Learning to quilt feathers

Whenever I’ve had an inkling to learn a new quilting skill, I never start small. More often than not I decide I’m going to do it, and it is going to be king sized.

That’s how I learned to paper piece, sew curved seams and triangles. Now I’m going to learn how to quilt feathers and I’m going to quilt them on my king-sized maple leaf log cabin quilt.

My thought is the gently curving motion of the feathers will help offset the sharp right angles in the log cabin strips. But first I have to learn how to make them, so I signed up for Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers by Angela Walters on Craftsy. I’m about halfway through the class which teaches several feather variations. I like the basic feather she teaches the best, it doesn’t involve a lot of backtracking, so it is easier to get down than the custom feather.

I’ve been practicing by sketching the design out. So far I’m a lot better at getting smooth lines on the right side of the feather than the left, which may have something to do with the fact that I’m right handed.

Once I get confident enough I’m going to load a lap quilt on the longarm and give feathers a try in the border. That way I’ll have some practice before I dive right into the maple leaf log cabin.