Owl Art Quilt - Part Two

This is a continuation of a previous post about the making of the owl art quilt.  I sent my concept picture to my sister for her review.  It was the wrong type of owl!  So she sent me a recent picture of "Owlie" who is still living around Wellton, Alaska. 

Here is the revised picture with the right owl in it:

I traced the picture and intended to take it to a copy shop to enlarge, but then decided that I could do this simple enlargement at home.  

I painted the background fabric (the tree) by first gluing tissue paper to muslin, and tinting it with acrylic paint.  

Then I made some moss with yarn, thread, and wool roving.  It was formed on a base of tulle covered with Solvay, stitched with green thread, rinsed, and dried.  I even put some of the real owl's feathers into the moss.  When the moss dried, it had a realistic texture.

I placed some plain black fabric underneath the tree, moss and sketch of the owl.  It seemed like it was too high up in the hole in the tree, so I moved the owl down a little bit.  

Next, I worked on the owl to be placed in the hole.  See the next blog on the final art quilt.  I think you'll like it!