I’ve only done the one, so not too overwhelming if I have to pick it out. DH likes it better without. If the “with its” win, I do see that I need to branch the feather fronds out a bit farther on the last edge…didn’t quite touch out to the point like it should.
One more pic to help you decide:
Now just use the handy little poll below! Thanks!
Edited to add a little clarification: I’m really not sure what the final quilting plan will be for the rest of the quilt…part of that will depend on whether or not I decide to keep the feather in this motif, or not. I basically just want to know if the feather looks good in that individual design to you, or not. Keeping the feather, or getting rid of the feather, will affect my decisions for the rest of the quilt.
I’m a simple woman…at least that what my DH (Dear Husband) used to say about me…I was a wife, I am now a widow, mother, step-mother & step-grandmother, quilter, and have a full time job in criminal justice. I lost my DH on May 22nd, 2011. I live in a small town in Texas. I love piecing quilts, I love quilting quilts. I have a serious addiction to fabric. I’ve been quilting since 1998, and purchased my first longarm, a Gammill Premier, in 2004. I upgraded to an A-1 Elite, named Corky, in March, 2007. I am in the process of rebuilding my life after losing my spouse. All photos and content in this blog are my own, and I request that you not download, copy or otherwise use anything here without my permission. I hope you enjoy visiting my blog and would love to hear your comments. Thanks for stopping by!
View all posts by Wild Rose Quilter
You need to come further out with your sun or a background as well to that far corner….. in my opinion…. I’m sure others will vary, but that’s some open space from the vantage point that you took the pic…. real life may vary…
Hmmm, I am not able to vote quite yet. I would need to know more about your plans for the rest of the areas of the quilt. Will there be feathers in the white squares? Or in the white rectangle strips? Or in the white borders? Or do you envision lots more angular motifs? And where? And how dense will the quilting be on this? Will there be backfills? And what else will be quilted in the sun area? I see the area just past the center ray’s tip that is quite large and empty… I’d want to know what will go in there and behind the rest of the rays (if anything) before I decided about the feathers.
I realize you may not have gotten this far in your designing yet, so if it were me… I’d leave those feathers for now but not quilt any more of them… for now. I’d finish the parts I know for sure – like the rest of the SID if it’s not done, and the rest of the suns, etc. Then quilt in the motifs you know you want in some of the other areas. Then I’d revisit the feathers.
The great thing about this particular design is that you can add those feathers around the sun at any time.
So, how’s that for not answering a simple poll?? LOL
And the simple answer to that is that I don’t know yet…lol. I’m still “planning” all that. I have envisioned a border design that is halved feathered wreaths all the way around, with maybe the star/sun design in the center of that. Sort of a reverse of this one with the feather. I don’t want to quilt it to death. So, I’m not sure what I’m going to do in that open space yet. I don’t know…I’m so confused. And over my head…lol. My original plan for this quilt was nothing like this I was going to fill all that opens space with beautiful feathers, or stencils…still with feathers…then I decided I wanted to try to do something for the CL challenge, if I can finish it in time. I guess I’m still trying to hang on to the feathers in some way. The center blocks will have a smaller version of the star/sun thingy. I think.
IDK, to have the ability to do such beautiful needlework (yes I know you are using your machine needle) seems like it adds charm to the simplicity of the piecing. My humble opinion.
I like it with the feathers Randi. It adds another dimension to the sunburst. You could also make those squared-off feathers or a triangular tip feather to keep the geometric feel of the quilt.
I’m assuming that you’ll probably put feathers in other area with the star/sun thingy, as well. I think it looks good with the feather. If I could do feathers like that, there’s no doubt in my mind. Have fun!
This is one of the extremely rare times I like it better without the feathers than with them. The feathers for me clutter the look of the lines on the sun.
I voted without the feathers.. for the simple reason that I would be worried about putting such dense quilting in some areas and not in the other more open areas; it may cause the quilt to not lay/hang flat.
I do like the addition of the curved lines to the mix and you have quilted the feathers exquisitely…
I think I have to go with the feathers…you have a lot of straight lines in the piecing and in the suns…I like a little more curve thrown in…more work though and have to consider what else you might be doing…JMHO
I would go with the feathers. You don’t need to pick it out to pull the fronds further.. If it were mine, I would background fill around the feathers and on the outside of the sun so that the points are emphasized. Go with your gut!!! You don’t always have to have the whole quilt planned. Do the feathers and figure out the rest as you go. For me that is the fun part.
Can’ t wait to see how it turns out.
I think “cluttered” feel comes from the difference in density.
There aren’t many lines in the sunburst but lots in the feathers wreath. How about either putting more lines in the sunburst or fatter feathers (which would mean fewer feathers) in the wreath? Then you can keep the softness of the feathers without the feeling that they were a bit too much.
