Challenge of texture perfect for new sense of touch

The third challenge of Season Eight of Project Quilting revolved around texture. Although I intended to quilt for texture, I dropped that idea to add texture to an animal panel for my granddaughter's room.

This was the week my grand seemed to become aware of her sense of touch. The two-month-old seemed to touch and then study everything in her path.  That led my daughter to bring out the book called Animals, which includes a different texture on each animal. Amelia and I explored the rabbits' fur, the zebra's rough stripes, and even the slick grass that hid the tiger cub.  

But back to the task on hand. I pulled out muslin and batting and made a 9-inch by  9-inch quilt. Next,  I divided up the space and prepared an area to start quilting by hand. I planned to stitch densely in the first box. But first, I started working on a fun project - a monkey appliqué for a wall hanging. You see, piecing is my love in the adventure of quilts so I postponed my quilting.  

As I worked on the monkey, I scoured the environment for texture. Look at how the placement of stitching added variety to that white towel with a band near one edge breaking up the fabric. See how the stitches and cutting of fabric created the softness of chenille. Look at the tiny stitches that compressed the fur on the baby's rabbit face. That work emphasized the padded threadwork that served as an eye.

Fortunately, I finally woke up to the idea of making the monkey the project. I put together eight layers of fabric with eight rows of stitches. I then cut through seven layers between the rows and fluffed up the cuts. I stitched this piece down over the tan circle that once identified the monkey's belly. I longed for the chennile tool sitting in the tool box up north. I cursed not using a different color base to make the clipping easier.  

I created layers of stitches to build thick rounded eyes.  I added loops of thread to the 

top of the monkey's head. A similar set of loops finished off the monkey's tail that also was padded.

 I  added batting and a backing. The finished work is 8 inches by 11 inches. It was created in Greeneville, TN. It is best viewed and  touched while working your way through five verses of monkeys jumping on the bed. Check out how others tackled texture too.