October Swap – block for Melody

EDITED: This was scheduled to post over the weekend when I was away - ARGHHHH - I did it wrong ;-(


My October swap partner for Aussie Quilt Block Swap  was Melody.
I have received the most beautifully designed and hand appliquéd block from her.

Melody requested an owl block (either appliqué or embroidered) or any block made with owl material. I did not have any owl material, so I set about making my first appliqué block.

A google search for ‘owl quilt block’ images resulted in all sorts of pics for inspiration. They all seemed to have the same features – oval body, big round eyes, soft triangle for nose, and teardrop wings. I found a fairly simple picture and used that as a basis for my block – I know I have seen the picture before on someone’s blog, but I can’t remember where – if you know, please let me know and I will give the original source credit. EDITED: Owl inspiration came from http://quiltedhugsandothernonsense.blogspot.com/

I knew exactly which material I wanted to use for the wings, and built the rest of the block around them ;-)

I can’t hand sew for quids, so I decided to use Buttonhole stitch on Sadie. I wasn’t very happy with the stitching towards the end around the feet – it seemed to forget where it was when doing the stitches. Me thinks 30 year old Sadie is in dire need of a service (or replacement).

I wasn’t going to send the block at first, but I sent a photo to Melody, who was very gracious in saying my block was ‘cute’ and to send it anyway ;-) Thank you Melody! I do hope you like the ‘rustic charm’ of my block. I think I will really have to experiment with some hand appliqué very soon.

So here it is – my ‘cute, rustic’ owl block.

I must confess, this month's swap was very challenging for me - but having said that, I did enjoy it. 

I joined a swap group specifically to learn new things and I am certainly doing that, and meeting some VERY nice people along the way ;-)