Feathered Star Quilt Shapes – 3 Things to Love

The Mystery of Feathered Star Quilt Shapes

If you have ever looked at how to sew  Feathered Star quilt quilt shapes, you know that the sizes are weird. I bet you noticed.

For example, if the Sawtooth Squares in the rows of feathers above are 1 inch, the overall block measures about 18.68 inches. ??? What’s that all about?

Traditional Feathered Star blocks often finish with odd sizes like 27.5 inches, 21.75 inches, or 18.5 inches. Why? Designers draft the feathers first to make the small feather triangles easy to measure. Smart eh?

This has been a good way to do it because there are so many feathers compared to the other shapes, but it is different from the normal approach of drafting for a specific finished block size.

The strange sizes are not a problem when Feathered Star blocks are set together, or when they serve as a medallion for a larger quilt.

On the other hand, since Inklingo quilters do not have to measure the feather triangles at all, I was able to take a different approach to drawing Feathered Star quilt shapes, and it is one of the things I love!

The First Thing to Love

Inklingo Feathered Star Quilt Shapes allow quilters to use any standard blocks in the center. <gasp> That’s beautiful! Set your inner designer free!

I worked from the center to the outside instead of starting with the feathers or drafting for a specific finished size. For example:

Center Square       Inklingo Feathered Star       Feather Triangles
4.5                               15 inch (14.72)                         0.795
6.0                               20 inch (19.63)                         1.06
9.0                               30 inch (29.45)                         1.59

The overall finished sizes are still weird, but for a great reason. That’s cool . . . and lovable.

(It’s okay. You won’t have to add 7/8ths to 0.795 and measure it. LOL Inklingoists don’t do that.)

The Second Thing to Love

Some of the Feathered Star quilt shapes are perfect for fussy cutting.

Kathy Timmons in Nashville fussy cut the kite shapes and she fussy cut the diamonds in the center of her star. She used shapes from the free Diamond/Triangles/Square shape collection for the center, and she hand pieced, because that is what she loves. There are more of Kathy’s Feathered Stars on Pinterest.

Kathy is an artist, a genius with fabric, and the absolute Queen of Fussy Cutting. (You should see her Dragonfly Diamond quilt made from Quilted Diamonds. It takes my breath away.

You don’t have to be a genius to get great effects, like my frogs (previous post).

The effect is gorgeous with 16 fussy cut owls like Kathy’s, and impressive with 8 identical frogs, and special with just one fussy cut rose in the octagon.

Inklingo makes it easy and fast to prepare all of the shapes. You can use the extra time to make your design even better. We love fussy!

The Third Thing to Love

Everything fits with Inklingo Feathered Star quilt shapes. No worries.

When I assemble the rows of feathers, I know they are right because of the unique pressing guide. It’s simple to check that my seam allowances are the right size and pressed perfectly. I know that if the rows of feathers are good, everything will fit without puckers or easing. Whew. Gotta love that!

More to love?

Those are my three favorite things about Inklingo Feathered Star, but I could go on and on.

I pin at the matches and the block lies flat whether I sew by hand or by machine or a combination of both. Yes, I love to be able to do some of my sewing by hand in front of the TV with Monkey and Russ. Very relaxing, no worries.

Your favorite thing might be the clever, simple partial seams—a fun thing to know about.

You can see it all in the Feathered Star Design Book (85 page download, free when you buy the FS shapes), and choose your own favorite thing.

Feathered Star Quilt Shapes – One More Thing to Love

The WOW Factor

Okay. One more thing. You’ve got to  love the Wow factor of Feathered Stars.

My non-quilting friends have no idea how easy it is, and I might not tell them. (I happen to love sewing and fabric, and not everyone gets it.) I think you understand, and it would be very nice to tell your quilting friends about Inklingo Feathered Stars.

Let’s see what you love about your Feathered Stars!

Linda & Monkey

PS  Happy New Year!

New to Inklingo? Order and download free shapes and start sewing in the next few minutes.(Always FREE.) There are triangles diamonds and squares  in the free collection—great for dozens of different blocks. Main Beginner’s Page