No masterpiece... but mine.

[RitaR]

I have to show that I am slowly improving on feathers..

I learned so much from this little quilt.. First is do not, no matter how pretty it is on the frame, leave any blank spaces... after it's off the frame and washed, it looks entirely different.. Not so happy with it now, but still it is improvment.

Secondly, do not meander the border of a feathered quilt.. it really detracts from it.

Double check the fabric to make sure you have enough to do the binding.. I came up short, then cut a hole in it.. and ended up with nothing to put together, so I had to piece the pieces together, to piece the binding..

I see I need to balance the length of the feathers, and put close to the same amount, or lack of, curves into each.. and as I said, fill in the blank areas with something..

It is well stitched and some little kid will love it one day, i pray, so I'm happy.

I'm still having a terrible time with the spine.. no matter what I do it just looks sloppy.. diff styles, diff sizes, diff methods.. still sloppy.. how do I improve that?? really I've no idea.

so here is my next step towards pro feathers.. not quite there yet.. but getting closer.. and having a blast doing it!

Rita R

[RitaR]

just couldnt get the puter to put them in the same box.. looking at it now, the feathers look like main highway and neighborhood loops.. lol.. oh my.

I also see the batting (cheap junk I guess!) lets the color from the front show all the way thru the back.. sad stuff.

RitaR

[judysmith]

Hi Rita

I've been marking my spines with chalk (on dark fabric) and pencil (on light fabric).

I don't stitch down the spine, just feather either side of it. I find that there is no wobbly line to distract the eye.

I'm also getting some curved rulers made so I can cheat and use them to stitch out the spines!

I'm finding Darlene Epp's method for heirloom feathers is working for me - bumping back over every second feather.

Thanks for posting - it's good to see how other newbies are getting on.

Regards, Judy

[Quilting Heidi]

Rita,

I think you did a great job and are entirely too critical of yourself! Way to go and I'm glad to see that you are finally winning over those feathers!

[Bonnie]

I too think you did a grand job...and my next quilt I too will be trying this...I also have a fear of freehand feathers, and been using stencils for too long and need to get out of my box and just do it. Proud of you and now its my turn. It didn't kill you so I guess the pathway is okay for me to try it.

[bobbi]

Rita, I think it looks great! But here's the deal... whenever you don't like something, just put it back on the frame, yes, bound and all... and in the blank areas, quilt some mctavishing, or some stippling... that way it looks like you meant it to be that way!!! So, just find all your little blank spaces and keep on quilting!

[BethDurand]

I've started watching "Fowl Proof Feathers" by Myrna Ficken on DVD. Now I can't wait for a chance to practice my feathers. Really helpful to me to see what she's talking about.

Beth

[MarieBrewer]

Very nice job with the feathers!!

[Sue Patten]

Hay Rita

That looks GREAT!!! Your feathers look awesome... keep sharing you're doing great!!!!

[lindasewsit]

Your feathers are wonderful!! linda

[Renae]

Rita I'm affraid of feathers too so don't feel alone. I would much rather follow a panto then have someone see my freehand feathers. But if you can do it so can I!! I will post my next quilt with my freehand feathers good or bad that I promise. It just goes to show how much we improve and learn.

Renae

[skrat]

Rita,

I think you are doing a fine job on your feathers. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're doing great. Keep up the good work. And keep posting those pics.

[quiltmonkey]

Originally posted by RitaR

looking at it now, the feathers look like main highway and neighborhood loops.. RitaR

Rita, just wondering if you are doing your feathers from top to bottom, or are you doing them bottom to top? I find that quilting feathers bottom to top look much better, and easier for me. I start the spine at the top, quilt a spine to the bottom, then I quilt one side of the spine, echo down the feathers to the bottom and then feather up the other side and then echo down that side after I reach the top. Also if it helps, draw yourself registration lines about 3 inches out from the spine and try touching the tip of each feather with that line. It will force you to swing out and will make your feathers longer.

And, I agree with Bobbi --- you can absolutly pin that quilt back on the leaders and fill in the bigger spaces where you want to add more quilting.

PS: I think your feathers are looking good!

[meg_marsh]

Rita - you are doing great - I think I need to put some fabric on and go practice.

Also loved the idea of putting a quilt back on and just doing some fill. Wondered about that. Do you pin back on or use some special clamps?

[ffq-lar]

Fabulous feathers!!

[bobbi]

I've actually done it several times...(tee hee) When I'm not completely happy with the quilting, I'll take it off, look at it for a while (maybe days!) and then put it back on... Yes, I pin it on, but I float it unless there's a particular reason why I don't feel I should float. (can't tell ya right now why...)

I think after you've looked and identiied the places YOU feel are problems, just put it back on and do it! It really doesn't take long and then you'll be completely happy!

I think it looks great and your feathers are wonderful!

