Birds of a Feather Quilt Together!

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There are a few art quilting super-stars whose work inspires me no matter what. Let me name a few… all of whom are featured in the most recent (June/July 2020) issue of Quilting Arts:

• Linda Kemshall … because she’s Linda Kemshall and everything she touches is ephemeral and gorgeous.

• Lynn Krawczyk … whose printed fabric compositions always makes my heart sing.

• And Libby Williamson … who possesses an artist’s soul, a child’s perspective, and a collector’s stash of ephemera and embellishments.

Libby’s “Feathered Strokes” assemblage has an amazing sense of texture, whimsy, and color. Imagine hanging this on your studio door!

Let’s take a quick look at Libby’s Feathered Strokes assemblage technique and find some inspiration to create our own embellished paintbrush art. The “Playing with Paintbrushes” article proves that feather quilting was never so bright, whimsical, or literal as it is in the hands of Libby Williamson.

A large deconstructed paintbrush becomes a whimsical conversation piece when the bristles are replaced with a variety of stitched and painted feathers. Hang it from a ribbon and let it dangle in the breeze. It’s just about impossible not to give it a little shake when passing by!

This project is broken down into five steps: creating quilted fabric feathers, painting real goose feathers, deconstructing the paintbrush, decorating the wooden handle, and then reassembling the final brush.

I was inspired by Birgit Koopsen, who paints real goose feathers using a gelatin printing plate and some easy printing and stamping techniques. I combined several different mixed-media and quilting techniques to create a beautiful bouquet of feathers and transform a wooden paintbrush into a delightful work of art.

Here’s how to make the quilted feathers shown in the assemblage “Feathered Strokes.”

Materials

For 3-4 feathers

White or tone-on-tone white fabric, 2 (8″ x 10″) pieces

Felt, 2 (8″ x 10″) pieces

Water-erasable fabric marker

Black thread

Plastic sheeting to cover work table

Diluted acrylic paint

1″ Paintbrush

Wire

White glue

Stitched ‘feathers’

From the white solid or tone-on-tone fabric, cut 6–8 (8″ x 10″) pieces. Layer pairs with craft felt in between to make a quilt sandwich. Baste. Make 3–4.
Using a water-erasable fabric marker, draw feather shapes on the quilt sandwich, leaving a 1″ margin between each one. Fit 2–4 feathers per sandwich; some long and some short. Draw a 1/4″ wide channel down the spine of each feather to create a pocket for a wire (added in a later step).

Note: My feathers range in length from 6″–8″ long and the wire runs about halfway up the feather.

Free-motion stitch around the perimeter of the feather and then stitch the channel for the wire. Sew both sides of the channel, leaving an opening at the base for inserting the wire later. Fill in the rest of the stitched details, taking care not to stitch into the channel. Cut the feathers apart leaving a 1/2″ margin around each one.

Each “sandwich” of felt and fabric should yield somewhere between 3-5 fabric feathers.

Make 7–8 feathers (you may need to make several quilt “sandwiches” to have enough; this provides plenty to choose from when making the final arrangement.
Cover a work surface with plastic sheeting. Dampen the fabric feathers with wet paper towel. Using diluted acrylics, apply a wash of color over the stitched feathers. The paint should be diluted enough not to cover up and hide the stitching. Let the paint flow beyond the perimeter of the feathers and add spots of brighter colors as desired. The water-erasable marker lines should disappear or can be hidden with a bit more paint.

Feathers painted with diluted acrylics are lovely, even before they are finished.

Tip: The paint will mix and bleed so be careful with the colors you select. Experiment on a scrap of fabric first to determine how the colors will blend together. Allowing the paint to dry between layers will create more distinct colored areas.

Let dry completely and trim, leaving 1/8″ around the stitched perimeter of each feather.

Note: The dried acrylic paint will help prevent the fabric from fraying. However, some fray also adds a nice texture.

Cut a 6″ piece of wire. Insert the wire 3″–4″ into the channel of the feather. The end of the wire should protrude out about 2″. Dab a bit of glue around the opening of the channel to hold the wire secure.

Now that you have a bouquet of fabric feathers, it’s time to paint, stamp and print on some real feathers in your collection! Adding the mixed-media effect within this assemblage makes it even more fun to look at. Libby’s article takes you through the entire project, including how to prepare and paint the brush handle that holds and displays all of the luscious and colorful goodness.

This project opened my eyes to looking at my art supplies in an entirely different way. Now even the supplies are fair game to use as embellishments in an art quilt or mixed media projects!

Plus, a big bonus: I learned a new word. Do you know the term for the metal band around the base of the bristles? It’s called a ferule. Thanks Libby for providing beautiful artwork, whimsical projects, and even a new word to my artistic vocabulary!

Best,

Vivika Hansen DeNegre

Editor

Now that you’ve had a taste of Libby’s amazing “Just for Fun” project, you’ll want to read the entire issue, I’m sure! You can download the June/July 2020 Quilting Arts issue for an immediate art quilting fix, or order the print magazine for a hands-on experience. Either way, you’ll have hours of fun projects to try, and a wonderful array of articles to provide inspiration. Don’t miss an issue! Subscriptions are also available so you never will find yourself missing this amazing publication.