i thought about doing some beading too. I love doing crazy quilts. That’s when my husband reminded me finished is better than perfect. :)

i am pretty good at FMQ so anything I add will be that.

I'm still a big fan of the orange background. Don't forget that quilting will "break up" the large blocks, so they won't look so large.

I took another look and found the legs, but they look either too short or too thick to me. Peacocks have long almost spindly legs.

I agree with this...
 

But if I kept the yellow I would lose the paler orange with sort of sun bursts above the darker orange area. They do not seem to blend with the yellows.

I agree with you that white would be blah. How about that darker cream- ish color in the side blocks? I would fix your project until I was happy with it because you have spent so much time making your masterpiece that just settling to get it done will always make you a little rueful.

I love the background and the peacock is beautiful. I don't see the feet at all and like others, I think that black would be the best bet to highlight the legs and feet. You have done a great job.

Let me chime in on the orange -- LOVE it!!! If you really want to smaller blocks, then that is an easy fix for you. I suspect whatever you decide to do is going to be perfect for this guy.

I tried to find a picture of a peacock with a nest that might fit your guy but not too many long tail shots with nests out there. Maybe one of these will help. Dark orange for the stick or rock to keep the background as background? Thank you for letting us play with your design :-)

Peacock quilt done with your suggestions
 

I used some of the suggestions you folks gave me.

i sliced and diced the background to make the squares smaller. In the solid squares I did FMQ to make the squares colors closer together and slightly more muted.

I added a branch for the peacock to stand on and made its legs more visible

I only use a blue inner border

Im very happy it’s finally done! Your suggestions were invaluable

That is so gorgeous! Thank you for sharing the experience and finished project with us. I know I am more inspired than I was a few moments ago :)

I am going to throw a curve ball in here and suggest you actually have two quilts here. The peacock looks great on the orange patch background, and the more traditional blocks to either side are lovely. But I think these two elements (peacock, blocks) vie for attention.

I would give them a friendly divorce, and put the peacock up on the orange, with the blue borders, and reconsider that as a standalone piece, thinking about what would/could/should be added to make it better.

Ditto the blocks!

As mentioned, The quilt is actually finished. There are no changes now!