Ode to an Owl

Since I last updated my dear little blog, I've made: a purse, a quilt block, an apron, and a scarf. Needless to say... I've got some catching up to do on here!  A personal family emergency has come up that's made it absolutely necessary to keep myself distracted, so - Blog time it is!


Today, I'll be discussing the purse and quilt block. (I feel like I'm addressing a class or something, weird.) If it hasn't been obvious before, I'll spell it out for you - I have a thing with owls. While waiting for the one-and-only bathroom at JoAnn's (really?  Is that wise when they have sales???) I happened to be standing next to the aisle that has iron-ons. There was an adorable owl, in design, but I didn't like the colors, the size, or the price. So... I took a picture of it with my phone (that's probably a no-no, oops) and decided I would play around with it at home.

Apparently, I liked him so much that I used him twice!

I've had a purse pattern that I had been wanting to make for a little while. It's inside a book called Sew Liberated. Forgive me, but I don't have it near by to give you the author's name. It had an oversize flower print for the interior lining of the purse, and they cut out one of those flowers and used it as an applique on the front of the purse. I decided to go with two of my loves - trees and owls. I bought the cute-yet-simple tree fabric from Fourth Corner Quilts. The exterior is a wanna-be-wool suiting from JoAnn.

To use the picture from my phone, and turn it into a workable applique design, I worked a little Photoshop magic. I uploaded the picture to my computer. Resized the image. Changed it from color to black and white, and then printed it out. Then I used this miracle product called Steam-A-Seam 2 (I have no clue what happened to poor old Steam-A-Seam that it needed to be updated and cast to the side, but I'm sticking with it's updated version). You trace the design on one side of the Steam-A-Seam, then iron that on to the fabric... I've totally lost you, huh?  I'll show you some time, if you ask me nicely. 

As for the quilt block, I used the same owl design, but I used fabrics from 2010 Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. For info on this year's hop, you can click here. With 2010's shop hop, there were 54 quilt shops in Western Washington (hence the oh-so-creative name of the event) that each design an 8.5" quilt block using, and inspired by, a set of fabric that was produced by In The Beginning Fabrics in Seattle. (Supplemented by additional fabrics by ClothWorks.) If you go to their store during the hop, they give the pattern for the block, along with a few little pieces of the fabric, for free!While I was slaving away, answering back-to-back calls at a T-Mobile call center, my parents drove to each and every one of those 54 stores! Mom got herself a set of blocks, and my Dad was sweet enough to go into each store along the way, so that I would end up with a set as well. So, since July of last year, I've been plugging away at them from time to time, learning new techniques along the way. (I'm also gaining admiration for the generosity of some stores, and a deep loathing sensation for the intricate detail some shopowers inflict on their poor, unsuspecting patrons.) I am determined that I will make all 54 blocks, but then the problem is, how to set those blocks in a quilt. It's not an easily divisble number, as far as quilts are concerned. I decided that I would design two of my own blocks to bring the grand total to 56, then I'll set the blocks seven across and eight down. (That will undoubtedly make more sense when I post a picture of the completed product.)  This quilt block, with the owl applique, is one of those two blocks! I'm actually pretty proud of myself for getting this one done!