Quiltingboard Forums - Airborne Applique

My husband is a paratrooper with the Canadian Military. I've been trying to come up with a plan for a quilt for him, but it hasn't been easy. He said he wanted an Airborne quilt. He also said he doesn't want *any* patterns/marbles/anything other than solid fabrics in said quilt - because patterns and marbles and anything other than solids are "girly". He told me he wants Airborne wings on said quilt and that he wants them to look like the wings on his dress uniform. Not picky at all, eh?

So I bought way more solid fabrics than I will ever use in the colours he requested - going so far as to bring one of his t-shirts with me to match the colours (those fabs aren't actually in the picture - there will also be the royal blue and maroon in this quilt, haven't figured out how, yet, though.). I thought and planned, and drew, and re-planned and thought some more, and drew some more...and finally decided to give appliqué a whirl. I'd never done it before last night...did some searching (Man I love Google), got a few ideas and tips, traced the "wings" design from his t-shirt (pictured at the bottom) onto that plastic template stuff, cut those out and went to it!

So below is my very first ever attempt at appliqué at the top of the picture - this is my first, of probably many, practice blocks :lol: . The bottom of the picture is the t-shirt I traced the templates from, and the small picture is a picture of what the wings on his dress uniform look like.

I was kind of hesitant to post this...it's rough. You'll need a high and fast horse to miss that. lol But I also know how supporting, encouraging, and helpful you all are. So here it is, in all its glory. For a first time ever, I'm pretty pleased with it, even if I need a lot of work. ;)