Front Porch Quilting Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I need help...when you are doing all over feathers or any design I guess...how do you determine what directions to go so that the designs look flowing and not like you just "added" a stem here and there to fill in an area. Any hints in flow would be helpful. Is there something that clicked for you that you remember helped? Thanks in advance! I am really struggling with this and yes I doodle on paper all the time, not helping when I get to the quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbigailE Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I just had a seminar with Deloa and she pre marks the spines with a disappearing blue pen. That gives you a good visual if things are going to flow consistantly. You could mark using your choice of punce, chalk, what works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Great question Roxanne as it is one I have been too afraid to admit I didn't know the answer to so thank you for asking. now just for visuals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Porch Quilting Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 come on you expert flow-ers we need to know what your secret is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 No "expert flow-er" here but for me I always premark with chalk where I'm going. If I have a spine then I can go from there. If I'm just doing a meandering feather then I just keep telling myself, big meander and start stitching. IF you know there are areas where you want something specific draw it on and then go for it. Another thing you can do, say you want a butterfly scattered all over the quilt randomly. Well cut out circles the size of the butterfly and just scatter them on the quilt. Trace around the circle and then when you hit a circle do your butterfly. It will look random and you will get the look you are going for. I also like to draw targets if my piecing doesn't give me a target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Here is a link to Suzanne Earley's work....she is a master in what you are asking... and actually has two books. http://suzanneearley.net/salt-creek-quilt-company/ I had the pleasure of taking two classes from her at MQX last year and she took not only the fear of doing feathers, but answered my question (which was your question) perfectly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Definitely check out Suzanne's books and keep doodling. I mark my spine with chalk or purple air erasable pen, one row or section at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinequilts Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Does anyone use a soft wave ruler for stitching the spines for feathers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Originally posted by carolinequilts Does anyone use a soft wave ruler for stitching the spines for feathers? You sure can, but when you do that your rows are to perfect and uniform. With the wondering feathers you want some pretty deep valley's and hills so that they seem to fit together better. Or at least that's what I learned...and I have to say its very pretty. Much more so than the perfect ones I was getting with a wave ruler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne Earley Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I was so surprised to see so many hits on my website today from the APQS forum that I just had to come see why my ears were burning. And now that I'm here...I started to answer the question, and then realized I was going to be answering a different question than what you actually asked. LOL Now that I've reread it -- if you are trying to fill a space with feathers (or other motifs), then yes -- I would suggest doing some preplanning. Just because I freehand, doesn't necessarily mean I completely wing it. I might use a marking pen to give myself some initial guidelines, or I might use my Meandering Magic technique -- where I stitch a large meander in the space, and then use that as my spine. The nice thing about setting up a quilt with the meander FIRST and then going back and filling it in with your motif is that you've already done the hard part of deciding how to travel around the space. Now...you can focus on quilting beautiful feathers (or leaves or whatever)! HOpe this helps, and if I still didn't really answer what you were asking, you are welcome to drop me an e-mail (suzanne at suzanneearley dot net) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinequilts Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Bonnie - I don't have a soft wave template. It looks like you do not prefer one, but would rather freehand your feather spines. Is this what is normally done? I found this at a Longarm supply store in Canada. Maybe it would be a waste of money? Thanks, https://www.canadianlongarmsupplies.com/index.php?crn=212&rn=1767&action=show_detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Hi Suzanne, thanks for chiming in here today. I am a member over at your site also. and took your feathering class which was great. Drop in anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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