Owl Love

Judy Hansen has created three different designs using her adorable Nite Owls fabric. If you're a frequent blog follower, you've likely seen the free pattern available on our website, but we'll include it again in this post for easy access. 

Baby Owls

She designed "Baby Owls" for Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, a quilt that was also featured in the Love of Quilting tv series. (Watch the show for tips on how to make these blocks more accurate through the use of oversized blocks.)

"Baby Owls" by Judy Hansen;
featured in Love of Quilting May/June 2014

About the quilt design: 

She says, "I had my new grandson in mind when I designed this. I definitely wanted it to be a baby quilt. Four-patches are one of my favorite designs, and I love putting them on point. It makes the quilt more interesting, and makes it look more complicated than it really is."

About her design philosophy:

"After I've initially designed a quilt, I always try to look at it and say to myself, 'don't stop there—you can make it better.' Have I done all I can do to make it better? What would make it more interesting? This quilt is a great example. I took an easy quilt and made it more interesting, first with the on-point setting, and then by adding the inner border of green around the owl sashing strips. I also fussy-cut the outer border--the tree print--and then appliqued fussy-cut owls onto it."

About the owls:

Aren't they cute?!?! "I put fusible on the back of the owl print and cut them out--I like using Heat n Bond Lite. Then I fused them in place on the border of the quilt top and used invisible thread and my free motion foot to zigzag stitch them in place." 

Find the kit for this project here.

Find the magazine here.

Owls' Playtime

Judy has had babies on the mind with the arrival of her new grandson last year! She designed another baby quilt using Nite Owls that was featured in The Quilter magazine.

"Owls' Playtime" by Judy Hansen;
featured in The Quilter December 2013/January 2014

About the chevron design: 

"I have found that I like the chevron better in a design than in a fabric. A lot of people struggle with how to use a chevron print, but we like the design. And it's so simple--just half square triangles!"

On the scrappy look:
"Since rows of half-square triangles use a lot of pieces, you can use many different fabrics and create a scrappy look, even when all the fabrics are from the same collection, like in my quilt."

On the black and white background:
"Black and white with brights--you can't beat it! The colors really stand out against the white and black eyeball print. Plus, with my background in education, I know that research has shown that the stark contrast of black and white is really great in baby things, as its what the baby can see first."

Find the kit for Owls' Playtime here.Find The Quilter magazine here.The pattern in The Quilter also included the templates for making the coordinating owl pillows. Find the templates for the owls here.

See the entire Nite Owls collection here.

Learn more about Judy here.

Download the Peekaboo Nite Owl free pattern for Nite Owls, also designed by Judy, here.

"Peekaboo Nite Owl" by Judy Hansen