Thread Talk from my Sewing Machine #33

Most of you know that I free-hand my feathers 97.5% of the time because of the tight deadlines I work with.   I generally don’t like to spend the extra time marking my quilt tops  — there are periods of time I would only sleep only 3-4 hours a night for a few nights in order to get a quilt done.  You get the idea.

Today, I will share with you my trick for free-handing curvy feather plumes that I use most of the time.  My goal is to always come up with tricks to still quilt with decent result within the limited allotted time I have for my magazine quilts.

I start stitching like normal, until I come to and slow down at the entrance of the curve.  You know, like when you slow down turning into a curve while driving.

I.  In order to achieve the best result, I mentally divide that curve into four quadrants, and try to keep the number of feathers somewhat even from quadrant to quadrant (#1).

II.  I also stitch much shorter feathers when I need to orient the feathers in a different directions from the one they start out with (#2).  #2 is the KEY to turning your feathers within a curve!  To pack in more feathers, you would need to turn approximately at the half “circle” – not too early, or too late.

You see what I mean?  Am I even making half an ounce of sense here?  This picture below shows the BACK of a quilt.  You will have plenty of plumes to analyze to see where my four-quadrant rule is or isn’t applied. :)

As a comparison, this feather plume does not subscribe to my four quadrant rule.  It does have slightly shorter feathers at the curves where it turns.  It doesn’t look bad.  But I am not able to pack in as many feathers, and as a result, it doesn’t look as sophisticated as the plume done with the four-quadrant rule.

So, you ask …. “What do you do if you forget to apply the four-quadrant rule when you are free-handing your feathers away?  Do you take the stitches out?”   My answer would be “No taking stitches out necessary.  I would just move on and try again with a new plume.”  If you study the picture below closely, you will see what I mean.  All the feathers are free-handed on this quilt.

Curvy feather plumes make a stunning quilting statement!  Give them a try – you will soon be addicted, like I am! :)

Happy Feathering, Friends!  In case you have missed my past Thread Talk posts on feathers, they are here, here and here.  Till next time!