How do I keep this deer from running away?
 

My SIL chose this panel for a Christmas lap quilt. She wants a "simple" quilt. I have outlined the deer, and there are random large snowflakes quilted into the background, but this guy needs more stabilizing. If he was a bird, i would do feathers! I have googled images, but i am not inspired. I am quilting this on my DSM. Please offer any suggestions! Thank you very much!

I quilt lines to define the body. Can you enlarge this enough to see?
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Where does it need more stablizing? In the deer itself or in the background? I would worry that additional background quilting will make your snowflakes not show anymore and that would be a shame. If in the deer, you can do short back and forth lines to simulate fur but then you run the risk of the deer being much more heavily quilted than the rest of the piece which presents a whole new set of issues.

Maybe you could try doing a few lines to represent the deer's musculature and a bit of shading in areas? I just did this in paint you can kind of see the few lines I drew in.

Edited to add, what you have shown so far is very pretty

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I feel the deer's body needs something-i think the background is finished. The lines you have both suggested are great. I do not want anything too dense....thank you!
Popover-your horses are beautiful!

I would just outline stitch around the body and antlers(if you haven't already done so).
Another thing you could do is echo somewhat around the snowflakes (so they don't disappear), double-echo around the deer's body (like SITD on the body, then an echo 1/4 inch out from that), then McTavish everywhere else. use 100# silk or poly thread and you end up only seeing the texture, not the thread. I think by doing that, the McTavishing would give the impression of the snowflakes swirling around the deer.


Just a word of caution/comment - if you're "thread painting" (somewhat like feline fanatic was suggesting), you can use the Aurifil thread you have in the pic. BUT... if you're just wanting to add texture and definition, the lighter weight of thread is the way to go.

Good luck with your choices!!

I agree with this; echo and McTavish

As to thread. Silk 100, Aurifil 80, or possibly Bottom Line 60.

A beautiful quilt! But I just realized that the twisted ribbon is one square off right in front of the deer. Since I can't see the rest of that border, I don't know if it is supposed to be that way. If you want to change it, now is the time. It doesn't look like it is quilted yet. Maybe it needs to be that way to line up with the corners. Best of luck on that.

Would you consider using tiny beads covering the ones on his antlers and making a wreath around his neck with
brown embroidery thread and beads?
Your border is beautiful!

Maviskw, yes, i know one of theblocks is a bit askew....but because of dimensions, the border had to be altered.

Pal-your suggestions are wonderful, and if i were keeping this quilt, i would love to embellish it! My SIL was pretty clear about wanting a simple dedign-i hope the border doesn't overwhelm her! Thank you for your suggestions!

Can't say much about the quilting issue but I sure do love the zig-zag border! It looks lovely. I'll bet this is a terrific looking quilt when completed no matter how you choose to quilt it.