Nite Owls Hop: Door Banner

Who's ready for a little fall fun with some cute owls? We have several blogging designers working with Judy Hansen's Nite Owls line and we're excited to share their projects! Today we're sharing a fun door banner, perfect for some fall decor! At the bottom of this post, find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls to play with yourself! Don't miss any of our Nite Owls tutorials!

Fussy-cutting the owls for this project is so much fun! The hardest part? Deciding which ones to use! We finished this door banner pillow-case style and left the batting out, but you can just as easily finish it using a quilt sandwich. If you do so, you'll need 1/2 yard of binding fabric (cut four 2-1/4" x 42" strips).

Finished project size: 27-1/2" x 28-1/2"

Materials:

1/3 yard white eyeballs print

1/4 yard green swirl

1/4 yard orange owls

1/4 yard black solid

1/3 yard black trees

1/3 yard gray swirl

1/2 yard purple owl print

1 yard backing fabric

32" square piece of batting (optional)

Fusible web

Cutting:

From the white eyeballs print:

Three 6" squares

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the green swirl:

Three 6" squares

From the orange owls:

One 3-1/2" x 42" strip

From the black solid:

Two 2" x 27-1/2" strips

From the black trees:

One 8" x 27-1/2" piece

From the gray swirl:

Two 4" x 27-1/2" strips

How adorable are these fussy-cut owls?! Have fun choosing which ones to use!

Step 1: Draw a diagonal side on the wrong side of all 6" white eyeballs squares. Layer each marked square right sides together with a 6" green swirl square. 

Step 2: Stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut unit on marked line and press both halves open. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of three half-square triangle units. Position a marked unit right sides together with an unmarked unit, positioning fabrics opposite as shown, matching the seam line. 

Step 3: Sew 1/4" on either side of the marked line. Cut apart on the drawn  line.

Step 4: Press units open to create an hourglass unit. Trim to measure 5" square. (Tip: To ensure you center your hourglass block, line up the 2-1/2" ruler mark where the triangle tips meet in the center of the unit. Make 6. 

Step 5: Sew the hourglass units together as shown.

Step 6: Cut the orange owl and white eyeball 3-1/2" x 42" strips in half. Noting orientation, sew half an orange owl strip to the top of half a white eyeball strip, making sure owls are oriented correctly. In the same way, sew the remaining half orange owl strip to the bottom of the remaining white eyeball strip. Press open, and press toward the same fabric in each strip set. Cut five 3-1/2" wide segments from one strip set and four 3-1/2" wide segments from the second. Note: Making two separate strip sets like this ensures that all your owls will be facing up in the checkerboard row!

Step 7: Noting owl orientation, sew the segments together to make a checkerboard strip. 

Step 8: Roughly cut out your favorite 6-8 owls from the purple own print. Adhere fusible web to the back of each rough-cut owl, and then cut out on owl outline. Arrange owls as desired on 8" x 27-1/2" black trees piece and fuse in place. Use a straight or decorative stitch to applique if desired.

Step 9: Sew together the two pieced strips, the appliqued center strip, two 2" x 27-1/2" black solid strips, and two 4" x 27-1/2" gray swirl strips to complete the quilt top. 

Step 10: Finish the door banner as desired. We used a pillowcase finish (can be done with or without batting) and then stitched along the length of the solid black sashing strips to secure. You can also layer the quilt top with backing and batting and quilt, and then finish with a binding strip. 

Add a hanging sleeve to the back of the door banner and hang to enjoy! 

Want to win a fat quarter bundle of Nite Owls for yourself? Make sure you follow our blog (email and blog reader sign-ups in the right hand sidebar) and leave a comment letting us know you do, as well as telling us which owl you like best in this door banner. (They're all so cute; it's hard to choose!) This giveaway is open through Monday, November 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. 

Catch all the days of our hop!

Day 1: Halloween placemats by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl

Day 2: Throw pillow by Connie at Freemotion by the River