More Owls

I decided when Vanessa told me she was pregnant that I wanted to make something for the baby. Since she does such amazing knitting herself and already had several projects in mind, I didn’t even entertain the idea of knitting something. I have a quilt that my Aunt Alane made me when I was a baby, or maybe I was a young child. I’m not really sure how old I was when I received it because in my own memory I’ve always had it. I brought it everywhere. It is my Quilt and I love it (it is quite tattered these days, but I still have it!). So I didn’t have to think it over for too long when I decided that I would attempt my first quilt. Before we knew Elias was a boy, I had chosen my theme; Owls. This is actually what inspired me back in January to make the owl cupcakes and those went well, so how different could a quilt be, right?

I’m not really into pastel colors and I think babies should be surrounded by bright, bold colors rather than all those fluffy, light baby blues and pinks. My original plan was to rock the red/purple combination, but once I arrived at the fabric store, I saw that most of those options featured lots of flowers. I’m not trying to suggest that a boy can’t appreciate flowers or that I needed masculine fabric options with sports equipment or something equally macho, but I didn’t think the owls would appreciate being constructed from a garden, it just didn’t work. I opted for a combo of turquoise, green, and yellow, and yes, there are some flowers involved in the design too.

I borrowed some quilting books from the library, skimmed them, and returned them. I really don’t like to follow patterns or sewing rules, which may someday prove to be problematic but to date, has not been an issue. I decided on 15 large squares each with a different owl. Let me tell you making 15 distinct owls is REALLY hard!

I spent January through July cutting, sewing, and ultimately hand quilting the little buggers!

I’m not going to pretend, I do hope he loves the quilt I made him as much as I do mine, but if that doesn’t happen it will be ok.