Pheasant Commission

This is a quilt I had intended to make for some time, using the same technique as my seagull in Flying High. Then a friend of mine asked me to make it for her husband's birthday - he's a farmer and he shoots locally with my partner Hans. So I agreed - it's a bit sad that he isn't ours, Hans was especially upset that he wouldn't be staying here. But he only lives up the road so we can visit him whenever we like!

The pheasant shape was cut from wadding covered with bondaweb and each feather was individually cut with scissors and laid in place. The head and neck features confetti (small scraps overlaid with Misty Fuse and thread painted) and applique. The spine of each feather was individually freemotion machine stitched. The woods behind are more confetti overlaid with tulle and threadpainted and the grasses were rotary cut freehand from pre-fused hand dyed fabric then individually thread painted. He was painstaking to make but I'm quite proud of him! I should say as well that his tail is made of real pheasant feathers, stitched on by hand and this was the most fiddly part of the whole thing! He is in fact slightly larger than lifesize and the quilt itself measures about a metre by 30" I think - I didn't actually measure it!

Pheasant Quilt

Close up of head