Here are two feathers I sewed. No pattern, just free-motion quilting. I lightly penciled in an outline before I started, but that’s all.

Metallic thread is finicky. A lot of sewists have trouble with it breaking easily and often. That certainly had been my experience and I hadn’t tried to sew with it in years. I heard a rumor recently that the quality of metallic thread had greatly improved, so I bought three new spools.

My tested the gold metallic thread and sewed the first feather. The thread did not break! Yippee!

Next I sewed another feather using 30-weight polyester thread (three colors). I liked it, too.

The black markings are done with a special pen whose ink disappears when heat is applied. I took the feathers to my ironing board, covered them with a layer of fabric, and gently pressed them.

Yes, the black markings disappeared, as advertised. But the stabilizer on the back shrunk up a bit and I came away with two feathers free of markings but way more rippled than when I started. Sure hope I remember that the next time I try to remove markings.