Owl Anatomy

One of the things I love on Biddy Brain, one of the blogs I read, is when Ronnie shows her process of putting a painting together. She inspired this process post.

First, I liked this vintage pin. I think I must have seen it on Etsy's front page.

I sketched it in a tiny corner of a scrap of paper. I didn't photograph the whole paper because it contains important information like my grocery list and the dimensions of the bag I was making that day. I will leave you to guess what the 428 stands for.

Next it became a pillow plan. The one on the left is for the love birds. I'll post a photo of that when it's done.

Full sized sketch on pattern making fabric.

The first three pieces of the applique on the kona cotton background.

Stitching the details.

I went for non realistic eyes because I wanted them to show up.

Quilted around the outline of the owl.

I used tailors chalk to draw my quilting design on the back, and I quilted it from the back. Next time, I am going to make 6 pillows at a time and quilt them all together from the front on the Gammill. I like the ability to be more freeform than I can on my Viking. My hands get too tired to use the free motion stitching on a quilt this size.

After the cording and the back were added, here he sits. Gabrielle says he belongs to her, but I think he is destined for the aircraft carrier. Rory really likes him too. I think he looks great next to the patchwork pillow. When I put this out in pattern form, the instructions will obviously be more detailed. Check out my favorites for more vintage owl brooches.