Even more new stuff......the feathery kind

I'm back with more on my Leap Year quilt.  Are you tired of it yet? There is just so much to share on this one!  I had never given feathers a try and since I didn't think they would be too visible on this quilt, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. 

The feathers are the most visible on the back of the quilt.

I took out my giant white board and practiced with a dry erase marker for two days!  Not two whole days by any means, but two days worth of quilting time.  Recently I started using a giant 21x34 inch dry erase board to practice quilting or to help me decide on a motif.  I have found it to be a tremendous help!  It's so easy to erase and start over and to practice for long periods of time without wasting any paper.  It's so big that I can see exactly how the quilting motif will look on a large scale.  I'm going to stock up on dry erase markers when the school supplies hit the shelves.  That will be very soon, if they are not out out already!  Yikes!! I don't want to think about school beginning again!  It seems like summer just started!

Still on the frame with my blue markings visible.

After many hours practicing on the giant white board, I was ready to give it a try.  Even then, I put a practice piece on the frame to work on before I started the actual quilt. I did a little marking on the quilt with a Collins Washable Wonder Marker.  I haven't used this type of marker in years.  I was really pleased with how it worked out.  The marker went on smoothly and it was easy for me to remove the markings by dabbing them with a damp towel.     

The last row is finished......Insert sigh of relief here........

My seam ripped got a longer workout than usual.  I only let a few very, very small errors go.  If I didn't like the way the quilting was going,  I went back and took it out right away.  I'm really glad I did.  It certainly took longer, but I'm thrilled with the result. I'm not a fan of all of that practicing, but I really need to do it to get the results I'm looking for.  Next on my list for the day is....you guessed, it more practice!  Thanks for letting me share my quilting journey with you. 

This Friday night you will definitely find me at the Friday Night Sew-In.  I hope to see you there!