Practice...practice...practice....if you have an opportunity to go to the Machine Quilter's Expo the first weekend of May, there are lots of seminars you can take. One of the best tips EVER I learned in one of the seminars was on how to do feathers. Buy a Latino dance CD. Yup....it keeps you from tensing up! When you are practicing your feathers, you automatically want to *bump* to the music and it truly does help.....try it!