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Animal Quilt - Center Panel Part 1

The main centerpiece of my quilt is roughly 33x45" so it's fairly big, especially to be painting with inks.  I wanted my main animal to be the one that speaks to everyone.

I chose the Black Rhino for the center since there is a very real possibility the animal will be extinct in the wild in the next decade or two and they will only exist in zoos.

I'm thinking about the title of "Footprints" for my quilt but as of right now, I don't have any footprints in my centerpiece. I had thought about putting different animal footprints on the back of the quilt, but I haven't decided yet. I could always finish it and simply change the title.


So I will continue working on this centerpiece. Even if I decide to make another one this one is still pretty good and deserves to be finished. I'll probably have to order more ink, though.


I finished the rhino.  I'm pretty happy with it but I don't know if this will be in my quilt or not.  I'll have to add some applique weeds or grasses in the front and maybe a tree up the right side and across the top to add depth and interest.

I measured across my rhino and pictured how far up my weeds/grasses should come up. I cut a piece of fabric and batting roughly 20x36". This will give me some room since I need the grasses to be 16x33" or so. I drew a bunch of grassy spears and then quilted those. Next, I drew in quilting design onto each spear.  Some are just directional and tightly quilted and others have feathers or have simple designs.




I thought I'd stick with golds, brown, yellows and hints of green but after while that got boring and in came orange, reds and purples. I used Inktense pencils trying to save my inks. They are water soluble and once dry the ink is permanent.

Next up, is a tree that will go up and over the rhino but that's for another post.

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