Fall into a Quilt Along: Owl
Welcome back to Fall into a Quilt Along. I can’t believe this is our very last block! The quilt along has been a wonderful journey, and I can’t wait to see your finished quilts. If you’re looking for a setting idea, I have a tutorial for a setting that is super forgiving and elegant. Check it out here! You can also visit my quilt along page for links to any of the blocks you might have missed. All patterns will be free until the quilt along ends on November 13, 2018.
Our final block is an adorably fun applique owl designed by Vanda Chittenden at Quilting with Vanda. Isn’t it sweet? Since Vanda is no longer running a quilting blog, she has given me permission to share the pattern on my blog. Click here to download the pattern.
Tips for Success
Avoiding Stiffness
This block has a lot of layers of fabric all fused on top of each other. If you’re not careful, that can quickly lead to a block that feels more like cardboard than fabric! The best way to avoid this is to cut out the center of the fusible in your shapes.
Here, you can see that I conserved my fusible web by tracing smaller shapes inside bigger shapes. I just made sure to leave 1/2” around the edges to fuse to the fabric.
Here’s what my shapes look like after I cut them out. You can see that I only left 1/2” of fusible web around the edges to hold the fabric in place. This does wonders to reduce stiffness in your final block!
Not pictured - I did cut the centers out of the white and black eye pieces, but I forgot to photograph them. The claws are completely covered in fusible web since they’re so small.
Teflon Pressing Sheet
My teflon pressing sheet was a life saver for this block. It allows you to fuse pieces in sections before sticking them to your block. Parchment paper also works if you don’t have a teflon pressing sheet.
Here I have fused all of the eye pieces before starting to work on the body.
Next, I fused the beak and wings to the body. Then I positioned the head and eyes and fused everything together. It was so nice to have the owl in one big piece that I could center on my fabric.
I moved the owl to my background fabric and placed the claws. Then I carefully fused everything in place.
Finishing
Once your owl is fused on the background fabric, it’s time to secure the pieces. I did a straight stitch around each of the pieces with matching thread. You could also use a blanket stitch or zigzag stitch if you prefer.
Once all of my fabric was securely stitched down, I gave my block a final press. Then I trimmed it to 12 1/2” square.
Tada! My fall owl looks right at home among the changing leaves. If you’d like to see what she looks like in the finished quilt, click here. I really think you’re going to like my setting.
A Parliament of Owls
Did you know a group of owls is called a parliament? It’s pretty rare to see owls grouped together in the wild, but we have seven applique owls ready to go! Each of the quilt along hosts has made her own owl and written a blog post with tips and tricks. Be sure to visit all of them!
Abbie Danahy at Sparkle On
April Adams at JANDA Bend Quilts
Bobbi Bridgeman at Snowy Days Quilting <--- That's me!
Jennifer Fulton at Inquiring Quilter
Karen Thurn at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Sherry Shish at Powered by Quilting
Vanda Chittenden at Quilting with Vanda
Prizes
As always, we have some fabulous prizes this week. Anyone over 18 is eligible to win, including international participants. To be entered in the drawing, simply share your completed acorn block by 11:59 pm Eastern time on October 29, 2018. You can share on Instagram with the hashtag #fallintoaqal, in the Partners in Design Facebook group, or in the linky party on Vanda’s post.
The randomly selected winner will receive:
A PDF pattern of their choice from Quilting with Vanda
Five Dritz Heat Erase Marking Pens
At the end of the quilt along, we will have a grand prize drawing for anyone that has made a complete quilt top with all 12 blocks. There's no need to have it quilted for the drawing. To be eligible to win, finished quilt tops must be posted by 11:59 pm Eastern time on November 12, 2018. You can see the grand prize package here!
