Practicing Feathers

 

After years of appreciating feathers on other people’s quilts and thinking I could never master them, I decided it was time to jump right in. I want feathers on my snail’s trail quilt. Diane Gaudynski’s book, “Quilt Savvy” was a lot of help—once I really had time to sit down and study it. I have actually owned it for at least three years, and it has just sat quietly on its shelf.

I have my quilt top sewn together except for the borders. I thought I would get a head start and practice some feathers on a sample swatch. I also wanted to test the thread color and see if it looked all right.

This is my first try:

This is a close-up. I like the feathers on the right the best. They are a tiny bit larger than the others and the lines are a little smoother. I need to practice the inside curves of the feather more because I get a bit confused when the stitching area gets cramped.