I'm left-feathered!

I have read that most quilters do a better job of quilting down one side of
a feathered motif than the other. Tonight I am quilting- by machine- my
first feathers and I found out that I am left-feathered. Yep, I do the left
side better than the right. Why... I don't know. I've twisted and turned
it so many times who can say which direction I was quilting when or where???

Also, the most current books on machine quilting all sing the glories of
thin threads, even using super thin 100 wt. silk threads. The thought seems
to be that the depressions made by the thinner thread emphasize the quilting
pattern rather than the quilting stitches, you can't really see the
individual stitch lengths as well and the traveling/backtracking doesn't
show hardly at all. I quilted half of one feather with a glorious skinny
polyester Trilobar in the prettiest shades of deep pink, lavender, peach and
a turquoise blue. I hated it! The skinny threads show every little tiny
wobble as a right angle corner! (It does the same thing with satin stitch
applique- if you don't pivot at exactly the right time and exactly the right
amount of pivot the skinny threads will tattle on you. The cotton thread is
more forgiving there, as well.) So, I started the other feather using my
fave cotton thread- Robison-Anton- and it went so much smoother. I guess
with the cotton being thicker it doesn't 'corner' the same way the skinny
Trilobar did- the cotton kind of rounds off the wobble or something.

Unquilting bothers me. When I have to remove stitches in piecing or
applique I always feel like 'oh well, stuff happens'. But when I have to
un-quilt then I feel like I've failed at it. Maybe it's because I feel I'm
pretty good at piecing and applique and don't have a great deal of
self-confidence when mq'ing? Either way, I'm glad the unquilting is over
with and I can re-quilt that area with my sweet, fat cotton thread.

Back to my handbag making. This one is a 'whole cloth' handbag!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

I can only do one side of a leaf motif that looks "leafy". My feathers
aren't quite as bad as my leaves....well, maybe that's because BOTH sides of
my feathers are pretty crummy.

--
Kathyl (KJ) where the storms are rolling tonight!!!!
remove "nospam" before mchsi

http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
I have read that most quilters do a better job of quilting down one side of
a feathered motif than the other. Tonight I am quilting- by machine- my
first feathers and I found out that I am left-feathered. Yep, I do the
left side better than the right. Why... I don't know. I've twisted and
turned it so many times who can say which direction I was quilting when or
where???

Also, the most current books on machine quilting all sing the glories of
thin threads, even using super thin 100 wt. silk threads. The thought
seems to be that the depressions made by the thinner thread emphasize the
quilting pattern rather than the quilting stitches, you can't really see
the individual stitch lengths as well and the traveling/backtracking
doesn't show hardly at all. I quilted half of one feather with a glorious
skinny polyester Trilobar in the prettiest shades of deep pink, lavender,
peach and a turquoise blue. I hated it! The skinny threads show every
little tiny wobble as a right angle corner! (It does the same thing with
satin stitch applique- if you don't pivot at exactly the right time and
exactly the right amount of pivot the skinny threads will tattle on you.
The cotton thread is more forgiving there, as well.) So, I started the
other feather using my fave cotton thread- Robison-Anton- and it went so
much smoother. I guess with the cotton being thicker it doesn't 'corner'
the same way the skinny Trilobar did- the cotton kind of rounds off the
wobble or something.

Unquilting bothers me. When I have to remove stitches in piecing or
applique I always feel like 'oh well, stuff happens'. But when I have to
un-quilt then I feel like I've failed at it. Maybe it's because I feel
I'm pretty good at piecing and applique and don't have a great deal of
self-confidence when mq'ing? Either way, I'm glad the unquilting is over
with and I can re-quilt that area with my sweet, fat cotton thread.

Back to my handbag making. This one is a 'whole cloth' handbag!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

Too funny, Leslie! I will have to experiment and see if I am right- or
left-feathered.

BTW, thanks so much for turning me on to McTavishing--I just finished a lap
quilt on which I freehanded Victorian feathers. It was a gas! I had more
fun quilting that little thing than I have had in ages. Kind of gives me
the giggles when I am really into the groove. My neighbor, who is a *real*
artist, was fascinated so much that he watched me do a couple of them. I
could see his fingers twitch when he thought I should make a move, LOL.

