Italian quilted wall hanging

This is a new technique that we learnt in college this year. To be honest I wasn't fussed at first as it involves a lot of hand sewing which isn't something I usually like but I actually really enjoyed it. 

The top and bottom panels are hydrangea flowers. Sorry about the not great picture the combination of texture plus satin fabric is hard to get a close up photo of. 

They are made using a technique called boutis where you place your fabric on top of a layer of loosely woven muslin and hand stitch along all the lines of the flower petals and sections of the leaves. Once all the stitching is complete you then stuff each of the sections from the reverse through the muslin which creates a lovely textured effect. The three flower panels in the centre are completed in the same way. Here is a test piece I did as practice which illustrates how much of a raised effect this technique achieves. 

On the original the 2 small squares in the centre were patterned fabric but as it was a gift for a friend who loves owls I cross-stitched 2 small owl panels to go in these spaces. 

So I'm really pleased with how well it turned out and my friend loved it but if you are attempting this technique here is one lesson I learnt the hard way, when stuffing the sections don't wear black!