More February Feathers

A quick hello to you all.
Thank you all for your kind remarks after my previous post.
I've had a lot of fun with my feathers over the weekend..have a little practise, take a little break, another sew and another break.
Here is the resulting practise piece —

and here is my sampler  —

Unfortunately, the fabric I have used as my background doesn't show
 up the feathers well.

I have written more on my blog, here.

Looking forward to doing more - but taking a break from fmq-ing for a bit!!!
have a geat day, every-one
Raewyn.

FMQ Challenge 2012 - Feb Feathers

I did two sets of feathers.  One on my DSM and one on Long Arm.  I'm fairly comfortable doing feathers on my DSM but have only been at the long arm for a couple of months now.  I choose a new pattern that I had not sewn on either machine.  Used the same fabric and the same thread.  What do you think, can you tell which was done on the DSM and which was done on the long arm?

Free Motion Quilt Challenge 2012

I see everyone has been busy with thier feathers from Diane Gaudynski's February Tutorial

It really is a wonderful tutorial .

These Monthly tutorials have been organised by SewCalGal's.  You can find all the information here

Here are some of the ones I have done.

This was on some blue satin.

You can see more of these and others on my blog - .here



Some drawings I did in the car on the way to Perth last week.

All a matter of practise :)

Labyrinth Quilt

This is a wedding quilt for my nephew and his new wife.  It took me a long time to figure out how to quilt this one, I really wanted it to be special for them.  More detailed pictures on my blog http://suedaurio.blogspot.com/2012/02/labyrinth-quilt-is-done-and-ready-to.html  Now to work on my feathers, hope to have those finished by tomorrow.

February's Feathers

I had fun sewing this month's FMQ Challenge feather! Diane Gaudynski's instructions were fabulous (like always).

See more pictures on my blog.

Thanks for hosting a giveaway Wendy - so kind (like always too!) and such a great incentive!

Dynamic Spring Motion 6D foot & Linked Echo Feathers Border

I'm participating in 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge hosted by Sew Cal Gal.   February's design is feathers by Diane Gaudynski.  In free motion quilting,  feathers have been my nemesis for a long time.   I have been practicing feathers and posted my journey on my blog.
I have a Pfaff Creative 2 sewing machine and recently purchased a new quilting foot.

The foot isn't available with an open toe.

The front of the toe is slanted upward, making visibility when free motion quilting difficult.

I cut the front of the loop off sanded the edges and finished it with several layers of nail polish.  Behold my modified open-toe foot.

I used Gutermann 100% cotton variegated thread to sew the linked feathers.  This thread colour was not a good choice because all my mistakes show.   Ooops!

 I used a straight stitch needle plate.

 Dropped the feed dogs.   Stitch length set to zero and needle down position on.

The quilt border was not marked, the feathers are about 14 inches long.  First I stitched the stem and echoed back.  Then sewed the feathers on one side and echoed back to the base and stitched the on the other side.

 Quilting the border around the corners was challenging.

 I love my new quilting foot, no tension adjustments and the stitches beautiful front and back.

 

 

 

 

After four bobbins of thread the outside linked feather border was complete.  I decided to fill in the entire border with echos around the feather border using 100% polyester yellow thread.

 In hindsight, I wish I would have used the yellow thread for the feathers as well.

 

 

 I'm loving this quilting foot.

 

 

 

This is a slow process, I have used 7 bobbins of thread.  There are still three sides to finish the outside echos on.  I'm pleased to be getting lots of practice echoing around the feathers.

 

 A feather branched off the main stem on this corner.

 

 

This baby quilt is laid out on a queen size bed.

 It is large enough for a toddler's bed.

 

 Close ups of the stitches.

This is the backside.

 

 Happy quilting all.
Tammy

First feather efforts.

Running the risk of being labelled as 'the one with the wonky feathers', I have decided to post about my efforts this afternoon.
Behind in Sewgalcal's fmq challenge, I have only just got to February's tutorial by Diane Gaudynski. This is my first attempt at doing feathers.  I found the tutorial to be really clear and helpful, and very easy to follow.
What is lacking is my own experience and my first efforts are very uneven and sadly lacking in feather finesse, however I am sure my husband would be very impressed and not notice the imperfections!!

You can see from the photos that my freehand feathers didn't go well, so I have been drawing them in until I get some sort of feather-muscle-memory! I'm also having trouble keeping a nice even outer edge.
Thank you for enabling me to share; I am hoping that 'by going public' I will be doubly motivated to continue to practise and will hopefully be able to show you some better feathers another day :-)
And as a sideline---
Has anyone read/used either of the fmq-ing books that Diane Gaugynski has written? If  they as good as her tutorial I probably will end up getting them - but a thumbs up from other quilters would be nice first, and which one would be best to get first?
I'm interested also if anyone uses the Supreme Slider Diane talks about on her blog. Is it as useful as people say - I do sometimes seem to 'get stuck'? They are quite pricey to obtain here in New Zealand, so, once again, feedback would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Happy quilting,
Raewyn
stitchingfarmgirl.blogspot.com

Free Motion Feathers for February

I have had such a good time with this month's tutorial!  I love quilting feathers, so was very happy to learn a new technique - I love the echo back down along the feather the Diane Gaudynski does, and will definitely be keeping it as part of my feather repertoire!
Here's my take on Diane's feathers

a close up of this baby quilt I used them on

You can see a few more pictures on my blog - here or here.

Can't wait to see what comes next!

Giveaway!

Hey all of you who are doing the 2012 Free Motion Quilt Challenge with Sew-Cal Gal and the rest.  Post your feathers for this month here and you could have a chance to win this book:

To see what more is inside it, click the picture or visit Amazon.  I’ll draw at the beginning of March, so you have until the end of the month to get your feathers finished and posted.  Remember, the feathers have to be newly created for the Challenge.

 

-Wendy