I have to admit, this digital pantograph is kind of showy. It's bold, it's eye-catching, it thrums with exciting texture! 



When creating this design, I began by exaggerating the length of feather plumes. I loved the concept of the feather "bump" (and therefore the backtracking) being so cute, tiny, and manageable, while the long lines of the design move the pattern forward; they are stitched in an alternating fashion without backtracking. What I ended up with looked so similar to a herringbone pattern, especially with the rows of feathers placed so close to their neighboring rows, even though they don't interlock or touch.



I wanted to keep the feather ends soft and rounded, which differentiates this design from traditional herringbone patterns. These columns (or rows, depending upon the direction the quilt is loaded) of feathers have finite ends and are "self-contained" without actually merging together. However, the eye wants to make sense of the overall texture, which read...