During a recent visit to my native Scotland, I was asked why I haven’t designed more patterns of Scottish animals. I was surprised by the question as many of the bird patterns that I have designed are very personal to me and my Scottish childhood. When I took a step back though, I realized that I haven’t done many Scottish animal designs and my thoughts immediately turned to Highland cows. While out and about in Scotland, it is always fun to see these docile shaggy beasts grazing in the fields. There is something comical about the way that their hair falls over their eyes while they are slowly chewing the cud.
Block: 20in x 20in
Quilt: 20in x 20in
COLOUR DIAGRAM (REVERSE VIEW)
This is a great block for using up small scraps of fabric. I had lots of fun choosing a selection of orange, mustard and yellow scraps from my scrap bin.
Try to ensure that the different areas of the face are distinct from each other – the scraps that are used for the shaggy ears and forehead should be clearly different from the lower part of the face. The brown part of the nose should be distinguishable from the lower face. I made this distinction by varying colour values, but you could also do it with contrast. Ensure that the horns are clearly visible against the background.
Print the templates full size and check the 1in square is the correct size. Cut out the pattern pieces. Pieces I, J, L and M are printed on more than one page. Each must be constructed before you start sewing. Piece D also spans two pages, but it may be easier to sew sections D1 to D35 before gluing the template together. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the pattern by colouring in the Colouring Chart, and/or writing fabric choice notes on the pattern pieces.
Foundation piece the sections of the project (see Paper Piecing: Paper Piecing Process).
Once each section is pieced, sew them together in the following order:
A→B. AB→C. D→E. ABC→DE. F→G. ABCDE→FG. ABCDEFG→H. I→J. ABCDEFGH→IJ. K→L. ABCDEFGHIJ→KL.
The central seam of this quilt (joining ABC and DE) can become very bulky at the point where all the hair converges. In order to spread the bulk, I recommend pressing the seam open. You could also press open the side seams that join the ears to the head.
Remove the papers. Press and starch the work (see Perfecting the Technique: Finishing a Block).
Prepare a quilt sandwich of the quilt, wadding (batting) and backing and quilt as desired (see General Techniques).
For the binding, cut three 21⁄4in x width of fabric strips and bind to finish (see General Techniques: Binding).
COLOURING CHART (REVERSE VIEW)
CUSHION: When using a pictorial block to create a cushion, I generally like to add a small border. By so doing, the image is kept away from the edges of the cushion, which stops it from being distorted by the curve of the cushion. Border strips cut 2in wide would work well for this pattern, to create a cushion to fit a 24in cushion insert. See General Techniques: Making a Cushion Cover.
QUILT: I think it would be fun to create a quilt with at least four repeats of this pattern in different colours. Why not use scraps of different colours to depict each Highland cow?
This pattern could be increased in size, but could become tricky if enlarged too much.