This week I learned how to use FMQ feathers to fill in large, irregular areas of a quilt top….all part of Angela Walters Fabulous Feathers FMQ Challenge.
Angela gave us several options and I have already talked about two of them in previous posts (start HERE).
Today I was practicing a continuous feather that works its way around all of the edges and gets wider and thinner depending on the space to fill.
CAN YOU SAY FUN!!!!!!!!!!!
I started by drawing a line, trying to stay toward the center of the area to be filled. Then I stitched on the line……
Well….sort of on the line. This photo makes me happy that the drawn lines will wash out!!!
I decided that I didn’t want to have to do ANY filler design so knew that the feather had to COMPLETELY fill in the space. I started making feather loops…..
….getting a little worried as I approached the first corner…..
A couple of those loops are a bit weird but I’ll keep going!!
I finished the first pass, echoed the center line back to the other side, and started again…..
It was hard to make the loops so big but I kept pushing myself to FILL THAT SPACE.
WOW….that is fun!!
Angela called the next design the “peek-a-boo feather” with the idea being that parts of the feather disappear behind the block.
I started by drawing a center line similar to before but adding lines on each side that will be the outside edges of the feather….
Note that the outside lines “disappear” into the block at certain places…..
When you got to an area that was “behind” the block, you would stop the feather at the border, travel over the line, and then resume the feather further down….
The final result was interesting but not sure that it was worth the effort.
So far my favorite feather is definitely the LONG CURVY PLUME!!!!
Are you in a rut with your machine quilting? Sure, you know HOW to 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