Let’s continue sewing our Halloween door quilt: today owl be sewing ya! Okay, enough with the bad puns, we’ve got an owl to make and decorate.
Back all the owl body parts — except the tummy — with muslin. Remember to reverse one of the wings.
- With right sides together, sew the muslin and the owl body fabrics together. Use the same fabric for the face piece. Back the eye and the wing pieces with muslin as well. (Remember to reverse one of wing pieces.)
- Trace all the shapes onto the muslin sides.
- Machine sew around all the shapes, using a small stitch. Cut out all the pieces, adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance around all the pieces.
- Clip curves and turn the shapes through the X. When all the shapes have nice smooth seams, press them well.
Remember to clip all the curves around the shapes. Turn the shape right side out through the opening you’ve made through the opening. Press well.
- To make the beak and the feet, cut 1 1/2 squares from scrap fabrics. Fold in half diagonally and then in half again. All raw edges are on the long side of the triangle. Press each resulting triangle. You’ll be folding a gold colored triangle to create a beak.
- Tack this triangle to the lower portion of the eye piece. Stitch buttons to the eye piece. Stitch the eye/beak piece to the face piece.
- Use a brown or gold triangle for the owl’s feet. Stitch these to the bottom of the owl’s body.
- Fuse the owl tummy piece to the body, just under the chin area. To protect your ironing surface, use an applique mat. Do not use the steam function. Over time, steam breaks down the Teflon surface of the mat, and ruins its anti-stick properties.
A non stick applique mat makes adhering fusible appliques an easy and very tidy process.
Use small applique stitches to pull the owl figure together. Take your time.
- Using dark brown embroidery floss, outline the tummy piece, the wings and the eyes with a line of running stitches.
- Hand stitch the face to the body, ensuring the face covers the tummy piece.
- Press the owl element on the reserve side.
- Attach the owl to the tree branch. Embroider the owl’s legs and feet from the body to the branch.
Our Halloween door quilt is taking on a cheerful — and almost spooky — personality. Tomorrow, we’ll explore how to make this a shimmering edition to a fun night. I LOVE SEWING!