What's Under the Needle?

Night Owl

Posted by on 27 June 2018 | 0 Comments

Tags: pattern

The “Night Owl” is the second in a series of bird wall hangings by Anita Eaton.

Anita says she was inspired by a challenge in her small quilt group a couple of years ago. She found that doing just one was not enough. She had too many ideas and wanted to continue working with the theme. Some versions are bold and contemporary and others are more subdued and subtle.

“When we moved a number of years ago our home was near the orchards that are a significant aspect of the area. We often heard the owls in the evening. Eventually, we started seeing them on our evening walks. It was amazing to see them in flight, no sound was heard as the huge birds swooped over our heads and then down on an unsuspecting mouse. Sometimes we heard nestlings even though we never did discover which tree held the nest.” Anita told me.

So, when she decided to make another bird wall hanging, the owl was the next choice. She started with the red, white, and black version in a fairly graphic form. And then a lovely piece of hand dyed fabric suggested another interpretation. This time early evening just before full dark was the look she wanted. The tones are subtle and the colors close in value for the evening piece.

There are several border options for this design, some simple, some more complex, or even leave the border off for a smaller version. The variety of borders offers another way to change the looks of the various versions, it can be an elongated hanging reminiscent of a Chinese scroll, or it can be a modern strongly graphic design. 

You can find this pattern and Anita's other patterns on our website here: Quilt patterns by Anita Eaton