Feather Quilting Class

As some of my blog readers know, I have quite a pile of UFO's. Don't ask me how many because I have never ventured to count them. On occasion I make a list of 10 or 12 to work on, but haven't been brave enough to make a complete list for several years! Part of the problem is that I make more tops than I can quilt, and it is so expensive to hire out the quilting that I just didn't want to do it...I'd rather buy more fabric than pay for quilting. So the only alternative is to continue to do my own quilting. I was bored with my regular routine of stitch in the ditch and stipple, and have been trying to experiment with quick and fun designs. I love the spirals that I used on my husband's quilt (see this blog entry) and for the last year I have been practising to quilt various types of feather designs.

This afternoon I taught a group of adventurous quilters to try free motion feather designs on their quilts. Here they are with their practise pieces - Brenda, Lorelei, Gail and Judy.

We sure enjoyed quilting in the lovely new classroom area at Reichards which has a high ceiling, with lots of windows and natural light. Everyone got a great start on mastering the technique and I hope they continue to improve their confidence, to try more feather quilting, and believe it when I said that the key is practise, practise and more practise! Each time I have feather quilted I have enjoyed it more, and like the end result more.

I used my mystery quilt to demo how to quilt one type of feathered border and I am totally amazed that this quilt might be finished for my next guild UFO meeting! This is an amazing turn around time for me...it has only been pieced for less than a month and hasn't had hardly any time to ripen!!