Fabric quilted pet portrait

Do you sew?  I've been busy sewing over the past few weeks, and falling more in love with my Brother Innovis sewing machine than ever before.  (And isn't that the sign of true love?)

Most recently, I created a quilted piece for a friend's birthday, based on a favorite photo of their beloved dog, Jack.

First I printed out 3 copies of Jack's image -- one to follow visually, and two to cut up for patterns.  Then I traced the outline of Jack's head and neck, and cut a piece of background fabric using that outline.  I sandwiched it with quilt batting and backed it with interfacing.

Then I decided which of Jack's features were most important, and I traced around them to plan.  Then, using copies of his photo, I cut out those features from various pieces of fabric that I had backed with Heat 'n Bond.  I ironed them onto the background paper, and then - using various colors of thread on my machine, I free-motion quilted in stitching as if it were paint, adding highlights and shadows around and between the fabric pieces I had sewed on.  (Hint:  If you don't have the right thread color, use something close and use a marker to lightly "dye" the thread after sewing.)

For a background, I monoprinted the blue sky onto some white fabric, added green fabric at the bottom for grass, and loosely free-motion quilted this.

Below is the original photo, followed by the finished piece.

You can do this with a machine or use hand embroidering.   If your pet has a particular interest or love, like traveling, or eating mice, or carrying a particular toy in its mouth, it's nice to incorporate that into the piece.  Jack was wearing a purple collar in the photo, so I used a purple ribbon and threaded on one of those collar rings to it.  I made this piece into a decorative pillow, but you could also create a wall hanging with a dowel or a wooden frame, or the quilt square could be sewn onto a canvas bag.