Do You FMQ Feathers? HELP!
 

I need to learn how to quilt feathers for the current quilt I am quilting. I watched all the videos and thought I was ready... but my first practice piece (below, in brown) turned out HORRIBLE. If you are fairly decent at quilting feathers (FMQ, freehand, not with a longarm pattern) would you PLEASE post pics of your feather quilting here? I need some inspiration! And apparently, lots more practice.

well that's a skinny piece to handle when doing FMQ for one thing. you need to relax a bit more. put on some music. I'm about to try them again in my border soon.
here is a pic of my feather in progress that I did some time ago. slow movements help.

Thanks for the good advice and the photo! Lovely feathering!

Best way to learn FMQ feathers is with pencil and paper, play and get the flow of the feathers, train your brain on paper first and you will find it much much easier when working on a quilt.

pretty good results for first timer...one of my "Duh!" moments came when I watched a local professional doing her work....she was so slow that I thought she'd never get done...but her work was excellent because she had control of the process. When I went home and slowed down to her speed I did some pretty good work for a beginner....my problem is staying slowed down - thank God for speed control on my machine.

I find doing feathers difficult at best, and usually end up doing them upside down so I can actually see where I am going. My biggest issue is how to have a continuous pattern and not sew same area over. I love the way they look, just not very good at doing them, so while I have no help for you, I can sympathize completely. I know making the transition from drawing on paper to sewing is not easy, takes lots of practice. Keep at it, it does get easier.

are you using a stencil or pattern for the feathers or trying to "wing it" Your example looks like you need more control over the motif. I realy don't believe you can successfully just sit down and do the feathers without a plan and pattern to use as a guide. I don't know what practice you have done leading up to this. I suggest you practice just doing loops in about the size of your feather. Work for control of the needle. Go slow. Draw the design and follow it Dont try to make the design freehand until you have enough practice. Looking at your sample it appears you need a lot of practice to do it successfully. I do feather differently than others. Most double stitch the spine. I double stitch every other outside curve. It makes for more even lines for me. Get yourself a stencil, preferable one that is for continuous line feathers and practice.

Check out the book "Hooked on Feathers" by Sally Terry. It's easier than you think to get pretty feathers!

keep going it will get better and breathe

I should also say quilt toward you if you can. meaning do the feather down toward you and back up toward the spine. that way the quilt goes toward the back of your machine as usual, not into your lap. sometimes it's not do able but it does help because you can see more of what you are doing.
good advice to draw on paper- a lot. have fun too!