Owls

OK, I'll admit it. I'm vamping because I haven't had time to finish quilting either of the two pieces I'm working on, but at least it's a new post. These are some of my favorite owls in the collection that I keep at school. The one above came from Hawaii and was given to me by a friend and co-worker in Indiana. She went to visit her stepson in Hawaii and carried it back in her purse so it wouldn't get broken.

This is a fantastic Arts and Crafts tile from Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love just about anything from the Arts and Crafts Movement on both sides of the Atlantic!

This is a lovely little glass ornament of an owl in flight. Originally intended as a Christmas ornament, but so wonderful that I display it always.

Kathy over at Pink Chalk Studio fed my fancy for owls the other day when she posted about a new pattern she was offering called Little Owl. You can make a little quilt or a bag. It arrived yesterday and I haven't decided which to make first.

I know Robin of Simply Robin has posted about liking owls and Susan of Incremental Victories posted a fantastic picture of a barred owl that visited her yard. Any other owl lovers out there?

Odds and ends

The expression "odds and ends" makes me a little sad now because it always reminds me of George Carlin, but it's a fairly apt phrase to describe today's post. I wore my healing hand with the spiral on my jacket yesterday at school along with the earrings and I'm always surprised how many of the students notice and comment about them. All my earring and pins are extensions of my interests and passions, so it's nice to know that people are seeing those little touches and connecting the images with me. The beautiful orange fabric is from my new cyber friend, Jan over at A Quilty Pleasure. She and I were on the blog hop together last Sunday. She also sent Peeps which made my husband's evening. Thanks, Jan.

Making connections is one of the most fascinating things in life to me. Art is about connecting your inner life to images that help to express what you're thinking and feeling. Because art is one of my major pasions, I love pins that celebrate art. The gold one is a reproduction of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's design for the doorpulls of the Glasgow School of Art.

There are a number of blogs that I read with regularity and I'm always please to connect with the people who write them through common links.

First, a new blog that I added last weekend was MissaBears since Missa was the winner of my OP Challenge prize. We have a good deal in common, not only is she a quilter, she's also a librarian. I always look forward to a new post from Robin at Simply Robin. Yesterday, I discovered that, like me, she loves owls. Below is a paper pieced owl I made for a vest, a post owl pin my mother-in-law sent me and owl earrings.

Niena is a blogger from Malaysia who found me first. I saw a lovely fish quilt on her blog that she posted about in the middle of February. This quilt, like all her work, is colorful and very clever. I often wear fish earrings because it helps the students remember my name. I never really thought much about fish imagery until after I was married and my last name became Fisher. Now I really notice fish images everywhere. These are two of my favorites created by Laurel Burch.

Baby Quilt Status Report:I'm making progress on the baby quilt. (One side is entirely quilted and the second one is marked and begun.) I'm using the big half-hoop on the long sides.