I had the total pleasure of reviewing Pat Delaney’s Craftsy class, Raising The Bar: Quilting Linear Spaces this week. I am not only a huge fan of Pat but she is a friend and fellow guild member of mine as well. Pat is the owner of Crabtree Lane Studio and a winner of numerous awards including first place for traditionally pieced quilts at International Quilt Festival. My favorite thing about Pat is that she possesses so much knowledge (that she’s willing to share) yet remains humble and highly personable. I knew this Craftsy class would be a wonderful addition to my quilting ‘tool box of knowledge’.
The subject of the class is learning how to plan and quilt bar spaces which are the long, narrow spaces on your quilt. Pat walks us through how to mark those areas, what to use to mark the areas, how to work with a grid, how to plan the quilting and how to execute the quilting. She includes instruction on dividing the quilt areas and using feathers, fill designs, geometric designs and multipass designs to fill those spaces right up! Once you see Pat demonstrate these stitches both as sketches and then in stitches, you will see that making your quilt look fantastic isn’t as hard or scary as you thought. The loops, curves, crescents, flying geese and triangles are fun to learn and each of those have so many variations that you can truly make your quilt a masterpiece.
These tips and designs apply to traditional as well as modern quilts. Grouping the designs together create beautiful texture especially on whole cloth quilts. I never would have even considered a whole cloth quilt until I saw Pat’s sample in this class. All of Pat’s sample quilts are beautiful and her way of teaching makes you believe that if you practice, yours can look like that too.
Pat covers not only the designs but also some quilt making basics. She takes the mystery out of tension issues and potential problems. I love Pat’s honesty about ripping stitches out…hint, she tries to not ever have to do it because as we know, it takes forever to rip out free motion stitches.
The class was organized well with enough time spent on each of the lessons. Here is the Craftsy description of the class which is on sale right now for $19.99!
From borders to pineapple blocks, find out how to quilt rectangular areas with ease and style. Award-winning quilter Pat Delaney guides you through must-have techniques, and shares more than 20 motifs that will enhance any quilt. Begin with accessible instructions for dividing up your project, as you learn how to mark lines for quilting on the grid. Then, delve into lovely, single-line designs including waves, loops and crescents. Next, discover easy techniques for quilting triangles, flying geese and more, before trying out elegant, single-pass feathers and a range of beautiful variations. Follow along with Pat to fill larger linear spaces with overall designs, and try out intricate, multipass motifs that will enliven narrow areas. By the end of class, you’ll be able to confidently apply each design to enhance your future quilts.
I watched the class intently as I was so happy for Pat that she has a chance to share her knowledge with a wide audience on a great teaching platform. I noticed that her Craftsy class was run much like a real class with Pat which I happened to take a few years ago. She is genuine and oh, so talented. This is a jewel of a class. I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned on my next quilt.
