watson's mom

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.

dunster

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.

baglady65

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

patski

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!

thepolyparrot

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. :)

carolynjo

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.

madamekelly

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.

feline fanatic

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!

aronel

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

onemoe

:thumbup: