Endless feathers --drawing them

   Such a lot of interest in these feathers...endless questions and comments!  Great!  I love them and they gave me reason to really stop and think these plumes through.  Why are they so appealing?   For me, I think it is because they are not static but move and curl.  They are not drawn on the fabric with a line to try to follow.  Some plumes move one direction and others take off in the opposite one.   Instead of following a curve, they flow along the surface of the quilt---- creating a texture of softness around the applique in the case of the table runner.

   Where did I learn to stitch them?   I ran across the video on  Natasha's blog where she was showing how she stitched these feathers.  If you haven't visited and watched, please do.  It is in Russian, so the words must translate and she offers little detail in them.  But the videos are wonderful, and I really enjoyed the music she had playing.  I keep popping back over to re-watch them....after about 5 views I began some practice on paper.  Yes, pencil and paper and lots of it.  The first ones were not pretty.  It was only after about 20 pages of practice that I began to get the idea of what was happening.  Now, you may be a quick learner, or a good visual learner, but me....I am the" hands on"  type.  I learn by doing and doing, over and over.


  Drawing:   Get the teardrop shape down.  That's the first step on this and you need to be able to do a left curve one and a right curve one.   Fill a whole page with them if need be.  Paper is cheaper than fabric!
   The individual  plumes will be different  sizes in this method.  If you participated in the Free Motion Challenge last year you remember all the feathers and feather wreaths with similar plumes.  This motif is full of different size ones and I love the interest that creates.
Secondly, the plumes are created in three ways. I gave them names for ease of explaining.
 1. Individual plume in the teardrop shape  that begins the feather
 2. Attached plume that lays on top of the preceding plume.  
3. The "bump back" plume that can extend longer than the preceding plume.  

  I enlarged a spot on one of the photos  to show what I mean.   Start with an individual plume and then add the attached plume to it.    So far, so good....now what?    Look close and you will see that I traveled back over the last stitches a short distance, and then did a "bump back plume" .  On the labeled  bump back plume I swung the end out and down to fill in area before returning to the central stem.   Once I got back to the center, I was able to continue adding the plumes.
  OK, if you got this far and are not confused,  go practice!  Seriously, give me a few days and  I will work on trying to explain how to get them to curve and curl around.   If you have questions ....ask.
 Happy stitching.