The three line feather

Got an email about my three line feathers, so I thought I'd give more info. But, first, a Mable update.

Mable's only been with us for about 10 days, so worrying about her was kind of a waste of time. But, neither Rob nor I could help it. We worry about those in our charge. Yesterday, when I got home, Mable was like a different dog. She was playing. She was eating. She was baying and barking and jumping. She's still having trouble with her tail. Something happened back there and it's not flexible enough to point up. But, it was wagging like it had a mind of it's own last night. So, I guess all your good wishes for her must have helped.

Okay, so how do I feather and get consistent feathers? I don't know if you can click on this picture and see them or not, but there are three circles. This is a 9.5" finished block (I think) and I drew circles with radius of 1.5", 3", and 4.5".



Then, I sewed along the circle with the 3" radius and I echoed that line. This is the feather stem.

Next, I start the feathers and I make that feather go from the quilted stem out to the outer circle. If I go a bit over the outer circle line? Who cares. That outer circle line is blue washout marker and it's going away. Then, I do my echo quilting.

Okay, so if you're doing the free motion quilting challenge, then you need to write this down. Okay? Got your pencil? ECHO QUILTING IS HARD. Okay, got that? ECHO QUILTING IS HARD. You might even want to shout that out just so the Universe knows you know. ECHO QUILTING IS HARD. First, you're trying to stay an exact distance from an already quilted line. And, because the line you're measuring from is quilted, it doesn't wash out when you're done. So, if you're off, it's always going to be there and you're always going to know.

So, write this down too. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOUR ECHO QUILTING IS NOT ALWAYS EXACTLY 1/8" AWAY FROM YOUR QUILTING. It's okay. And, if you put enough quilting in your quilt, nobody, including you, will ever be able to find that mistake again. Okay? So, it JUST DOESN'T MATTER. Enjoy the quilting and celebrate all the precision you get.

Okay, so who won yesterday's books? It was Regan of Floating on a Quilted Cloud and also a fellow Jubilee Quilter. Regan, shoot me an email with your snail mail address.

And, I have the next three for a giveaway. First is the Best Selling Bazaar Patchwork. Okay, so this is a cute little book with lots of patterns for quilts and other projects that are sewing or fabric related and are quick and easy. I have made at least two patterns from this book and have found the directions to be concise and simple.

Next is Shortcuts, a concise guide to rotary cutting. This is just what it says. From assembling strips and cutting them to squares to easy HST's, this book is filled with Rotary Cutting tips to get the size block you need without having to piece every single set one, by one.

And, then there is the Quilsmart Drunkard's Path. This booklet was designed to go with a specific printed interfacing to make the blocks. But, they also give instructions without the interfacing. Personally, I didn't care for it because the Drunkard's Path blocks are assembled using applique instead of piecing. But, she gives lots of layouts for the blocks. And, if you want to avoid curved piecing, then this is the way.

Same rules. You have to say you're interested in the books in a comment to get drawn. I'll draw around 10 tomorrow. If you can help with postage, that's great. You'll have my address when you get the package. Don't spread the word. I'm trying to share my stuff with my followers that don't have huge stashes of books yet and don't have the benefit of a half price books.

Everybody take care and have a great Wednesday. Our guest arrives this evening. She is excited. We are excited. And, Sydney can't stop talking about it.

Lane