Ramblings From Randi, The Wild Rose Quilter 
I also wanted to say that the sun with out the feathers really is a much cleaner look IMHO.
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This doesn’t ring as a quilt for feathers to me. But if you don’t do the feathers, I think something should be quilted inside. IMHO 🙂
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You need to come further out with your sun or a background as well to that far corner….. in my opinion…. I’m sure others will vary, but that’s some open space from the vantage point that you took the pic…. real life may vary…
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Hmmm, I am not able to vote quite yet. I would need to know more about your plans for the rest of the areas of the quilt. Will there be feathers in the white squares? Or in the white rectangle strips? Or in the white borders? Or do you envision lots more angular motifs? And where? And how dense will the quilting be on this? Will there be backfills? And what else will be quilted in the sun area? I see the area just past the center ray’s tip that is quite large and empty… I’d want to know what will go in there and behind the rest of the rays (if anything) before I decided about the feathers.
I realize you may not have gotten this far in your designing yet, so if it were me… I’d leave those feathers for now but not quilt any more of them… for now. I’d finish the parts I know for sure – like the rest of the SID if it’s not done, and the rest of the suns, etc. Then quilt in the motifs you know you want in some of the other areas. Then I’d revisit the feathers.
The great thing about this particular design is that you can add those feathers around the sun at any time.
So, how’s that for not answering a simple poll?? LOL
And the simple answer to that is that I don’t know yet…lol. I’m still “planning” all that. I have envisioned a border design that is halved feathered wreaths all the way around, with maybe the star/sun design in the center of that. Sort of a reverse of this one with the feather. I don’t want to quilt it to death. So, I’m not sure what I’m going to do in that open space yet. I don’t know…I’m so confused. And over my head…lol. My original plan for this quilt was nothing like this I was going to fill all that opens space with beautiful feathers, or stencils…still with feathers…then I decided I wanted to try to do something for the CL challenge, if I can finish it in time. I guess I’m still trying to hang on to the feathers in some way. The center blocks will have a smaller version of the star/sun thingy. I think.
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IDK, to have the ability to do such beautiful needlework (yes I know you are using your machine needle) seems like it adds charm to the simplicity of the piecing. My humble opinion.
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I like it with the feathers…but to be honest, it’s beautiful either way! Your quilting is always a source of inspiration for me! Have a great week!
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I like it with the feathers Randi. It adds another dimension to the sunburst. You could also make those squared-off feathers or a triangular tip feather to keep the geometric feel of the quilt.
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I’m assuming that you’ll probably put feathers in other area with the star/sun thingy, as well. I think it looks good with the feather. If I could do feathers like that, there’s no doubt in my mind. Have fun!
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This quilt has so many geometric lines and angles, that I think the feathers add a wonderful soft contrast. I voted to keep the feathers.
Gayle
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Feathers RULE!
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This is one of the extremely rare times I like it better without the feathers than with them. The feathers for me clutter the look of the lines on the sun.
JMHO
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I think the feathers soften the lines. I really like the sun without, but for this I think I would put the feathers in.
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My motto: When in doubt, feather.
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I like it with the feathers, as they soften the points and squares in the blocks.
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I love it with feathers…your quilting is exquisite.
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Hi Randi!
I voted without the feathers.. for the simple reason that I would be worried about putting such dense quilting in some areas and not in the other more open areas; it may cause the quilt to not lay/hang flat.
I do like the addition of the curved lines to the mix and you have quilted the feathers exquisitely…
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The quilt needs more curves, so I voted for the feathers.
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I think I have to go with the feathers…you have a lot of straight lines in the piecing and in the suns…I like a little more curve thrown in…more work though and have to consider what else you might be doing…JMHO
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I would go with the feathers. You don’t need to pick it out to pull the fronds further.. If it were mine, I would background fill around the feathers and on the outside of the sun so that the points are emphasized. Go with your gut!!! You don’t always have to have the whole quilt planned. Do the feathers and figure out the rest as you go. For me that is the fun part.
Can’ t wait to see how it turns out.
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I like the version without feathers best but I’m sure whatever you choose will be great!
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Hi Randi, definitely WITH! The feathers add such class, but then again, I am a feathery kind of girl! 🙂
Thank you for your kind words on my Spring Blooms quilt. 🙂
Happy Quilting.
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I like the feathers! You do such a great job quilting them anyway.
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I think “cluttered” feel comes from the difference in density.
There aren’t many lines in the sunburst but lots in the feathers wreath. How about either putting more lines in the sunburst or fatter feathers (which would mean fewer feathers) in the wreath? Then you can keep the softness of the feathers without the feeling that they were a bit too much.
Just a thought…
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