Artistry in Quilting: The giraffe and the zebra

Recently we shared a behind-the-scenes look at Valerie Funk's "The Lion and the Paintbrush" quilt made using our Painter's Palette Solids. Today we've invited Valerie to talk about her giraffe and zebra quilts. (The best part, besides the eye candy? Valerie is selling these patterns, so you can make your own! See end of the post for details.) Enjoy!

Q. What inspired you to create animal quilts?

VF: My goal this year has been to try to expand my creativity and do something that would appeal to a broader audience—designing patterns that I could sell. Everybody likes animals, so I started there. I started with the lion and it turned out beautifully. The lion is so complex that I’m pretty positive I’ll never have a pattern I could sell. Next I moved on to a zebra. The zebra really turned out to be a pretty easy pattern to work with. The giraffe, I think that one I would call an intermediate pattern.

"Gypsy the Giraffe" by Valerie Funk;
featuring Painter's Palette Solids

Q. How did you end up with a lime, pink, orange and blue giraffe?

VF: When I was looking online for inspiration, Andy Warhol’s art kept coming up. The more I looked at his artwork and the colors he used, I really liked the different look it created: Taking something that you’d expect to see in “real” colors and giving it a pop with colors you didn’t expect.

After I drew the giraffe, I thought it would be adorable hanging in a kid’s room. I started with the Easter egg family of colors because I thought they’d be perfect in a girl’s room. I also created one with more lifelike colors in shades of brown with a blue sky. Next I’m going to go back and do one in brighter, primary colors.

Q. The giraffe also has a tree and leaves in it, but your other designs are the animal head only. Why did you make that decision?

VF: I wanted to add visual interest. The giraffe’s head was tall and narrow, and I didn’t want such a skinny quilt—I needed to fill space! Anyone making the quilt can ad lib a bit—picking and choosing where to put the leaves.

Q. Tell us about the quilting on the giraffe—it’s so different from the lion!

VF: The giraffe and zebra quilts were both planned to be patterns. My goal was to show people that if they were creating it, they wouldn’t have to do custom quilting. I didn’t want quilters to shy away from making the quilt because of the quilting. I wanted to show them how nice it can look with an edge to edge design. There’s really no wrong way—you can quilt it any way and it’s going to look great.

"Ze Coat of Many Colors "by Valerie Funk;
featuring the Leather collection

Q. You’ve made both the zebra and the giraffe in a couple different color combinations. Why?
VF: I wanted to show a little variety—not just what’s on the pattern cover. I hope that by seeing these different versions, I can help people unleash their creativity.

 

"Ze Coat of Many Colors" Zen Zebra by Valerie Funk;
featuring Painter's Palette Solids

Q. Do you have a favorite among these three patterns?

VF: I love them all, but the zebra is probably my favorite. I like the eyes, and the close crop of the zebra itself. And the variety of colors! There’s just something about the zebra. For me it’s a captivating look.

"Ze Coat of Many Colors" by Valerie Funk;
featuring Painter's Palette Solids

Thank you, Valerie, for sharing your beautiful animal quilts with us!

See the post on Valerie's "The Lion and the Paintbrush" quilt here.
Visit Valerie's blog here. 

Visit Valerie's Facebook page here and check out The Lion and the Paintbrush photo album to see more close-ups of the quilt. 

Want the patterns? Purchase Valerie's giraffe pattern here and zebra pattern here.

See all 168 colors of our Painter's Palette Solids here and ask for them at your local quilt shop. 

Find a list of shops carrying the Solids here.