madamekelly

I need pictures with written instructions, or a video I can pause. Just call me a “brain damaged videiot”. Lol.

quiltingshorttimer

it depends--if it's something mechanical, like fixing my long arm, then I like the video. If it's a quilt pattern, I want well written instructions including good pictures.

ctrysass2012

I prefer written but like to be able to check a video if I'm not sure. Or ask a friend who has done what I'm trying, that's even better. Some of the MSQC videos are printed in the Block mag. or you can gt a download pattern.

DJ

Both have their places in my learning experience. I do wish more MSQC videos would also have printed directions. I don't like to have to take my own notes. LOL

Rose_P

A lot depends on how well a tutorial is written, and some things are a lot easier to show than to tell. If there's a good video I'll watch it and then take notes that I can refer to. I don't really have a preference, as long as they cut to the chase and don't fumble around too much or, in the case of a video, have very annoying and repetitive music cluttering up the presentation. Quilting is a visual art, and watching a good video with plenty of examples can be much more inspiring than a written lesson with simple line drawings. Videos are especially useful when they're demonstrating some new equipment that I have never tried. For example, my serger came with a VHS tape, and I don't know how I would ever have figured that thing out without it.

Years ago I taught myself to knit and crochet from how-to books that had black and white pictures. I believe the same process would have been 10 times easier watching a Craftsy class. Also, I believe that watching someone doing a skilled task, such as FMQ, gives a person a feel for the timing involved that you could not convey with any number of words.

Rose_P

It occurs to me to add that in recent decades there has been considerable research in the area of learning styles, and there's no need to shame people with words like "dumbing down" for responding better to visual instruction than to written or oral. Learning styles differ. The important thing is that as long as people have curiosity and a desire to learn they have opportunities to do so, now more than ever before. Some of us had the benefit of seeing our grandmothers or mothers using a sewing machine or at least sewing on a button, and a lot of that observation may have taken place before a child was taught to read. It definitely makes a difference in their receptiveness to learning skills to have input using several areas of the brain.

Anniedeb

I am very much an "It depends" kind of person. I was a district trainer for several years, and found that I had to be prepared to offer different tools for different people. Presentations were a combination of visual, videos, verbal, social, and solitary. Handouts were filled with lots of links and resources. Our company provided us with every tool imaginable. I find myself sometimes watching a video over and over, then having that light-bulb "aha!!" moment. Other times I read, and the instructions are spot on. I agree that some videos have way too much fluff, just as some written instructions are too technical. I just keep at it until I find a way that makes sense to me.

Linda Renfro

I for one have a hard time understanding some written instructions, I'm more a of a "show me" gal, so a video works much better from me. I can muddle through some written instructions without too much of a problem but if I have a choice I would much rather have someone show me or to watch a video to learn.

JENNR8R

Exactly... If I had to depend on written quilt patterns, I wouldn't be making quilts. Trying to decipher what those written words mean sucks all of the pleasure from the process, and it takes me an unnecessarily-long time to make a quilt. My brain doesn't work that way, and I have difficulty understanding how others prefer it. I end up feeling stupid.

If I see a video on a technique, my creativity soars...

mojo11

I do both, but I like visual. Once in a while it is hard to understand a written instruction.