Wunder-Mar

Hear, hear! I absolutely think that feathers are overdone, and soooooooo many quilts' piecing designs are "muffled" by horribly dense overquilting. I think a lot of longarm quilters simply get into a "zone" and fill the space with their skills rather than back off a bit and ENHANCE the piecing.

A quilt is just as much about the color placement through piecing as it is the quilting process, but the trend has been to overdo feathers and overquilt projects. I am hoping it will pass.

pumpkinpatchquilter

I think this is just one of those you say tomato, I say to-mah-toe kind of things. The quilting in a quilt comes down to personal preference really and it's impossible to please everyone. I enjoy seeing quilts that have been quilted within an inch of their life as much as quilts with stitch in the ditch or stippling. As for feathers...they are popular right now and that is ok. ;) In a few years something else will be all the rage and we will eventually get sick of that too. ;) Lol*

pumpkinpatchquilter

Oh - and by the way, feathers aren't just for longarmers! I am a big fan of feathers and sew them on my teensy economical Simplicity Quilter's Classic.

Sadiemae

I have to admit I am surprised how much time is spent worrying about how other people quilt or have their quilts quilted. I control my mouse, and if I open a picture and don't care for the quilting, I can quickly go on to the next topic. No biggy to me...

k3n

Feathers are not new!!! Ppl have been handquilting feathers for centuries - the earliest I found so far is pre-1799, no pics available but the description says quilted with feather motifs - http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=47-7B-C1B
Why does everyone insist that they're a 'new' fad? :shock:

k3n

Women were MACHINE quilting feathers in the mid-1800s http://www.womenfolk.com/quilt_notes/12604.html

ajohn52

I agree. It seems they are used to excess by some LA quilters - on every quilt they do. And some are quilted to "death".

StitchinJoy

I agree that feathers can be overused as a quilting design. I think one reason may be that many quilters "love feathers." Another reason is thatdensely feathered quilting quite often is rewarded with ribbons at quilt shows.

If a quiltmaker tells a longarmer, "Do whatever you want"-- quite often she will get feathers because they are a natural go-to pattern for many longarmers.

I tend to do feathers only on very traditional quilts with lots of open spaces, or on very girly quilts, and only then after a detailed discussion with the quiltmaker.

I don't decide on her quilt design or her thread color on my own. These decisions are made in a consultation where we are working in collaboration. It's a process that I find works best for me and my clients. No surprises.

GABBYABBY

I agree. Sometimes it is hard to make out the
quilt pattern.

pumpkinpatchquilter

That's a lot of passion over feather history you have there. I missed it if anyone claimed they were new, but I personally did claim that they are popular, and I don't think that's far from the truth. ;)

I think this group tends to make these threads into debates because we have a bunch of rebellious artistic quilters here! ;) That's not such a bad thing. But I seriously don't get the controversy. LOL* One person basically started a thread to say they aren't such a big fan of feathers and dense quilting. It's like somebody saying "I really don't like yellow" and then a fight ensueing between those who support the color yellow and those who don't. It's interesting to hear different opinions...but you know what they say. Opinions are like another part of our anatomy that we all have in common...but I will refrain from being too vulgar. LOL*** ;)