Feather Schmeathers.

Well, they are far from perfect, but I thought my nightmare quilt would be the perfect quilt to practice on.  I have already offered this quilt as a functional quilt for my In-Laws to use on their boat.  I have of course quilted a nice big ol' wrinkle in the back, lol*, but at least now I can go to town and experiment and not worry about imperfections.  I thought even if the quilting isn't perfect, at least the colors are bright and right for the boat.

You can see where I began, there on the left - the feathers are small and kind of funny looking!  LOL*  I had to get my rythem going and figure out how the easiest way to create feathers for me would be.  I like those big chunky round feathers, for a quick over all feathered look, but my favorite ones on quilts are the long flowy skinny ones that really give that antiqued feathery look. 

Still gotta work at achieving that...but it is really FUN!!!

Motivated by the refusal to be at the mercy of any thread or fabric company, I purchased POLYESTER thread today.  I have always been fascinated by the mysterious world of thread and what it can do for my quilt.  My budget hasn't afforded me much other than inexpensive spools of 100% cotton (which is just fine I might add), but lately there has been this need in me to experiment.  I have blogged about this before, so many of you probably already know I've played a little with rayons.  But today my starving artist Momma of 3's budget could afford this little spool of Coats and Clark trilobal polyester thread...

...and what fine feathers it did create!  I can DEFINITELY see the difference, can you?  I really love the silky shiny look it gives - it's a different world to quilt with than cotton.  I noticed that I had to play a lot with tension and could not get away with using this in an old fashioned metal bobbin.  Yes, I still have old metal bobbins that I can't bare to part with, so when I run out of the new plastic drop ins I fill those metal clunkers up.  Usually they just make a lot of noise but quilt fine, but this polyester thread likes to catch on it and bunch up underneath.  No fun.  But I seem to have gotten it going fine with the plastic bobbin so that I can go full speed without too many hiccups.

I need some practice, but I think I'll feel good about feathers AND polyester when I'm done with this quilt.  :)