Wow, don't you love how passionate we quilters are??? We all love our craft - and we all love our quilts.
As a longarm quilter, I use feathers occasionally. It took a few years of testing and trying to get just the look I wanted without too much quilting; the overquilting and double stitching and bump-back and double stems/filled stems is just not to my taste. I've found the technique I like now, and have used it on a couple of quilts with lots of open space. I chalk the spine but don't stitch it, and I leave a small space between the feathers.
My husband requested feathers for his own quilt that my girls and I made for him, and it suits the quilt perfectly. He loves it--enough said. I also used it in my tree skirt, because, frankly, I liked the look, and couldn't figure out how to quilt holly leaves and make it look as nice.
http://www.quiltscapesquilting.com/patterns
Shivers go up and down my spine when a client asks me to do an overall pattern on applique' quilts, or motifs - I talk them out of it... The quilting is just there to add texture and bring the design of the quilt to life. If someone tells me to quilt it however I want to, I take clues from the design of the quilt, how it will be used, who it is for, and then I let the fabric and the quilt speak to me. (I hear quilts...)
So, at the risk of being shunned...