Tonya Kept Saying, “Someday I’ll Teach.” Then 14 Students Signed Up for her Fidget Quilt Class
- Tori McElwain
- Jul 15
- 6 min read
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People keep asking you the same question. “Do you teach? Do you have a class? Do you work with guilds?” And every time, you smile and say something like “someday.” Because you know the answer should be yes — you know your craft, you’ve solved a real problem, people clearly want to learn from you. But between “I should teach this” and standing in front of a classroom, there’s a gap. And you’ve been standing at the edge of it for a while.
Today’s episode is for you. My guest Tonya stood at that edge for years — and this month, she teaches her first class at a regional quilt show with eleven students (Update: She now has fourteen!!) on the roster and a classroom helper assigned. Here’s how she got across the gap, step by step.
Listen to the Podcast Episode Here:
What you’ll learn in this post/episode:
How Tonya turned a family hardship into a fidget quilt business — and then into a class
Why she went through the Workshops Unleashed Book Club twice before she was ready (and why that’s not failure)
The free test class strategy that gave her real feedback before her first paid gig
The simple email pop-up and marble-jar game she’s using to grow her list at shows
Before: A Business Built on Purpose — and a “Someday” That Wouldn’t Go Away
Tonya runs Memory Barn Studio, where she makes fidget quilts — tactile, textured quilts designed for people with dementia, Alzheimer’s, autism, and even stroke recovery. Like a lot of quilters, she started in the late 1980s making baby blankets for friends. The business came later, and it came from a hard place: her mom was diagnosed with dementia, and Tonya lived five hundred miles away. She researched what she could do from a distance, found fidget quilts, and noticed something — the ones on the market were expensive. So she started writing patterns to make them affordable for other makers. A problem, and a maker’s answer to it.
Then the seeds started landing. As she got more active in online sewing groups, people kept asking: do you have a program? Do you teach with guilds? In her words, it wasn’t a big bang moment — “here’s a little seed, here’s a little water, here’s some little sunshine.” She knew she needed to take the step. She just wasn’t ready to take it alone.
During: Two Passes Through the Book Club — and Why the Second One Stuck
Tonya joined the Workshops Unleashed Book Club the first time it ran, in 2024, when the whole thing was free. And here’s the part I want every hesitant teacher to hear: she finished the homework — and then shelved it. She wasn’t ready yet. That is not failure. That’s a seed that needed to simmer.
When the club came back around in 2025, everything had shifted. She’d been to a quilt show and seen absolutely nothing about fidget quilts — a wide-open gap in her niche — and her husband (her self-appointed marketing department) told her flat out: you need to do this. This time she joined the Business Intensive tier, and she moved through the book intentionally. More notes. Real decisions.
Feedback on her class materials directly from me, and — the part she says mattered most — the other people in the room. She’s still trading encouragement with members she met there, people she’ll probably never meet in person, cheering her on from thousands of miles away.
By the end of that round, her class was outlined and on paper. Then she did the work most new teachers skip.
After: A Free Test Class, Real Feedback, and Eleven Students Signed Up for Her Show Class!
In January, after being accepted as a vendor and teacher at a regional quilt show, Tonya set a six-month plan. The centerpiece: a free test class in March. Teaching wasn’t new to her — but teaching sewing was, and she wanted a practice run before anyone paid her. She asked a friend’s sewing group to be her test group, added a few people from church, and got nine students in a room. Her husband sat in as note-taker. Afterward, she sent a feedback form and followed up with a second free session so students could finish their quilts.
Two details from that test class worth trying out. First, the venue: her local library’s community room was free to book, for as long as she needed. If “my house is too small” is what’s stopping you, check your library — some even have sewing machines and longarms. Second, her materials-shopping game: students got a supply list and sixty seconds per station to grab their zippers, buttons, and embellishments from bins. One student called it “speed dating for materials.” It’s fast, it’s fun, and it quietly solves decision paralysis.
The test class taught her exactly what to change — she revamped her pattern to match the class flow and reworked how she’ll handle mixed skill levels. And by the time we recorded, the results of all that groundwork were already showing: eleven students signed up for her first paid class at the show, a classroom helper assigned, a new email pop-up that brought in about a dozen subscribers in its first five days, and a marble-jar guessing game ready for her booth to collect emails — which leads perfectly into the marble mazes she’s known for. She even made a five-foot fidget quilt banner for the booth.
When I asked her the number one thing that helped her succeed, her answer was simple: “Taking advantage of the resources around me, and being patient to let things happen organically.” But let’s be clear about something, because I don’t want you hearing this and thinking it was an accident. Tonya set the stage for organic to happen. She applied to teach. She built the pop-up. She ran the test class. She put the word out. Organic growth is real — but it lands on prepared ground.
Tonya’s Advice If You’re Thinking About Teaching Quilt Classes
If you have an idea and you’re not sure how to get started — which is exactly where she was — her advice is to sign up for the book club, even the free tier. “You’re gonna get so much out of it.” And if you want the friendships and the feedback, she’d point you to the Business Intensive: “You get to make friends easier.” Sometimes the whole value is just getting in the room.
You can find Tonya at
Instagram @memorybarnstudio
Hey Tori and Tonya Takeaway
Your assignment — borrow Tonya’s playbook, one step at a time:
Run a free test class before your first paid one.. Ask a sewing group, friends, or your guild. Small is fine — nine people was plenty.
Get something in return. Free doesn’t mean nothing back. Bring a note-taker, send a feedback form, and actually change your class based on what you learn.
Find free space. Check your local library’s community room before you decide you have nowhere to teach.
Collect emails everywhere you show up. A playful pop-up on your site, a guessing game at your booth — make it fun and make it fit what you do.
You don’t need to be ready for all of it today. Tonya wasn’t. You need to be ready for the next step — and then the one after that.
If Tonya’s story sounds like the nudge you’ve been waiting for, the Workshops Unleashed Book Club is where she crossed the gap — and it runs every January and July. The free tier walks you through the book week by week with homework, a Facebook group, and quarterly meetups. The Business Intensive adds live Zoom calls every two weeks, breakout discussions with other teachers-in-progress, and direct feedback from me on your class description, curriculum map, and marketing — for $45.
Not sure where to start? Grab a copy of Workshops Unleashed and read along — the curriculum map and Meet Your Students sections Tonya leaned on are all in there.
Want me to answer your question? Submit a question here!
About the Author: Tori McElwain is a digital marketing coach for quilting and creative businesses. With 24+ years of quilting experience and a Master’s degree in Education, she helps quilters attract more students, sell more patterns, and grow their businesses online - without losing the joy of creating. She’s the author of “Workshops Unleashed” and cohost of the Quilting on the Side podcast.
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