The Beast Within……
So when I heard that I was getting the opportunity to design the Free Spirit free pattern for my friend Dave Butler’s new line Vagabond, I was pumped. I got a brief synopsis of his “story” behind the line, and the one word that stuck with me, was Sherpa….which I only knew of as a lining for jackets, So I did a little cruising around the internet and ultimately landed on this hat….
…. which is actually from South America, and not Nepal, and I am not even sure where I got the Sherpa thing now because the color story on his site doesn’t mention Sherpa… Anyhooooo……back to the hat! I loved the graphic on the hat of a Griffin like creature and I thought it suited the line. As much as I loved the blacks and blues of this line, I really wanted to show the warmer tones, so I chose the browns and greens to feature.
But when I was making the center Beast feature, I started to feel that the brown was just too ….well….brown, and that it lacked excitement.
So I came up with this border, which I think nailed it and brought the oomph the whole thing needed to succeed! I am pretty pleased with it now with its border….(with one caveat….read on until the end…..)
Here is the quilt on the picnic table at home, from a really weird angle!
And here is Westminster’s photo of the quilt for their media. See how nicely the circles flow on the bottom border of the quilt? That strip is pieced and though it is not perfect, I figured out how to make the seam create a fairly even flow of circles. You see the leaves in the top of their photo? THOSE leaves are there, I am certain, because I did the top border first, was in kind of a hurry and didn’t figure out that I could do it better and more seamless…..so there is a chopped up “half” circle behind the leaves….clever photography, huh? (I am still disappointed in myself that I wasn’t more patient to make that work right in the top!)
So you can get the pattern for this online for free here now! and feel free to make as many as you want…I seriously think this a great “guy” quilt. I keep thinking that I want to do the “Beast” just as multiple blocks in an Andy Warhol style…..but doubt I will ever get around to that!
Happy December 2nd! Stay Tuned for the 12 Days of Color coming on December 6th! Color and Blocks and Prizes, Oh My!!
Gus Nelson
Hi Scott,
You did a fine job, we will be getting David’s new line in our store pretty soon. I am stoked. His other lines have been so dark, this looks a lot brighter. Kudo’s Gus
Pamela S
Absolutely wonderful and a clever use of the circles fabric in the border! I’m a fan of Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston so I don’t bow to perfection – if there is a half circle or something else that doesn’t meet someone else’s criteria I would remind them precision (or perfection) has nothing to do with art! Would love to try this quilt design someday ~
Cheryl
Oh my….this is a hit out of the park mr. scott…….and I really like it all…I think this line is really cool and fills a void in the market….it is nice to have a little brighter colors from lines past!
Well done….keep on peace-ing…..