Taking off with feathers

I have recently started another of Angela Walter’s free-motion quilting challenges…..feathers this time!!!

I have always had a love/hate relationship with feather designs. One side would look great but the other one….well, let’s just say that bird wouldn’t be able to fly!!!

Although it isn’t a requirement, I purchased her panel…..

…and the Glide thread collection that went along with it…..

With a bit of fear and trembling, I stitched the first feather…..

It was a simple feather, where the petals don’t touch.

OKAY….that worked alright!!

Let’s try it again on a thinner section….

That was actually easier!!

Then it was time to move on to the harder type of feather. Angela calls this the custom feather but I have also heard it called the “bump back feather”. It is harder because there is a section of each petal that you have to travel back along the previous stitching.

This one wasn’t as good but I tried the same feather again and it looked much better….

The final design that she taught was a “fern-looking” feather….

This was fairly easy to do, but I did have trouble heading in the wrong direction when I got to the outside edge of the feather….

This one had to be un-sewed and then redone with the curve heading in the right direction.

That looks better.

I am happy with my first feather foray….

and can’t wait to try more!!!

If you are interested in the challenge, you can check it out HERE….

Are you in a rut with your machine quilting? Sure, you know HOW to do FMQ and you have 4 or 5 patterns that you do well. BUT, you are bored with those designs and need a push to try some new things. If so, please join "MOVE-IT.... a Free-Motion Quilting Boot Camp"!! I will take you on a FREE 10-week journey to learn new designs and become more comfortable with just MOVING IT!! You can sign up by clicking HERE.