A Tribal Shark Quilt (AKA the Manly Man Quilt)

I have wanted to make my husband a new quilt for a while. The first quilt I ever made was for him, which he loves, but I didn’t really know what I was doing back then. He is always supportive of my sewing, quilting, and blogging so he definitely deserves a new quilt.

Here’s the thing, for years Jesse has loved this fake fur blanket I have. He likes how big, soft and  heavy it is. What he does not like is the pattern - think patchwork of tiger, cow, bunny, zebra and other animal prints backed in a chinchilla. I got the two faux fur fabrics on sale years ago (maybe 10 years?) and turned it into a blanket that has been a household favorite ever since.

Since he loves that quilt so much I figured a minky backed quilt could help replace that obnoxious blanket with something more suited to his taste. The question was what to do for the front that would suit him...
 
Jesse likes Black, Grey and Blue and tends to learn towards more simplistic patterns – plaid, solid, pinstripes, etc.  Since I knew he didn't want anything traditional, I decided I wanted to come up with something fun and different and that's when I thought of a tribal tattoo inspired quilt.

Beginning stages of the shark, the blue is not as bright in real life.  More color accurate pics coming soon...

So here are the beginning stages of the tribal shark quilt aka the manly man quilt (because what is more manly than a shark?  That's right, a tattoo inspired shark).  The shark itself will be a center panel and I still need to design the rest (including a redesign on the tail section).  It seems to be one of those design as I go quilts so fingers crossed that it will turn out!