feline fanatic

I drew them over and over on a doodle pad. I made them going in all directions from left to right, right to left facing up, facing down. I did them with fat plumes, skinny plumes, long and short plumes. Straight spines and curvy spines. I drew shapes like triangles, rectangles, diamonds and long skinny straightaways (to replicate borders and sashing) and filled those spaces with feathers doing different things. I filled entire pages of huge newsprint pads with feathers. I drew them until they became as mindless to me as signing my name. To this day, when faced with a different application of feathers, such as a new shape or doing curling feathers or switch back feathers or a modified feather shape like puff top feathers or hook feathers, I pull out the drawing pad and practice the technique I want to use on the quilt.

With all that practicing I did discover that while I can do a feather going in any direction I can only do them starting from the perceived base or bottom of the spine to the top. If I try going top to bottom I mess up every time and the plume shape looks awful as well. I can't get that pretty "teardrop" shape.

Edited to add that I also still mark my quilt with the spine and I will often mark the outside border where I want the plume to reach. For example when I do feathered wreathes I mark the circle for the spine, the circle where I want the outside plumes to extend out to and the inside circle where I want the inside plumes to reach to.