Updated border help for Proud Peacock in first post

[Anne from Guam]

Hi Ladies and Gents!
I need help with a quilting idea for this peacock wall hanging.  My friend made the top and asked me to quilt it.
The wallhanging will be for her very first grandchild, a baby girl due in September.  No pressure!!!!
 
Anyway, this proud little peacock stands on a brick wall and has swirly designs around the body and head.
I thought of using a greek key motif, but my friend didn't want that.  So....any ideas?
 
The border fabric is a jade green batik, that is gorgeous.  So it needs stitching but not too much.
It was hard to photograph this quilt with all of the white on white but I hope the quilting shows enough
for you to see it
.

 

UPDATE

Here is the finished wallhanging. 38" x 41"

The batting was both W& N and wool on top.

So Fine on top and bottom line in the bobbin.  On the colored areas, I used Metro.

 

I used the small Rope a Dope to quilt a braided rope for the border.

I kept thinking that my friend wanted something simple, so that's why I chose

the rope a dope.

 

To make the brick wall, I freehanded the bricks and left the grout unquilted

and then when I made all the brick shapes I went back and filled in the grout.

I used a shorter stitch length and went back and forth about 4 to 5 stitches

again and again horizontally on the horizontal grout lines. And then overlapped to move to down the line.

 

Then I used these stitches to re shape the bricks if they needed it.

The vertical grout I used both horizontal lines of stitching and topped it with vertical.

 

Was there another way to fill in the grout?  I didn't think pebbling would look right, but it

would have been nice to have a more 'orderly fill' for the grout area.

 

So my friend came over and picked up her peacock and she just loved it!

She was so excited that she could barely sleep the night before.

 

Anyway, it was fun to write a little story that will go on the back of the quilt:

 

Once upon a time there was a young princess who lived in a castle.

Inside the castle walls, there was a lush green garden and everyday the princess 

played in the garden.  She smelled the fragrant roses and ran over to the pond,

where she fed the fish pieces of bread.

 

One day, after feeding the fish, the princess looked up and saw a peacock!

He was so proud, displaying his beautiful feathers on the old brick wall near the pond...

 

[Heirloom Quilter]

Anne, I love your brick wall design.  How appropriate!

[Zora]

I would do a ferny feather design in the border.  Use the peacock feathers as inspiration.  That type feather looks great on batiks, and is fast and forgiving.  Very cool little wall hanging.

[chickenscratch]

Peacock fill or simple feathers would work

[dlnewell]

Since there is so much white, I would use a goldy brown thread that matches the inner border or the goldish color of the peacock feathers, and do a hooked feather all around or curved crosshatching in that outer border.  I realize that often photos don't do a quilt justice as far as showing the texture of the quilting, but to me a matching thread for the outer border would be a little too plain.

[ffq-lar]

Your brick wall is wonderful and the peacock is gorgeous!

 

Any graceful feathers in the outer border would be appropriate. I would box the border design first to make it look more like a frame. (SID the seam and then a quarter inch out from that. Then stitch five-eighths of an inch in from the edge so there will be a quarter-inch of fabric next to the binding. This will work best if she is using the same green fabric for the binding.)

Within that boxed area, stitch your feathers and either echo them closely or densely fill around. It will look like an ornate frame.

[Enchanted Quilting]

Great ideas...really echo using a thread that will pop in the outer border.  I've spent too much time on really neat borders only for them to not show (except under certain lighting).  Show us a pix when all done.

[Anne from Guam]

I love all of these ideas! Thanks. I think the feather in a contrasting thread would be great but my friend would think it is too much. I may have to settle for a simple feather in a matching thread.

[CindyT]

Your bricks look so real!  Great job on those!

[Beachside Quilter]

Wonderful job on the quilting, Anne!  Love the brick wall; could you share details of the way you stitched it?  Perfect for the peacock!!  (Love Linda's idea for the outer border)

[CrazyAboutQuilting]

Beautiful quilting!  And I can't wait to see what you do in the border with all of these wonderful suggestions!!!

[Anne from Guam]

see first post!

[Beachside Quilter]

Anne, I love the poem! What a perfect story to go with this proud peacock! Clever idea you used to make the bricks and mortar. Thanks for sharing!! The rope makes a wonderful frame.

[Neher-in-law5]

Your choices for quilting designs are just right.  The rope in the border enhances the center but doesn't take away the focus.  Very good.

[LibbyG]

Wow, the brick wall looks perfect!