Tail Feather Quilt Pattern: Grab Some Fat Quarters
The Tail Feather quilt pattern is now available in the pattern shop! Yay!!
I'm going to try my best to share about the Tail Feather pattern without making a short story long, which is how I tell stories now that I'm a mom. To give you a taste of what I mean, yesterday, Desi carried one of his toys in his little pudgy hand during our evening walk around the neighborhood and only dropped it twice before I carried it for him.
Ya'll, that is a terrible story, but somehow I managed to stretch out the retelling of it to my husband for at least 5 minutes. And guess what? It was a hit! He LOVED the story. Begged me to tell it twice! I guess you just need to know your audience. Which is why I'm not going to share that Desi story with you. I'm going to share another one. It goes like this...
I had a baby and my entire world changed. Every. Single. Part of it. Especially my quilty alter ego, Suzy Quilts. Weekends are now full of tummy time, cuddles, squeaky baby giggles and long walks. Gone are the days of cranking out a quilt in a week. Honestly, gone are the days of cranking out anything. I'm a slow-movin' gal! But you know what? I wouldn't want it any other way.
It was tempting to throw in the towel and call my old life quits. But in our social media world full of inspirational quotes, I stumbled onto one quote that actually helped – Don't quit when you're tired. Rest.
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So while I'm in a season of rest and enjoying my almost-7-month-old baby, I've started partnering with other talented designers so that SQ can keep bringing you beautiful, modern quilt patterns.
Tail Feather is SQ's first collaborative quilt pattern and I hope it's not the last! Rachel of Wren Collective worked hand in hand with me to bring you another high quality design with all of the features you have come to expect from an SQ pattern. It's full of tips, illustrations and links to relevant tutorials here on the blog, so that you can successfully make your quilt from beginning to end.
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- Fusible Batting Tape: Why You Need It and How to Use It.
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- Must-Have Quilting Tools
Tail Feather Quilt Pro Tip
If you're feeling the need for speed, one way to cut down on quilt piecing prep time is to ditch the marking utensil and simply press your squares in half. Here's what you do:
Pile up your 5 ½" squares (I usually do five or so at a time) and lay them on your ironing board.
Fold your squares in half and then press with a hot iron to form a crease:
And that's that! You now have a quick and easy way to mark your sewing guide lines.
Tail Feathers in the Wild
Cass of Nova Quilts whipped up this awesome version and also managed to find perfect backdrop to photograph against.
Jess of @blueskycrafter made one of my personal favorite Tail Feather baby quilts. LOVE those strawberries!
Janelle, or jvmakes on Instagram, somehow made this magical photo happen. It's some kind of sorcery that I still don't understand!
Mykayla of the Cleveland Stitch Collective is channeling Pumpkin Spice and everything nice with her Tail Feather quilt. Who else is ready for fall?!
Wendy of The Weekend Quilter put together this really cool Cotton + Steel baby version and photographed it in beautiful SoHo!
Saija is a quilting GODDESS. Her Tail Feather is magical. Check out that scrappy binding, too!
Laura of Finley Fabric pulled out the new Ruby Star Society fabrics and had herself a Tail Feather par-tay with this FUN throw sized version!
Jamie of Sew Brainy created a very cool black/white/teal baby size. This quilt has even already been gifted to a sweet mama-to-be at a baby shower!
Susan of Needle & Grain made this alternate layout baby quilt for her baby boy.
Claire from Peony and Fern put together a super festive Tail Feather using some holiday fabrics from FIGO. That grid quilting is AMAZING!
Kelcey Quilts used the CUTEST citrus print for this baby sized Tail Feather quilt; she also has access to an adorable crib nook at work. How perfect!
Coby killed it with her throw size Tail Feather. Check out the photo below--her quilt is glowing! So amazing.
My beautiful friend Caitlyn of Domesti-Caited made this beautiful floral and chambray twin quilt. The chambray background fabric frayed A LOT, so she opted to use black batting to hide all of those pesky threads. It worked out great! Read about black batting here!
Bess from Side Lake Stitch made this Tail Feather as a wedding gift and even coordinated the colors to dried flowers from said wedding. How special!
Erica made the coolest baby size Tail Feather with this delightful color palette. Totally swoon-worthy!
Laurel of Porcupinestew Threads cut into some super coveted Tula Pink fabric to make this STUNNING Tail Feather. It's so, so good.
Suz, don’t even think about calling it quits. 🥰 Make your way forward however it works best for you, but please don’t deprive us of our regular doses of Suzy joy. ♥️ The Other Suz
Suzy, I love the fabric you used on your Tail Feather quilt! What FQ’s and background fabric did you use? Thanks!
The background is simply Kona Natural and the FQs are a combination of things: a few Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids, some mariner cloth, some double gauze and Surface linen blend by Figo.
Did you use a ruler for the quilting? If so, do you mind sharing what ruler you used? I am almost finished piecing mine together. I love the design!
Just purchased your tail feather pattern, I would like to do it in a king size is it possible? What do you think? Help!
It sure is! Since it’s a block-based pattern just add more blocks and sashing. You can use this post to know how large to make the king quilt – https://suzyquilts.com/quilt-sizes-chart/
Hi, love this quilt and getting ready to buy the pattern. Do you mind sharing what your backing fabric is? It’s darling!!
Isn’t it pretty? It’s Alma Indigo Market Floral by Alexia Abegg for Ruby Star Society.
The quilting pattern on your version (is is waves?) is amazing! Did you use a stencil for this or free-quilt? Are the instructions for that included in the pattern? I so appreciate your blog. I am a beginner, just getting started, and your posts are so witty and easy to understand. Not to mention inspiring!
This quilting was actually done by the longarm quilter Lilo at Trace Creek Quilting. The design is called Simple Cables.