When I have a center focus thing like your peacock, I usually quilt around it to make it stand out and all the other surrounding appliques. Then, if I don't want too much quilting around it, I make like a sunburst radiating out from the center. To get this I first mark corner to corner, of course skipping over any of the appliques, making an X across the area. Then mark a + from center top to bottom and center side to side. Then I keep measuring half-way in between those and marking until I get the rays radiating out from the middle as densely as I want the quilting to be. If you want a better explanation, message me and I will email you a picture.