2013 FMQ Feathers Challenge #3

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.

FMQ Challenge - Feathers (WIP)

SewCalGal is again hosting a few challenges this year.  The one I was quite eager to try out is the feathers challenge.


I really enjoy quilting feathers, and after taking Angela Walters Free Motion Quilting with Feathers on Craftsy, I felt a lot more confident to try it out.  I love the motion of quilting feathers, and the look is so elegant and adds so much texture.


To find all the guidelines and tips for this challenge, click HERE.



So I started out by making a few quilt sandwiches cutting a fat quarter into four pieces.  

First I  quilted different styles of feathers, adding background fillers to fill in the sample.  Here I added swirly lobes to the feather, and inside the stem I quilted pebbles/pearls.   

This feather is quite curvy, and I find it very hard to add the petals/lobes of the feather on the inside curves, it never seem to work out the way it should.  So in my final quilt, I'll avoid adding curves that are too round.

This is the finished piece of the first feather sampler I made, note that these feathers are really small, the finished size of this mini quilt is 9 x 10½ inches.

My second sample I played around with a larger feather and concentrated a bit more on the background designs.

I really like the effect of the 'checker board' and the pebbles, so I'll definitely use that in my final quilt.

The next two samples  (same size as above)I still need to add binding, but I wanted to show you how I played around practicing my technique and getting into the motion of quilting feathers.

I've started quilting my final piece that I want to submit to the challenge, here is a sneak peak of what I've done so far.  

I really like quilting feathers, it is such a pretty design.  I sure hope to see more quilters joining in this challenge. This is so much FUN!

Linking up with FMQ Friday, @ The Free Motion Quilting Project and Can I get a whoop-whoop with Confessions of a fabric addict

Happy quilting.