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Late 19th-century
Once you've figured out the basic feathered star pattern
you can draft anything for the center square
May Louise Weeks
from the New Jersey Project at the Quilt Index
mid-19th-century
Four-Patches above
From the Nebraska History site
Victoria Caldwell, Rhea County, Tennessee
from the Quilts of Tennessee at the Quilt Index
mid-19th-century
A square in a square
Eliza Shields
from the Illinois project at the Quilt Index
This one's from Marie Webster's 1915 book labeled Feather Star
It has a 5x5 grid in the center.
Similar with a more complex center---the 5x5 grid
is cut into triangles
Sofia Noel
from the Quilts of Tennessee at the Quilt Index
Feathered center square in a Feathered Star above
You will notice many of these complex stars come from Tennessee where there seems to have been some real competition to create an interesting variation of the basic pattern.
Belle Specht,
from the Quilts of Tennessee at the Quilt Index
mid-19th-century
An Ohio Star above
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From the LaConner Museum collection
Railroad Crossing in the center
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Another Feather Star from the Illinois project
and the Illinois book History from the Heart.
This one is a late-19th-century Civil War veterans' memorial.
I am not the first person to notice you
can put anything you want inside a feathered star---
Marsha McCloskey's been drafting patterns for quite a while.