The Morpheus Quilt

My brother, a deer farmer, recently got married.  This is the first family wedding since I started quilting so I was itching to make a quilt to give as a wedding gift.  I asked my brother who his all-time favourite stag was (Morpheus) and then designed the quilt based on a photo of that (now dead) stag.

Spot the flying geese

This is no generic, stylised stag's head.  This is a representation of an actual stag, one with a world record breaking set of antlers.  I wanted it to look like a stencil, and created a stencil based on a photograph.

Applique detail - ear and tag

The background is mostly 4" squares, with three points of interest provided by a plus block, some flying geese and a friendship star.  I wanted the background to be random, with no identifiable pattern.

When the quilt is on the bed the stag's head lies towards the foot of the bed.  It is quilted with horizontal wavy lines in the same manner as this and this.  The quilting caused me a lot of grief, with the amount of shifting that occurred.  I spent a considerable amount of time ripping out quilting, and then got to the point where I decided I'd spent enough time unpicking and that it was going to be gifted with more imperfections than I would have liked.

It was very well received and looks great in their bedroom.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 97" by 97"
Pattern:  Original design - raw edge machine applique stag's head on a low volume background
Fabric: Many, many different low volume prints (no solids), three red prints used for the applique. 
Binding: Mini Confetti dot in Scarlet by Dear Stella
Backing: Doe Wideback - Crisscross wideback in Graphite
Pieced and quilted by: me, on my domestic sewing machine.

This was my first time using 108" wide backing fabric, and I have to say I was disappointed.  I felt the fabric was very thin - is that normal for a backing fabric?  I had expected it to be the same quality as Kona, but it is much thinner.  Someone I follow on Instagram called it "lovely and soft", and I agree it is soft but for me that softness stems from the thinness of the fabric. Have you used 108" wide backing fabric before?  How did you find it?

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