February FMQ Challenge

Like most quilters I want to be able to do feathers - feathers - feathers.  Somehow even with the stencils it was always a chore.  They didn't fit, they went the wrong way, I spent as much time tracing the lines as I did quilting the lines. I have taken a class from Diane and others in the past so feathers aren't a new concept but I never really got very good at it.

Well to my surprise Diane Gaudynski's feathers are the second challenge.  OMG, they couldn't wait until month 5 or 6? OK, the only way to really do this is jump in. I went through Diane's materials. I have spent several evenings just running the pencil on paper to get the size and shape working.  There are feathers all over my house right now.  I knew that the best idea was shear repetition.

Time to commit needle to fabric - after all it is February 29th.

Last night I was at a quilting class and had my extension table with me in the trusty old pillow case.  It is worn and about to rip, plus it has no handles so kind of difficult to transport.  So here is the opportunity.  Make a quilted tote for the extension table.  Handles, straps around the bottom for support, reasonable size chunk of fabric to quilt with lots of FEATHERS. 

So I have a lot of it done but not all of it. I started with the blue pen and have completed enough feathers that now I am freehanding the whole thing.  I have completed some of the echo work but need to fill in better.  I am thinking little circles down the spine - but that really is overkill for a tote bag.

As with all of my quilting, practice is needed.  Figuring out the curls and balance will take some time but I can now take on the feathers.

Diane - the key comment in your description was the rounded top and the historical use of a coin to get the curve.  Now I had a true visual image that I could translate into my feathers.  Thank you for the instructions.