’d like to participate in the give-away, please follow these guidelines:

1. Leave a comment below – just follow this link straight to the comment form. Comments sent in via email or left on any other article on Needle ‘n Thread are not eligible.

2. In your comment, answer the following:

What aspect of an online embroidery class attracts you the most?

3. Please make sure you leave recognizable name either in the comment box or in the “name” line on the comment form.

4. Leave your comment before 5:00 am CDT (Kansas, USA), Friday, August 15. I’ll announce the winner that day.

That’s it! Easy enough!

The give-away is open to anyone, anywhere, so feel free to join in today!

You can find all the information about the Blackwork Love Birds class right here on Tanja’s website, if you’d like further details.