Finished all the feathers

I just finished this queen sized scrappy star quilt for Nancy.

It cried out for feathers soooooo all the big empty spaces have big feather wreaths.

(you can see the quilting better if you click on the pic.)

I don't have a place to spread out the whole quilt so I can only show you a small part, but you get the idea.

The quilt is 84 x 100 before quilting.

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I hope you all had a great Easter.

We had an Easter rainstorm all day which was probably    disappointing to many youngsters and families looking to have outdoor activities, but after the drought we have been in for the last several months, I look at it as an Easter miracle.

Happy quilting!

First wreath

Here's the first wreath and it turned out just the way I envisioned it.

Sometimes the anticipation far out exceeds the final product but this is just the way I saw it.

The thread shows up just enough on the black and will just be a whisper on the light'

Oh I'm doin' the happy dance here.

More later, work now.

Happy quilting.



Good Progress

Made good progress of the double Irish chain yesterday.  I think I may have got almost a quarter or the way done.  But a lot of the times when working on these big ones,  they just get bigger as I go along. Ha!  Had to stop long enough to go and get a new air erase marker.  Both of the ones I was using were getting too faint to stay long enough for me to get the spine stitched.

When doing a feather wreath, I mark the spine and then then the  inner circle that is the border for the edge of the feathers on the inside of the wreath.  I mark this boundary because it is hard to get a circle out of the inner feathers if you don't, and believe me, this will show and look wonky.  For this particular size of feather, the top of a  ziplock container is perfect.  (The old design had a circle in the middle that could be cut out).  Another way to make the perfect circle template is with freezer paper and a compass, then mount it on a piece of cardboard (cereal or cracker boxes are great for this) or template plastic.  Be sure to cut out the center for the edge of the inner feathers.  After I get the marking done, I build the feathers without marking.  This takes some practice and I did this practice on a couple of charity quilts for my guild.  when I turned in these quilts I was told, " Oh, Mary Ann these quilts don't have to be quilted so beautifully, just an all over design will be okay."  I responded with.  I hadn't ever done these wreaths before and had to practice somewhere, so I practiced on these."  Charity quilts are a great place to practice new designs or your skills on new a sewing machine or equipment.

Remember, the more you quilt, the better you get and that is the ONLY way to get better.

Happy quilting!