[RitaR]

Well I was bragging on another thread about my memory, so lets see if it's half there..

I did mark the feathers, spine and petals.. when I try to go wider, they seem to turn into a curved rectangle.. and they are stitched from bottom or quill to the top, and stitched back down the stem.. maybe I need to practice the echo instead, which I'm really bad at.

Um.. I hadn't thought of just marking the lines of where the spine would be and where the petals should reach.. Something to try.. I just want to do well...

Uh, haven't tried the black light and BL chalk stuff yet.. guess that's the next $$..

Will be trying to reload the feather quilt and do something in the blanks.. Have an idea.. will see what it looks like before I decide.. BIG long stitches and some frogging,, but it will be worth it.

I wish I were a rank beginner.. unfortunately, I can't say that.. I am however a determined old cuss... lol, I'll get there yet.

I will be having the neurostimulator implanted in my spine to stop the pain signals to the brain, on the 21st, so that should take care of most of the pain and let me do more, more easily.. meanwhile.. practice.. and 3 QoValor quilts to get done and one for the Guild to donate to the DAVA.. will be a busy 2 weeks..

Thanks for ALL the help, encouragement, and friendliness..

RitaR.

[ramona-quilter]

Rita, I think your feathers look great, girl. How long have you ahd your machine. I think that feathers are a

sophomore or junior skill set. I know that you have not had Penny 2 or 3 years.

And about the differing sizes. Feathers, in nature, are not a uniform size, they are different sizes. If they were

all the same, the quilt would be boring (and in nature, the duck couldn't fly. :P)

I do my feathers like Shana. I took a Dawn C feathers class and learned that I am a bottom up feathers quilter.

I can do the top down but I am not as smooth or as comfortable in that direction. I also do not touch the spine

with my feathers. If you touch it at all, then you should make all your feathers touch it so they are consistent.

Well, I don't like to touch the spine, so that was easy to remember for me. And the echo really helps

smooth out any little mistake made inside the feather.

Folks eyes just naturally travel to the outside

of the feather.

About the blank space, I'm with Bobbi on that, put it back on and put in some fill. That has two benefits.

The fill will highlight your feathers (plus hide any little bloopers) and by fill-quilting, the feathers will

appear fuller and fluffier. Who doesn't like fluffy feathers.

[jmcclannan]

Rita, I just finished requilting a quilt I did on my DM a few years ago. I had just SID so I pinned it on (binding and all) and quilted away. It looks so much better and it was no problem putting it on the frame. It was a large quilt so it gave me lots of opportunities for practice. Give it a try and don't be too hard on yourself about the feathers. I figure I'll be an expert about the time nobody wants them anymore.

[RitaR]

Linda and Julie.. LOL, yes, I too will come in late for the feather fad, didn't I already hear they are going out, or is that pebbling?? something I've not got up to yet, anyway..

Right now I have a Quilt of Valor with LOTS of board work on the frame.. want to do it before I flop this little gal back on and finish her off..

Linda I've had the machine since mid Dec., but also had a converted long-arm for two years before that. Of course I didn't belong to chat then, didn't know much of anything besides diagonal boxes, sid and meandering.. what we learn on here! Love it and thank everyone.

Thanks for the info Julie.. Thinking about it, I have a quilt on our bed which has very large embroidered blocks on it and I keep thinking I wish I'd done the micro stippling in the background of more areas.. I will be trying to put it back on one of these days, too.

Lots of thread to put in today, so must be moving me in that direction.

Thanks for all the help and most of all the encouragement.. it helps.

ritaR

[Bekah]

Rita I think your feathers look very good.

[SandraG]

Rita,

Looks like a masterpiece to me!!!!

Feathers are kind of like riding a bike. Once you learn how, you never forget and you get better with pratice. You are doing great!!!

Sandra

[RitaR]

Thanks again ladies.. today I get to put this little quilt back on the frame and fill in the blanks..

I just finished another QoV quilt and it came out quite well, I think.. no feathers.. just some freehand spirals, not round by any means, but all seem shaped about the same. and loops and stars, also freehand.. all stars diff. by choice.. Have to get the quilt ready to send back to the piecer.. she really does nice work and the quilt and backing were exceptionally well prepared, threads trimmed, pressed well, etc.. It was fun to work on.

Thanks again.. Happy stitching love into every stitch.

RitaR

[RitaR]

The quilt is off and I hope I'll be posting a pict of it tonight.. really learned.. its ok to put it back on and do more, even after it's bound and washed..

Learned.. it's faster to feather than to echo fill..

learned it's faster to do feathers than crosshatch..

Learned, I can put one side of a feather in an area and it's fine.. did 3 and can only find 2.

Learned I can use more than one filler on same quilt, without it being separate areas of the pattern..

Learned a Lot, and know that I need to once again, thank everyone for the help and encouragement.

[RitaR]

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