Feather Quilting Dresses Up Jingle's Setting Triangles

Hey there, Quilty Folk!  I finally have some quilting progress to share on my Jingle sampler that is not invisible!

Sashing Triangles Done, Just Starting This Star Block

By the time I was done with the Drudgery That Is Ditch-Stitching, a little devil was whispering wicked things in my ear like "How much credibility would I lose as a professional longarm quilter if I paid someone else to do this for me?" and "maybe I should try some other hobby, like golf?"  Y'all, I have tried golf and it did not go well -- so it looks like I'm stuck with quilting!

It took me three days to quilt these feather designs in my setting triangles, four if you count the day I spent considering all of the bazillion possible ways I could quilt them until I narrowed it down to this one.  It's a digital block design from Anne Bright that I chose because it has formal, symmetrical feathers that complement the style of metallic Hoffman fabrics that I used in my borders and fussy cut for some of the blocks.  But it's not too traditional, either, with the staggered feather plumes curling around on themselves.  There's a touch of whimsy to these feathers that connects well with the simple appliqué shapes.  At least, that's the hope!

These Inside Corners Were Challenging!

These weird inside corner shapes (above in green and below in red) were challenging both in deciding what to quilt there, how I wanted to turn the corner with the design, and then fitting the designs into the weirdly-shaped spaces.  I was very glad when I had the fourth one stitched without messing any of them up!  

I positioned the individual feather plume designs one at a time, sizing them to fit the space, and then connected them to stitch out continuously.  I love how my border "frame" in that trompe l'oeil stripe look even more three-dimensional, now that the loft surrounding the frame has been compacted by the feather quilting.  

Same Designs Stitched on the Poinsettia Fabric

I used 40 wt Glide in color Honey Gold to stitch the feathers on all of my setting triangles, and then I went back over the quilt, stitching little bits of gold quilting here and there in the pieced blocks wherever I thought the Honey Gold thread would look good.  I may still use small amounts of metallic thread in this quilt to add a little more sparkle here and there, but there is already A Lot Going On and metallic thread might just be Too Much when all is said and done.

This Block Isn't Finished Yet, Either

One thing I'd like to point out is that I was not long arm quilting yet when I started this project back in 2013, and that definitely is reflected in my fabric choices.  I still love these beautiful prints, but today I would be incorporating more solids or tonal solids that would show off the quilting better! Although it's interesting how the feather quilting breathes so much life into the plain emerald setting triangles, whereas the same design just adds texture to the poinsettias and tones down the print.

Six Years to Finish the Quilt Top

Somehow this quilt gives me a late 19th/early 20th century Aesthetic Movement/Arts & Crafts vibe, like I'm channeling my inner William Morris.  (What, doesn't EVERYONE have an Inner William Morris?!)

Feathers Show Up on Red Better In Real Life Than In Pictures

There is still SO. MUCH. QUILTING. LEFT TO DO!  I would love to tell you that I have it all planned out, but I'm actually just flying by the seat of my pants.  I don't even know what color thread I'm going to use tomorrow, let alone what I'll be quilting with it!  Here are some possibilities:

• At some point I have to pop my ruler base back on the machine.  I feel like I need to add a fair amount of straight line ruler work in those patchwork blocks to provide a counterpoint to the flowing feather curves.  Most likely switching back and forth between Honey Gold, Candy Apple Red, Cream, and Emerald thread.
• All eight appliqué blocks need background quilting!  I have a muddle of murky ideas for that brewing in my head but it's like waiting for the final answer to pop up in the Crazy Eight Ball toy.  I know I want an off white thread for that but I don't know if I'll stick with the Glide trilobal polyester that has presence and sheen, or if a matte thread like Aurifil cotton or So Fine would be better so as to keep the background "in the background," or maybe even a lighter weight thread like Bottom Line or MicroQuilter, since I'll likely be double stitching a lot as I maneuver around the appliqué elements.
• Then there's that gigantic appliqué center of the quilt needing to be quilted.  The negative space in that area seems massive, like an ocean's worth of possibilities, because this is the one area where the quilting will show up dramatically against the ivory background fabric.  Right now I have too many ideas and it's like creative gridlock inside my brain, so I'm just going to hop out the car window and go for a walk (metaphorically) until the traffic clears up.  Meaning, I'm going to stop thinking about the center medallion, focus on quilting the smaller appliqué blocks first, and hope to have more clarity about the center of the quilt when I run out of other blocks to quilt!

SO...  If you don't hear from me, I'm probably quilting!  I'm not even going to proofread this post, that's how tired I am, so please excuse the typos and runon sentences and other grammatical sins.  I'll be linking up with my favorite linky parties, listed on the left sidebar of my blog, and I hope YOU are having as much fun quilting this week as I am!  Thanks for checking in with me today!

One more thing -- gotta give credit where it's due!  The pattern for my Jingle quilt (minus the mitered stripe borders) was designed by Erin Russek and it's available in book form on Amazon here (affiliate links support my BandAid fund).  As someone attempting hand applique for the very first time following Erin's instructions, I cannot recommend her patterns highly enough.  If I can do it, so can YOU!