Catch and Release

This is my quilt made for the "Portrait" prompt. It's inspired by a photograph taken when we traveled to Swan Valley, Idaho, to see a quilting friend. My husband, Mike, was nearing retirement at the time, and he was interested in taking up fly-fishing in his next life. Our friends generously arranged for a fishing trip on the Snake River near their Idaho home. 

Here's the original photograph of Mike with a cutthroat trout he caught that day.

For a long time, I've wanted to render this photo into fabric, and this seemed like as good a time as any. I sorted through my scraps, looking for anything that could be used.

And then, I went to work, starting with the jacket below the face.

When the whole portrait was done, it looked like this.

I had a fabric in my landscape bin that made a perfect background. I fused it to the background and then added the border. Batting was added without the backing, and then it was thread painted. When the thread-painting was finished, I added the backing and quilted it lightly. 

This is my first attempt at a full-on face. Prior to this, I'd only done human faces in profile. The nose was the hardest part for me to replicate.

I quilted some branches onto the tree, and did some quilting up and down the tree trunk.

Also, I quilted some clouds in the sky.

The fish was thread-painted along with the rest, but then I added some glitter thread to give it some sparkle.

Here's a close-up of the fish.

Backing up a little bit...

From there, I did a little quilting in the border, and then added a binding.

The back is made from this fabric that's been in my stash a long time. It was just what I needed.

And there you have it. My quilt, "Catch and Release," ends up at 21 x 16.5 inches. I had fun making it. I hope you like it.