I too had such problems with my free motion feathers. I would practice feathers on my dry erase board for about 30 minutes then head to my sewing machine. My feathers never looked good.
A friend of mine suggested I take Angela Walters Free Motion Quilting Feathers video class on Craftsy. Wow, what a difference my feathers look after taking her video class. She has a fantastic technique and I firmly believe that anyone who takes her class will be free of free motion quilting feathers woes!
The class was $40 but if you go online and register as a Craftsy member, from time to time they offer classes for $19.99. Once you sign up for a Craftsy class, you can view the video as many times as you want. There also printouts that you can print. She is an excellent teacher. I have signed up for several of her classes.
I suggest you check out the Craftsy website. Your confidence level will go from 0% to 99%!!