Thread Painting?

I have been very hit and miss with my blogging and keeping up with other friends on line.  For this I am sorry.  I hope the last 3 months haven’t hit as hard for all.  Now that things are hopefully back to normal I will spend more time watching the squirrels playing, sewing and visiting on the computer.  I have decided to try and do some thread painting so I will see how it turns out.  I have this panel to make into a wall hanging.I plan on doing the thread painting on the eagle and then free motion quilting over the rest.  Any suggestions?  Pointers?   This will be fun.