Tips for Feather Work...
 

Beginning to practice feathers and would like any tips and hints to make them better.
I've taken a Craftsy class to get the basics, but interested in how you get them to fill the space and make curves that are graceful.

Watson

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.

This is one of my favorite videos on feathers. Her feathers are beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOVrN62RlA

This video series helped me when I was just starting. http://www.suzanneearley.net/feather-boot-camp/

Thats an awesome video! Thanks for sharing"

Hey Watson,
I get the best results in terms of pretty curves and filling spaces properly with the "bump back" method. Less traveling over lines and a little easier to visualize for me.

Rob

draw,draw,draw! I mark my spine with chalk but like to avoid stitching that spine--it gets too thread heavy. I'm like Feline in that i can't go up one side and down the other but always have to start at the bottom. In a feather class I took with Myrna Fricken she said to always be sure to have the "stem" of each feather pointing down, make the feather, and then go back to the same downward direction. In a class with Jamie Wallen he said to get them to curve to stick in a smaller feather to have the next one curve back onto--there's the curve. For starters think of the feathers being a paisley shape. Good luck!

One of the best instructors is Kimmy Brunner when it comes to feathers. She's got a DVD for sale on her website that is awesome. Comes with a workbook. She's teaching at Houston this year. If you get the chance, take a class from her.

Thanks Pagzz for the tutorial. Not good at free motion but will give these lessons a try.