New projects ready to quilt

I am so pleased with both of these watercolors for the online class.  I can't decide which I like best.   They just need to get quilted this week.
The first photo is with the dragonflies.   They are thread painted on tulle and the wings look so good.   The stems/leaves were inspired by a photo in a magazine and are cut free-hand  and fused down.  I sort of twisted the fabric as I fused to get a gentle curve to the longer stems.  I named  it Renewal. 

The second photo is Persistence, again named for the goldfinch. 

A little reading on the goldfinch and I discovered it is a symbol for persistence and endurance.  All that time they spend hunting and eating the tiny thistle seeds.  I found a photo of a goldfinch in a stack of pages saved from old calendars.   I thread painted the goldfinch on peltex and the branch on  layers of tulle.  Actually the branch is two pieces because the first part was too short to reach the edge,  and then I joined them with more stitches.  The entire accent was then stitched to the wall hanging.   I added a filet inset of yellow to make the whole thing pop. 
I finished off the written class instructions and only need the do the quilting and take final photos.  Yea!
Insight:  Thread painting takes practice, just like free motion quilting.  I have greatly improved. 
Insight:   Creating a watercolor makes me happy.  Do what you love.
I am finishing up a section of a poster project that I snatched from Shelia on Friday night.  So that will be my art project this week, but I can't post a photo until I give it to her Tuesday night.  Because she would peek at the blog, I know she would!  I will explain the poster project then too.  
Happy stitching.