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
I have read that most quilters do a better job of quilting down one side of
a feathered motif than the other. Tonight I am quilting- by machine- my
first feathers and I found out that I am left-feathered. Yep, I do the
left side better than the right. Why... I don't know. I've twisted and
turned it so many times who can say which direction I was quilting when or
where???

Also, the most current books on machine quilting all sing the glories of
thin threads, even using super thin 100 wt. silk threads. The thought
seems to be that the depressions made by the thinner thread emphasize the
quilting pattern rather than the quilting stitches, you can't really see
the individual stitch lengths as well and the traveling/backtracking
doesn't show hardly at all. I quilted half of one feather with a glorious
skinny polyester Trilobar in the prettiest shades of deep pink, lavender,
peach and a turquoise blue. I hated it! The skinny threads show every
little tiny wobble as a right angle corner! (It does the same thing with
satin stitch applique- if you don't pivot at exactly the right time and
exactly the right amount of pivot the skinny threads will tattle on you.
The cotton thread is more forgiving there, as well.) So, I started the
other feather using my fave cotton thread- Robison-Anton- and it went so
much smoother. I guess with the cotton being thicker it doesn't 'corner'
the same way the skinny Trilobar did- the cotton kind of rounds off the
wobble or something.

Unquilting bothers me. When I have to remove stitches in piecing or
applique I always feel like 'oh well, stuff happens'. But when I have to
un-quilt then I feel like I've failed at it. Maybe it's because I feel
I'm pretty good at piecing and applique and don't have a great deal of
self-confidence when mq'ing? Either way, I'm glad the unquilting is over
with and I can re-quilt that area with my sweet, fat cotton thread.

Back to my handbag making. This one is a 'whole cloth' handbag!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

I'm sure most people can do one side of feathers better than the other.
I *think* mine is best left side (I'm quite bad at both, so I'm not sure
g), so I just turn the piece around and come back on my 'good' side!
..
In message , Leslie & The Furbabies
in MO. writes
I have read that most quilters do a better job of quilting down one side of
a feathered motif than the other. Tonight I am quilting- by machine- my
first feathers and I found out that I am left-feathered. Yep, I do the left
side better than the right. Why... I don't know. I've twisted and turned
it so many times who can say which direction I was quilting when or where???

Also, the most current books on machine quilting all sing the glories of
thin threads, even using super thin 100 wt. silk threads. The thought seems
to be that the depressions made by the thinner thread emphasize the quilting
pattern rather than the quilting stitches, you can't really see the
individual stitch lengths as well and the traveling/backtracking doesn't
show hardly at all. I quilted half of one feather with a glorious skinny
polyester Trilobar in the prettiest shades of deep pink, lavender, peach and
a turquoise blue. I hated it! The skinny threads show every little tiny
wobble as a right angle corner! (It does the same thing with satin stitch
applique- if you don't pivot at exactly the right time and exactly the right
amount of pivot the skinny threads will tattle on you. The cotton thread is
more forgiving there, as well.) So, I started the other feather using my
fave cotton thread- Robison-Anton- and it went so much smoother. I guess
with the cotton being thicker it doesn't 'corner' the same way the skinny
Trilobar did- the cotton kind of rounds off the wobble or something.

Unquilting bothers me. When I have to remove stitches in piecing or
applique I always feel like 'oh well, stuff happens'. But when I have to
un-quilt then I feel like I've failed at it. Maybe it's because I feel I'm
pretty good at piecing and applique and don't have a great deal of
self-confidence when mq'ing? Either way, I'm glad the unquilting is over
with and I can re-quilt that area with my sweet, fat cotton thread.

Back to my handbag making. This one is a 'whole cloth' handbag!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Good Morning Leslie,

Feathers!!!! How fun!!!!! I love to free motion feathers. I am
going to have to get a book on McTavishing. Sounds fun. :-)

Will you share pictures of you 'whole cloth' handbag?

Marsha in nw, Ohio

Oh yeah- I'll share pics! I promised I wouldn't flood the ng with a post
every time I finished one, but I almost have that 'next ten handbags and
then I'll post' promise ready to display to y'all! Maybe today??? (wink!)

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"Meandering" wrote in message
oups.com...
Good Morning Leslie,

Feathers!!!! How fun!!!!! I love to free motion feathers. I am
going to have to get a book on McTavishing. Sounds fun. :-)

Will you share pictures of you 'whole cloth' handbag?

Marsha in nw, Ohio