Jan 02 07
2 New Feather Thread Embellishment Ideas!
Those of you who have watched the Feathers DVD know that you can really dress up a quilted feather motif by going back and doing “hyper-quilting” or over-quilting of the feather using a decorative thread in an embellishment pattern. I finally finished binding another Amish quilt and it has two new hyper-quilted embellishments that I developed after I had published the Feathers DVD:
(You may recognize this quilt as the sandwich I used in an early chapter to demonstrate how to mark for feathers). Anyway, the outermost border design should look fairly familiar. This is the frond-embellished feather:
(Sorry about the lousy color on this picture, I can’t get the camera to cooperate!). The next hyper-quilting embellishment is called the serrated frond embellishment. It is shown in the center wreath below:
This is a very different look than one is used to in traditional quilted feathers, but it’s nice to have as many designs options as possible in our “design arsenal,” if you know what I mean! To stitch this, it is easiest to think of it as a variation on the frond embellishment. Start out just the same, but on the lower side of the frond, simply pause twice in your stitching and create 2 “saw-toothes,” like on a sawblade. When you go to stitch the inside of the frond, just stitch it as you would a normal frond and voila, you have a pretty cool new design!
The third hyper-quilted embellishment on this quilt is the inlined heart embellishment. It is shown in the middle border zone, quilted on the orange and magenta fabrics as shown below:
I am finding this to be a very useful thread embellishment and it is very effective and very striking when used on feathers that are meant to represent a blooming or unfolding type of design. This is easier to stitch than it looks. To stitch it, think of it as a variation of the in-lining embellishment from the DVD. Instead of merely “in-lining” the plume, approach it as in-lining a curved heart shape. Don’t worry that the pointy base of the heart seems really stretched out, there’s no way to avoid that and it will look great when you’re done. On these 3 embellishments, as well as the other feather embellishments discussed in the DVD, remember to ALWAYS respect the curve of the individual plume you are working inside and try to mimic its curve with the embellishment you are stitching. Now run to your sewing machines and have some fun!
P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
