Day 319 – Moon Feathers

You know you’ve hit on an awesome texture when as soon as you draw it, you have to go quilt it! While it may not look like it now, this Moon Feathers design is actually a variation of a traditional feather.

It just goes to show how much things can change when you start fiddling with a simple design. In this case, I was experimenting with traditional quilting feathers, trying to make them easier to form.

All I’ve changed with Moon Feathers is altering the traditional tear drop shape formula. Instead of curling up and around into a plump feather, I instead just bounce off the last shape and arc back to the stem which creates this funky, flowing texture.

It’s impossible to describe, so you’ll just have to watch how it works:

Difficulty Level – Intermediate. Take a trip back through the designs and spend a bit of time stitching Moon Paisley and Wormholes. Experiment a bit with that simple arching shape and then this design should be no problem at all!

Design Family – Stem Centered. With this design, you first create the stem, then branch out with the moon leaves to fill some of the space around. This particular design is a lot like Tongue of Flames and Swirling Feathers in that I’ve stitched multiple stems swirling around with moon feathers building up and filling in all directions.

Because of how it’s created, I feel that this design will work great in any area of your quilt, especially if you’re wanting to cover a large amount of surface area very quickly.

Directional Texture – All Directions. The texture seems to fill from all different directions so make sure to place this where you want loads of movement.

Suggestions for Use – What if you took a super traditional, over the top Victorian style whole cloth and exchanged the traditional feathers for Moon Feathers? Maybe you also exchanged the microstippling background for something funky like Cubic Ripples? All I know is, I’d love to see it!

Free Motion Quilting Design #11 – Moon Paisley

Funky Wormholes Quilting Design # 240