There could not be enough feather for me. I really like them.

I don't make any apologies for being passionate about quilting or checking my facts before posting... :-)

And personally I find the trad quilters more 'rebellious' than the art quilters - we mostly started in the traditional and have developed into the art so can see the beauty in both.

PS I just checked out your blog and your FMQ is beautiful - feathers and all. :D

Oh my goodness. I'm fairly new to the Board so I've never heard such ugly remarks.

I like feathers! I don't like "over-quilting". Does this mean that I don't want you to make yourself happy? Of course not! Everyone is entitled to voice their thoughts and no one should get upset about it.

My gosh - should we all do Log Cabins? Maybe no one should ever do a Log Cabin again.

Let's not argue -- I enjoy the Board simply because there are so many different types of quilters and just as many opinions. Be Nice please.

I also agree. I love the look of feathers but I too see too many quilts with feathers in them.

I think all feathers and quilting is beautiful-BUT- not overdone,

i think it is a personal feeling about any quilting done on a quilt, there fore you will get all kinds of answers

Love feathers!!!!

I think there are so many strong opinions because quilters are passionate people. Passion isn't always sweet, it can be ignited. We love making quilts, they are personal to us so we are going to have strong feelings about them. But, we can differ in our opinions and remain friends. I fell in love with feathers when I first came to this board, then with other techniques as I saw them used on quilts. I fall in love with a new quilt or several everyday and the quilting on them. I personally am amazed at how many ways a feather can be done. I also like the quilting to compliment the quilt. Can I have it both ways? Of course.

Personally I have never intended my remarks to be offensive or hurtful to anyone. I hope they are not perceived as such. I like discussion and exchange of views - it's how I learn and evolve.

I agree, I love these threads!

I do like the feathers but anything can be overdone. Like a lot of you, I prefer the spaced quilting so I can actually see the fabric, but I do like the feathers too. I guess that is why we all get to select what we want for our individual quilts..

Tisha, no need to apologize. I was not offended, I just didn't want people to think there was a dig against any one person. It is all a matter of personal taste. And, it can be very easy to get caught up in some of the remarks, especially when they head off in the wrong direction.
By the way, I love the feathers, just not on everything and not so much when they distract from the pattern. lol Have a great day!! :D

I think feathers have been overdone and I don't care for dense quilting.

Those are my opinions and I will express them when a topic like this comes up.

Feel free to express your own opinions on the subject.

I am not here to offend anybody and so I find it very tiring when people who don't agree with my opinions get offended when I express mine. They act like I said mine just to hurt them or I'm not as "learned" as they are because we hold different opinions.

You are allowed to express your opinion as long as you don't attack me for mine in the process.

Thank you. :)

Okay, I tried to resist the urge to post, but it just didn't work. (I am allowed...) I just don't need to ask permission from anyone anymore! LOL

I agree. If I spend hours and hours planning, cut and piecing a quilt, I would like to see the actual design enhanced. Feathering really does distract. Yes, feathering is very beautiful and requires great skill, but minimal is better IMHO. That is unless it is specifically requested by the owner of the quilt. :thumbup:

I think it's OK to express your opinion. Yes it begins a conversation and hopefully no offense is taken on anyone's part. I like the way Selena said it "I think there are so many strong opinions because quilters are passionate people." Also conversations like this helps us to share ideas with people of like mind. It's all good! :lol: :thumbup:

I love the feathers, but I'm with the "not to dense" crowd. I like a quilt to be soft and flexible. Now a quilt that is strictly made for show is a horse of a different color. They are ususally not used to cuddle in and in that case dense quilting is fine.

I agree...and for the record I only implied, I didn't use any actual swear words. LOL* ;)

I would never ask you to apologize and I rather enjoyed your excitedness. ;) Thank you for the compliment on my quilting, I must do some feathers and blog about them in honor of this thread. Lol*

I have enjoyed your thread and I think you have every right to express your opinion on feathers. I find it purely entertaining how heated a debate it caused! ;) I mean, they are just feathers after all, and all you said was you didn't really like them. LOL*

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Lately our discussions have been going downhill quickly. We all like one another on here but sometimes get side tracked and feelings get hurt. Just saying.

