If you've ever admired the graceful, flowing feathers quilted into someone else's quilt and thought I could never do that, the Feather Templates from Pauline's Quilters World were made for you. Feathers are one of the most beloved quilting designs — and one of the hardest to teach yourself freehand. These templates take the guesswork out of drawing them, so you can quilt professional-looking feathers on your blocks with confidence.
What Are Feather Templates?
This set includes three quilting templates in varying feather sizes, along with instructions on how to use them. Each template gives you the crisp outline of a feather shape that you can trace onto your quilt top with a fabric-safe marker, chalk, or pounce pad, then follow with your sewing machine — domestic or longarm — as a stitching guide.
Your purchase also comes with a hints and tips booklet delivered as a digital download, packed with several feather designs and step-by-step instructions for creating your own feather masterpieces. Between the physical templates and the digital booklet, you have everything you need to start quilting feathers right away.
Why Quilters Love Feather Designs
Feathers are a timeless quilting motif. They curve elegantly around borders, fill plain blocks with motion, and pair beautifully with wreaths and center medallions. Traditionally, feathers were stitched entirely freehand by accomplished hand quilters — a skill that takes years to develop. Templates let modern machine quilters achieve that same classic look without the years of practice, making them perfect for both beginners and seasoned quilters who want to add feathers to their repertoire quickly.
How to Use Feather Templates: Step by Step
- Choose your template size. Pick the template that suits the space you're quilting — larger templates for borders and wide-open areas, smaller ones for blocks, sashing, and tight corners.
- Plan your placement. Lay the template on your quilt top and move it around until the feather sits where you want it. Mark the center spine line of your feather design first so it runs along the path you intend.
- Trace the outline. Trace the feather shape onto your fabric using a marking tool that works with your fabric color — water-soluble or air-erasable markers, chalk pencils, or a pounce pad all work well.
- Stitch along your markings. With your feed dogs lowered (or using a free-motion foot), stitch the feather spine first, then each of the side lobes, following your traced lines. Keep your movement smooth and steady rather than racing.
- Repeat and mirror. Reposition the template to mirror the feather on the other side of the spine or repeat the design along a border. Templates make symmetrical, evenly spaced feathers simple.
Practical Tips
- Feathers are much easier to learn when you practice on sample sandwiches first — stack up some muslin and batting scraps and trace a few feathers before stitching your quilt.
- Work through the digital hints and tips booklet before you start: it contains several feather designs with instructions that walk you through the exact stitching order.
- Consistent speed and smooth hand movement matter more than perfection. Small wobbles disappear once the quilting is done and the quilt is washed and crinkled.
- Echo a line of stitching around your feathers to make them pop — outlining feathers with one or two echo lines is a classic longarm finishing touch.
- Start with feathers in the ditch of a plain sashing or a simple whole-cloth-style block, where the design itself is the star of the show.
Care and Storage
Store your templates flat in their original packaging or in a page protector inside a binder so they don't warp or bend. Keep them out of prolonged heat — a warm car trunk can soften plastic templates. The digital hints and tips booklet is yours to keep: download it, and consider printing it to store alongside your templates so it's always on hand.
Project Ideas
Feather templates shine in borders, where a repeating feather vine transforms a plain strip into an elegant frame. Use them on medallion quilts to fill the rings around a center motif, on whole-cloth baby quilts for a heirloom feel, or inside plain setting triangles and sashing where extra quilting adds the most. Combine the three template sizes to layer large feathers over small ones for a lush, dimensional look.
Feather quilting doesn't have to be a distant dream. With these templates guiding your needle, you can master the art of quilting feathers — beautifully and effectively.
Shop the Feather Templates at Linda's Electric Quilters.
