snowy owl

Sometimes a piece goes smoothly, sometimes it doesn’t. I posted this pic last week on all my social medias.

7:2:snowy owl aOwl on the desk, looking great! Later I went to take photos.

7:2:snowy owl bMaybe it isn’t completely obvious because really, I had to check and double check to confirm what I was seeing. I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing. The black felt around the eyes had bled when I spritzed to get rid of any fabric marker marks and the owl now had blue eye shadow. That was not part of the design. And What? My wool felt had bled? So…

7:2:snowy owl c

I took out the stitches, took off the eyes and the face. I tested my felt. Yes, one piece bled when I got it wet. I have no idea where that particular felt came from versus the second piece I tested that didn’t (phew!) bleed.

New eyes, new face, sewed back on. Photos taken to be posted next day.

7:2:snowy owl d

Something wasn’t right. I kept thinking about it after I went to bed. In the morning, the owl returned to my studio for the third time.

7:2:snowy owl g

And finally! Done! And more photos!

7:2:snowy owl e

7:2:snowy owl f

Sometimes these babies take a little longer to hatch.

 

snowy owl

This is the last of the back up- A snowy owl which was another sample for the owl class.

I finished a fox but the weather has kept me from photographing him. Hopefully tomorrow. But here is a sneak peak-

grey owl

I took this picture a few days ago, before the blizzard which we are in the midst of right now. I started this owl in my owl class as a sample and finished him up last week. He is stuffed with “slippery” stuffing and is very squeezable (huggable?). We used this type of stuffing for all the classes and I learned some useful things about it. Firstly, it is much easier to stuff a large open space- like the owl or the baby- with this type of stuffing. It seems to expand to fill the space. And, when making the dogs and foxes, they come out fatter. Here is a photo-

The left fox is stuffed with “dry” stuffing, the right with “slippery”.

Anyway, back to the owl.

That’s the view from the top showing the fuzzy edged hood.

Owl Class

My first day of Artist-in-Residence at Gather Here was fantastic. We had loads of fun in the owl class.

Mid-afternoon was quiet and I organized supplies and went over the owl pattern on my own.

The evening brought the students- everyone worked really hard.

And look who was hatched by the end of the evening- A Parliament of Owls!

Tonight we’ll be making swaddled babies.

owl time

Owl time! I love working on partially started projects. I have bins with bags of cut out dolls and animals. All the decisions are made. I just have to sew them up. When I finally get to it, I feel like I am getting so much accomplished!

His ears are made from sweater ribbing.

He’s got a lot of different brown wool fabrics in him.