Personally I like most designs but not too densely done. I like to see the piecing, appliqueing, whatever and feel the quilting should only enhance this not over power the design. But that's just me. Thank you to everyone for sharing.

It just occurred to me that the reason (I think) so many of us use and like feathers is that feathers add MOVEMENT to the quilt. Feathers seem to flow, taking your eye with them to other parts of the quilt. I can't think of any other design that does this as well.

I don't care for heavy quilting but some of the feathers are done beautiful.

I like to meander when I quilt, thinking about the curves life throws us, the up and downs, i listen to music, muse and quilt!

I LOVE feathers! Asking me if I have too many feathers in one of my feathered quilts is like asking me if I have too many flowers or too many children or too many sewing machines. Any of those are impossible! :mrgreen:

Overdone? Probably. I subscribe to Dolly Parton's "more is more" theory when it comes to quilting, because the quilting is the most fun part of making a quilt.

I am as plain as a picket fence as a person - I dress in Navy blue and brown and I wear only a wedding ring and a religious medal for jewelry, but my quilts are as full of feathers or flowers or swirls or leaves as I can make them. LOVE them feathers!

My quilts are as soft and cuddly as a blankie when I'm done and they're washed. :)

Thank you for raising this question. I have long felt that, because we can, we tend to overdo the quilting on machines. Now, don't get me wrong, some of the quilts are lovely and are enhanced by feathers, but sometimes they look too heavy for the quilt top they adorn. I also feel that that quilt shows have too many heavily quilted quilts in the shows. I think that less is more.

I do like feathers, but I love to see them in combination with cross hatching, loops, etc. One of m favorite parts, of looking at quilts, is seeing the quilting ART.

I agree. Feathers have been around for a really long time and the fact they are so popular today I think is a testament to their classic beauty, flexibility and staying power. I design a lot of my quilting designs from scratch but other quilters heavily influence me. I like feathers and I like dense quilting. I like pebbling, ferns, echo quilting, SID repatative lines, grids, flowers, leaves and vines and just about any element that can be found in nature. I will use these elements to enhance the piecing.

I have yet to have a client give me a quilt where they didn't give me carte blanche to do what I wanted, mostly because they had no ideas of their own. And the times I have seen "how should I quilt this" topics here, well if I had a nickle for every one I could quit my day job. :lol:

I always strive to enhance the piecing on any quilt I do and often feathers fit the bill. However I will quilt however someone wants me to if they acutally gave me input on it! In my experience, most don't have a clue what they want or don't want. And in my experience, at least the quilts I have done.... heavy quilting does not make a quilt so stiff that it stands up on it's own. And once it has been washed it is just as cuddly and drapey as a quilt with hardly any quilting.

Additionally as Tealfalcon said, the quilting posted here by LAQ is purposely photographed to show off the quilting. The piecer can post photos show off the whole package!

My sentiments exactly, sometimes there is too much quilting. JMHO

:thumbup:

At the last quilt show that I attended in Tacoma, WA I came to the same conclusion. Too much quilting is just that, too much. As far as feathers are concerned I have noticed that they are a little overdone, as well.

A long arm quilter charges more for a lot of quilting and many times that's how they make their living. I have a long arm but haven't started quilting for others yet but hope to one day. Of course the problem is that I won't want to charge much.

Well, hot damn. Next time throw in a few cuss words and then I'll know "you're for real" (or whatever it is the kids say nowdays).

Who knew "feathers" could create such a crowd?!

I couldn't agree more... also, I look at some of them and wonder if they are "stiff". Pretty and pieces of art they are but I can't imagine they are something I would want to use on my bed..

I feel I must add that I like feathers, but as others have said, sometimes it is a bit overdone. The quilters who have mastered the technique do an amazing job.

I love it! You never know what will set people off and I just love to read the reactions. We have some great personalities on this board.

Completely agree :)

And this one has really set people off...I keep checking just to see what's next.

To much of anything is a bad thing. But I like feathers, and I like a dense quilt. But when quilting for someone as a gift I normally go with a looser pattern. Most people like the fluffy.

I say yes! I think feathers are overdone! And over-quilting is overdone (by some). If it's a wall hanging or an art quilt, that's different; but if it's a quilt you're going to use, too much quilting takes away the softness. I've seen some quilts that I think could stand up on their own.