We are our own worst critic-i'm guilty of that too. And we can't see what you see in the stitching, try not to be too hard on yourself. I think that it looks really good as I haven't even tried feathers yet and I've been quilting for a while. You'd croak if you'd seen some of the quilting on the quilts I gave away! Please try to cut yourself some slack and show us your new machine when you get it.