I've attended workshops by Karen Stone, Sue Spargo, and Bonnie Hunter. I can truly say that each of them opened my quilting world even further. They were all very different in style, but excellent. This fall Becky Goldsmith will be our Guild's guest, and while I know how to applique, at every class I learn something new to add to my quilting arsenal.

I can't tell you what the best workshop is, since I haven't attended any. I plan on looking into doing some of them since my schedule is wide open now. But I agree that your frame of mind and where you are at, at the time of class has a lot to do with how good you think the class is. If you think you already know a lot of the information, it won't seem to be a good class because you may not learn anything new. But if you are just beginning to explore the area that the workshop deals with, and you have a lot to learn, then it may seem to be much better, because you learn more.
I look forward to hearing what others say about which teachers they liked and why.

Harriet Hargrave for machine quilting - I also experienced two not very good classes in FMQ but the less said about those the better.
Pam Holland - ink on fabric and general creative inspiration.
Betina Havig - tessellations.
Ricky Tims seminar - convergence quilts and other stuff - very inspirational.

You must feel even further removed from all those wonderful teachers than I do Dena? Or do you travel to classes somewhere?

What's the best quilt workshop or class you ever took, and why? What made it so great?

i will begin, so you know the kind of information I'm looking for:

The best quilt workshop I ever took was a 5-day course with Nancy Crow at QSDS. The class was her Sets & Variables workshop. What made it great was that it showed me I could make original design (art) quilts without using patterns and without cutting and sewing straight lines. It opened all the creative doors for me, and I never looked back!

I studied again with Nancy, some years later and a different course, but it was not the same and for me not as good a class. I think the difference had to do with my state of mind at both times--what I received by way of instruction in relation to what I was prepared to receive. The knowledge I gained in the first class came at just the right time in my career as a quilter, whereas in the second class, I was very strong on my own and probably did not need the second class.

Now--how about your experiences with workshops?