Remember last week I started with my practice pieces for the feathers challenge, hosted again this year by SewCalGal and I showed you a bit of my practice quilt sandwiches. Well, I am done with my final piece that I'm submitting to the challenge. I am happy and proud to show you some pictures. I must say I am very pleased with what I've done.
For my final piece I used a fat quarter. Before I started quilting, I marked the stem lightly using the tip of a knitting needle. From there I just went with what felt right. I preferred to add echo stitches all around the feathers. That way they have a more 'finished' look instead of adding the background quilting right up against the feathers.I tried to vary the feathers a bit, by keeping some plain without adding any fancy additions. Some I stitched every second lobe/petal with swirls on the inside and also stitched wiggly lines inside of the others. You'll also notice that one feather's stem I stitched pebbles/pearls inside and the other I kept plain.
The background I wanted to have a dense filler design to have the feather pop out a bit more and decided on pebbles. Every now and then I made the pebbles a bit larger and added swirls to change it up a bit. I do however think I should have done something else instead of the checkerboard design on the outside, since I stitched it out free hand without any markings the lines did not end up super straight, which in the end when you square up the quilt, it appears skew and wonky.
The finished size measures 17¼ inches by 22¼ inches
Below I've added pictures of my practice pieces, if you'd like to read up on the process of how I've decided what to quilt, you can find it all HERE. Note these samples are all 9 inches by 10½ inches.
If you'd like to join in on this specific feathers challenge click on this LINK, there you'll find all the rules, tips and guidelines to help you along. I will also be linking up this blog post to that link to submit my piece.
SewCalGal is also hosting other challenges which you can find HERE.
Linking up with FMQ Friday @ The Free Motion Quilting Project and Can-I-Get-a-Whoop-Whoop? with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Ps. A big thank you to everyone who linked up to my 'Anything Goes' linky party this past week!
Happy quilting.
42 comments:
These are incredible feats of quilting!! They are absolutely beautiful!
Good Morning Marelize, Your free motion quilting is exquisite. You have such a wonderful eye for detail. I love how the feather is raised from the rest of the work....truly a lovely piece of work and such a pleasure to look at.
Have a lovely weekend.
Best Wishes
Daphne
Wow Marelize - I absolutely love what you have sewn - its fabulous!
Incredible! Absolutely beautiful quilting, I could study that piece for hours.
They are so lovely..I can't wait to try these.. mnay i know what thead you use and what weight you use in your work?
Beautiful quilting. Me, too, I love the fact that the feather is raised.
yY is verseker 'n inspirasie vir almal wat wil leer kwilt-Dit verg net oefening en jy deins nie daarvan terug nie. So pluk jy nou die vrugte van uitsonderlike resultate. Baie geluk
From one feather addict to the next...that is stunning! I like the checkerboard border...really sets it off and I don't think that the slight "none straightness" really shows. Great work.
Absolutely stunning! I am speechless...
This is just amazing! I am in AWE!
I will have to do a lot of pratice pieces before I can get any where close to your work! FABULOUS! I hope you win!
esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo com
What beautiful work.
I can't believe you haven't been doing feathers forever! They are absolutely fabulous...That is a lot of pebbles! Angela Walters said how many pebbles you do depends on how much you like the person your giving it too. Lol.
Wow, what amazing quilting! Love everything you've done there, and I particularly like the checkerboard border, it really caught my eye. Feathers are on my list of FMQ designs to practice this year. I try and learn a couple of new designs with every quilt. Love your work!
It's gorgeous! The checkerboard doesn't look uneven to me, it defines the edges beautifully.
Marelize, your quilting is amazing and beautiful!!! I love it and I love the checkerboard border, it accentuates the feathers perfectly. You inspire me :)
Bam! You nailed it! It looks fantastic, you should do well and be have earned the right to be pleased with it. Congratulations!
(just a side note, I'm having a little trouble with your blog. It's loading a little slow and there is lag in scrolling around and such. I dont seem to be having any issues anywhere else. Is the lie feed new? It might be slowing things down pinging back and forth for the data?)
This is to die for Marelize, you are sooo fab at doing this. Personally I love the checkerboard effect, I like the geometric detail framing all the swirls and curves :)
WOW is all I can say. Your quilting is fantastic. I strive for this level of perfection! Beautiful
Very beautiful!
Wow!!!! I REALLY love your feathers. The look so gorgeous! I've got to learn them, too. The look so noble and chic.
Proof positive what comes from practice and trusting your instinct. I have had such fun watching you work on this project. It is absolutely stunning.
Your stitching is phenomenal...and you did that checkerboard pattern using free motion...astounding!!
That final piece is just amazing. You are right to be proud of it. You earned it with a lot of hard work and practice.
Beautiful quilting!!
All I can say is ... WOW! Holy moley, your stuff sure looks fantastic. I think everything you did on the final piece is absolutely, positively perfect .... nothing needs changing at all. Wowsers.
Wow, Marelize, your final piece is truly amazing! You did a great job!! Whoop whoop!!
Wow! this is amazing. Your quilting has definitely improved a lot of from last year when we all were doing the Quilt Along. This one is stunning and awesome!
You must be so proud. Great job!
The checker board frame is beautiful, wonky or not!
Marelize that quilting is incredible. Well done. You have done some amazing work there.
WOW - stunning! Saw this on Flickr and had to come take a closer look. I certainly didn't notice anything 'wonky' about the border because I was is total awe of the feathers! Congrats on a beautiful piece :)
These are amazing... I'm not surprised you're very pleased with them, I can't imagine producing anything like that.
Hi. I found you through let's get acquainted.
I absolutely love your quilting I can't imagine how long this took you. As for the chequerboard border - I love it and even after I read you saying that it's wonky I struggle to see the wonk!
Popping over from the Let's Get Acquainted link up. Your FMQ is amazing!
wow! your feather quilting is amazing! I am in awe of the detail!
So beautiful! Good luck!! Thanks for linking up to Let's Get Acquainted!
Absolutely completely stunning!!!
And proud you should be too!! They are all just beautiful but my personal favorite is your top pic, love, love, love it!!
So beautiful!!
How in the world did you get so good at this?? lol.
They are gorgeous!!!!
Your feathers are incredible! You really knocked this one out of the park!
I love everything about your finished piece--the variations in the feathers, the background, and I LOVE the border idea--even if you think it looks a little wonky. I hadn't noticed that at all. : )
Your quilting is absolutely breath taking! Lucky me finding your blog through Martha's blog = Quilt to the Edge :) I'm going to follow you from now on!
This is so gorgeous - I'm just starting a feather project and I aspire to be this good ....
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