Owl Revisited

I decided last night to try applying a technique I learned while making the penguin to my owl pattern. The penguin pattern has you create the appendages and stuff them and then tuck them inside the body, sewing around them before turning the whole thing inside out. What happens in the end is that the feet and wings get sewn into the body seam and things look nice and neat.

So, here is my new owl.

His body is made from a vintage appliqued hanky I picked up at this awesome thrift shop near here that I just discovered. When we moved out to the suburbs at the end of September, it took me a while to search out a new thrift shop and I finally found a good one a few weeks ago. Here is a shot of his back.

The owl’s head, wings and feet are made from Charlie’s pajamas (as were the head, wings and feet of the tiger belly owl). The one thing I think I need to fix is the gray part of his eyes – the circle is too big! If I’m feeling motivated later, I’ll fix it.

I also wanted to post this awesome book I’ve had for a while. It is called “An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japanese Family Crests.” It has 4,080 black and white art motifs which have been “adopted as insignia by families and handed down through the ages.” All the designs are free of copyright and, as the book suggests, can be used as a source of inspiration.

All the designs are printed with a black background and a white image on the left hand page and a white background with a black image on the facing page.

The bunny greeting card I posted yesterday was inspired by the bunny crest toward the top of this page

When I’m feeling crafty, but don’t know what to make, I like looking at this book. Some of the designs are really beautiful.