Meandering Feathers

I have been drawing feathers again and wanted to show you what I've been working on.

This is a back of a potholder that I did my "meandering feathers".

Step 1:  I drew a meandering line that is spread out so I can easily go back and add feathers.

Step 2:  The feathers are added making sure that all the space is covered, but giving yourself some room while doing curves.

Step 3:  Once one side is all filled in. You can finish on the other side filling in the whole area with feathers.

The variations are endless.  You can make a ribbon vein.  Circles can be added in the veins.  The feathers can be curls.  You can stitch over the meandering a second time to make the vein really stand out.  Let your imagination run wild.  I used a pink pen so you can see my work better and to train myself to quit erasing all the time.  It is my sketchbook and I'm experimenting--why erase the mistakes?  A mistake could lead into a completely new design :) 

Practice in your sketchbook until you feel comfortable drawing out your design.  Then I move to my sewing machine to stitch it out on a practice piece.  If I really feel comfortable, I move to my project.  When I'm doing a new design, I like to practice on potholders because of their size and I can finish it in a small amount of time to see if a design really works for me. Please remember that your feathers will not look like mine--they will be your own unique feathers!  If you do a project using meandering feathers, I would love to see a picture of your finished project!

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne