feathers

[jennie kovarik]

when putting on a boarder of feathers going clock wise, is there a right direction and do the feathers flare up or down or does it matter?

[quiltmonkey]

There are no rules to how you choose your designs. You do what you want. If you want to try auditioning (drawing) on a piece of paper to see your "vision" that might help with your decision.

[o2b Quilting]

Shana has great advice, as always!!

[Shannon M. Hicks]

Shana's right, there are no rules! What does your gut say?

I'm not sure I really understand what you mean by the feathers' flare... My favorite feather borders are built on an undulating line, with feathers on both sides of the line. I make sure that the corner curves out around like you are quilting around a circle--I usually do this by actually placing a few marks on my quilt I mark my corner spine, the center curve, which will be a hump to the outside, and then I decide if I need to add more marks or if I can visualize my line.

Our eyes are naturally drawn to the centers and the corners, so if you get those right, minor discrepancies won't matter.

If you question is about feather scallops, I prefer to have the curve of the scallop to the outside. It can create a great guideline for actually making that a curved border for your customer to trim and bind.

I hope I answered your question, if not, please clarify what you mean by the flare.

[Della]

Hi Jennie....I think feathers can go anyway you want them to go. If you like them when you draw them, then you will like them when you quilt them....lol Have fun with them!

[LibbyG]

Jennie,

Draw them on a piece of paper, because they are directional. If you start to go clockwise you have to finish that way if the feathers are continuous or it won't match when you get back to the starting point. However, if you do the curly Amish feathers, they stop in the middle of the border. So it depends how you're doing them. That's why Shana's advice is really good. You'll see right away when you draw them.