Mom's bird wall hanging in yellow

It's been a busy weekend with little quilty stuff going on that I can show you at the moment.  I have to wait for a good day for photos, to show you some of the quilts I entered into the fair and I still have to trim a customers quilt that I did.  So in the meantime I will take you back in time.

Back in time to Oct 25/2019:

This is one piece of a panel that my mom purchased.  There were four sections of fence with different birds and different flowers for each of them.  Panels are a great way to play with thread and have some fun.  They allow you to be abstract or add texture to create the detail of the actual scene.  

My mom used the other three in a wall hanging that I will try and get photos of, to show you at another time. This one was on it's own.  So my mom decided to just add borders for a smaller wall hanging.

Below, I took a profile view in hopes to capture the flowers and how only outlining them made them look embossed.  They almost look 3D.  In person it shows better.  It made me smile when one of my niece's son, was enthralled by the wall hanging that he had to gently run his hand over the flowers and fencing to see if it was real, if it was dimensional.  His eyes did a little pop of surprise....lol.  I feel that was answer enough to letting me know I did a good job....lol.

 

When I did this back in 2019, I was just learning/practicing the swirls used in the background, so they are far from perfect, but they don't look too bad for a beginner.  I did this on my domestic machine.  I outlined the birds and their eyes, but otherwise left them alone to pop out, I did the swirls very close, to essentially smash down the background, helping the birds pop even more.  After that I did my version of wood grain on the fence for additional texture and also to smash it down, so that the bird and the flowers would pop and become the stars of the show.

This last picture is a bit closer, so you can see the overall texture of the fence, with the flowers looking like they are unquilted.  They seem to float to the forefront.  I did a simple loop design side by side in the small border and did lines side by side going along the final border about 1/2" apart.

I really had fun doing this one and the 2nd wall hanging with the three different birds, made into one wall hanging.  If you ever get a change to pick up a panel, do it.  It allows you to play with thread, technique, different designs, and just have fun.  On a panel there is no reason to sweat it.  You have the  freedom to go wherever your imagination takes you.  They are usually small enough that one, it does not cost a lot (not a big investment in cash), two they are quick enough to do (not a big investment in time), and three you can have so much fun while you practice free motion quilting.