Merry Christmas Sew-Along 2018 ~ Snowcone Owl

It’s time for the next ornament in the Merry Christmas Sew-Along 2018!  I’m so excited to show y’all my new design – snowy owl! As a reminder, I’m partnering again with my friend Monique of Farm House Quilts to bring y’all 6 ornament patterns we designed over 6 months – all for FREE!  We decided to keep it simple this year with a Scandinavian theme & red & white ornaments. Although we have an idea what the other is making, we don’t see each other’s ornaments until it’s released. That means we get to be surprised too when it’s not our turn to post!  Okay, let’s get to the merry ornament making!

We are also having prizes this year! Monique & I will each be picking a prize winner at the end of the sew along. We are picking some fun things from our stash for each prize & I’ll give you a look at what I’ve picked out so far at the end of the post. How do you enter? Make the ornaments & post a picture, either in our Facebook group or by tagging us on Instagram & using #merrychristmassal2018. If you post on Instagram, your profile must be public in order for us to see the picture.

You can check out the Merry Christmas Sew-Along page for a full schedule, a Facebook group link, ornament links, blog links, Instagram handles, & all the details you need to know about the sew-along.

Ornament #5 ~> Snowcone Owl

I’ve always loved owls! Every time I see anything with an owl on it or anything about an owl, I have to stop and take a look. I’m even a member of the Hooty-Hoo Club Facebook Group which is a club for people that love owls. And, yep, that’s a real thing! I knew from the start one of my ornaments this year would be an owl. The “snow cone” part came along when I drew up the feathers on his body. It really reminded me of a pine cone, so the next thought was snow cone – obviously! : D

I hope y’all enjoy the ornament & I’m a little sad that this is the last one for me this year. We do still have Monique’s last ornament to look forward to in December, so yay!

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Pattern & Supplies

This ornament is a fabric applique style ornament like the gnome I made last year. You can check out that post for more instructions on making a layered fabric ornament with batting & backing. For this ornament, I’m just layering the fabric {and yarn} on the body. I’ll be gluing it to card stock in the end instead of sewing it like I’ve done before.

There are two PDF’s for the pattern. One is the regular pattern & one is a reversed print out. That way you can use it the way that works best for you. Here are some other things you’ll need, along with the pattern link:

• Snowy Owl Pattern
• Snowy Owl Pattern Reversed
• Fabric scraps – the biggest piece you’ll need is 3.5″ x 4.5″ for the body & the rest is very small
• Yarn scraps if you’re adding feather fluff
• 2 small buttons or beads
• Heat & Bond or similar – be sure it’s sewable if you are sewing your ornament
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue or similar
• 6 .5″ square piece of card stock

You will also need some sharp scissors to get around the corners of the smaller pieces. I like to use Cutter Bees & I’ve had them for years. One pair is for fabric & one is for paper!

Putting it Together

I picked out all my fabrics & glued pattern pieces to the Heat n Bond as I usually do when making an ornament like this. I’d decided to use some adhesive backed fleece for the eye backing, but it needed some fluffing up. Now you get to see a giant picture of my finger! You’re welcome! : D

Basically I just scraped around the edges with my fingernail to fluff it out a bit.

I didn’t like just the white fleece with the beak fabric I chose, it needed something more. So, I cut another piece, slightly smaller out of a scrap of gross grain ribbon. Much better!

The ear pieces were already cut out, but I wanted a more feathery look. I turned to my yarn scraps for help with that!

A little glue & more fluffing & I had the feathery ears I wanted. I also marked where the edges of the wings would go, so I could put on the belly feathers.

Now, the pattern has pieces for scalloped feathers, but I wanted to try something else. I cut strips of a natural muslin into strips about 3/8″ to 1/2″ or so wide.

Starting at the bottom, I stitched one strip down about 1/8″ from the edge with a stitch length of 1.8. I overlapped the next one up & stitched it down & so on.

Next, I took a seam ripper & used the point to pull out some threads along the bottom of each strip. Feather fringe!

Time for the wings, but they look a little flat…

More yarn should do the trick! This Purple Thang is great for fluffing yarn!

Looking good, but something’s just not right with those eyes…

I had to pull it apart and move those eyes up y’all! It was buggin’ the mess out of me! I just added a bit of glue to stick it back down. ; )

I think these buttons are the ones!

This owl is a little quirky, just like me! : D

Finishing Up

I took some mottled, very light blue card stock & stitched along one edge with dark, red denim thread. A little glue & my owl fits right in!

I covered the stitches on the back with a scrap of fancy paper…

You could add a hanger if you wanted, but I’m going to use this in a Christmas card. Maybe I’ll still add the hanger, so it doubles as a gift…hmmm…something to think about!

Here’s all the ornaments I designed for this year’s sew along….

Can’t wait to see everyone else’s ornaments! : D

Prizes

Here’s a reminder of the prize I’m giving away. The first ornament post has a few more details. I’ll be making a special bag to put all of this in for the lucky winner. It will be a surprise, but I’ll show it when we draw the winners. You can check out some of my current bags in my new Etsy shop. More bags are coming soon! : )

Remember to post a picture of the ornaments you make for entries. Find out all the details on the Merry Christmas Sew-Along page. Happy sewing y’all!

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