Originally Posted by dunster
It just occurred to me that the reason (I think) so many of us use and like feathers is that feathers add MOVEMENT to the quilt. Feathers seem to flow, taking your eye with them to other parts of the quilt. I can't think of any other design that does this as well.
I agree. Feathers have been around for a really long time and the fact they are so popular today I think is a testament to their classic beauty, flexibility and staying power. I design a lot of my quilting designs from scratch but other quilters heavily influence me. I like feathers and I like dense quilting. I like pebbling, ferns, echo quilting, SID repatative lines, grids, flowers, leaves and vines and just about any element that can be found in nature. I will use these elements to enhance the piecing.
I have yet to have a client give me a quilt where they didn't give me carte blanche to do what I wanted, mostly because they had no ideas of their own. And the times I have seen "how should I quilt this" topics here, well if I had a nickle for every one I could quit my day job. :lol:
I always strive to enhance the piecing on any quilt I do and often feathers fit the bill. However I will quilt however someone wants me to if they acutally gave me input on it! In my experience, most don't have a clue what they want or don't want. And in my experience, at least the quilts I have done.... heavy quilting does not make a quilt so stiff that it stands up on it's own. And once it has been washed it is just as cuddly and drapey as a quilt with hardly any quilting.
Additionally as Tealfalcon said, the quilting posted here by LAQ is purposely photographed to show off the quilting. The piecer can post photos show off the whole package!