Hobart Brown Owls - June Meeting

Hobart Brown Owls had a slightly more owl-ful meeting for June, thanks to some new owls and some old.

There was lots of yarn work:

Jaci is knitting three scarves (one for each of her two year old triplets..!) and left-handed Lis is learning to crochet:

A blur of crocheting :)

I finished a crochet owl (but forgot the pipe cleaners to make his feet) and continued with the final sleeve of Marcus' jumper, which I started a while back at a different Brown Owls meeting:

Hilary and Liz made felt owls:

Hilary adding the eyes to an owl

Liz sewing an owl body

And Virginia amazed us with her commitment; reaching hexagon 102 of about 750 in a hand sewn quilt for her little boy:

Basting the fabric around the freezer paper

Some of the many finishing hexagons

We ended up with 1 finished (and gorgeous) and two nearly finished owls; and are looking forward to more next time - or maybe a different theme? 

Canberra February felty FIESTA!

Hello patient Canberra owly friends!
Your prefects are excited to announce that we have the details for our February meeting all locked in!
We're still in the process of finally having our dates and venues for this year secured, so this month we are on the road again!

We'll be meeting at 2pm this Saturday 18 February at Tilley's in Lyneham for a February felty FIESTA!

We love working with felt - it is easy to cut and sew, which makes it super portable and it comes in loads of colours - what's not to love?!

We won't have 'kits' as such, but there will be some felt available for you to buy from us in half or quarter sheets, but we can't guarantee how much or which colours - if you have something in particular in mind it might be safest to bring it along yourself =)
It is available from loads of places including art and craft shops, and both Hobby Sew in Belconnen and Addicted to Fabric carry some lovely all wool felt if either of those are in your neck of the woods.

So now what to make?!
There are LOADS of really ace tutorials out there for crafting with felt - you can make anything from play food to jewellery to super cute sewing accessories.

To help you out we've put together a list of some of our favourites from around the www!

Accessories for you!


Remember the gorgeous brooch Naomi whipped up at our January get together?

You can make your own using this tutorial

And here's a super cute owl ornament (but ace brooch too!) 

Cupcake brooch (not a tute, just a pic)
Raincloud brooch (we LOVE this!)
Robot brooch
Another owl
Heart and kisses
And a whole lot more brooches and pins!



Bits and pieces for your sewing box!

A strawberry needle book
A flower pincushion
A watch pincushion!
Hedgehog pincushion 

Gear for your gadgets!
 ipod/iphone/other gadget covers

Groundhog!
Sheep!
Monogram!

Other cute stuff!


Here's a really cute felt owl mobile pattern (second one down)
A forest of felt hearts
 

(sideways!) Strawberries!
There are loads of tutorials around for felt food - check out these ones George has collected on her pinterest board


Phew! It's going to be tough to choose!


Now - the important things to remember!


Our felty FIESTA is happening at 2pm this Saturday 18 February at Tilley's in Lyneham!

You need to bring:
felt - remember we'll have some available for you to buy, or you can bring along your own
a copy of your tutorial if you need to refer to it for instructions
a needle and thread if there's sewing involved
other things that might be handy are scissors, a pencil and paper if you need to draw a template, toy stuffing if your felt needs to get stuffed (hehe)

And if you're not feeling the felt we'd still love to have you along! Bring your latest crafty project to work on, or just join us for some cake and a chat!
Ooh and don't forget we love show and tell too! If you have any new shiny books/mags/finished projects to show off us we'd be very excited to see them!

Please let us know in the comments if you'll be able to make it - that way we can make sure we've booked for the right numbers! =)
And if you have any questions please get in touch with a comment below (make sure we have your details so we can get back to you!)  or an email!

Looking forward to seeing lots of you on Saturday!

Love Bron, Naomi, and George! xo

Adelaide Owls - Beautiful Brooches

Brrrrr.... it's cold! But that's not news to you Adelaidean Brown Owls. Come and share some warmth and laughter with us this Wednesday night.

Feel like a quick little project to try this week? How about this little beauty?

photo from here

Betz White has made this gorgeous brooch above and you can too!

What to bring:

• Felt scraps - including two pieces measuring at least 14cm x 8cm each
• Sewing needle and threads
• Felt bead if you would like to use that in the centre

What will be provided:

• Fabric glue
• Random buttons to use in centre
• Brooch backs - $0.20 each
  

Where? The Box Factory, Regent Street South, Adelaide.

When? This Wednesday 27th July at 7pm.

What? Bring along the supplies listed above or your own WIP that you would love to work on. Don't forget your show and tell!

Adelaide Brown Owls - Let's get chicky!

Hey there Owlettes! Want to get down and crafty making a gorgeous chick like this?

photo by Myrtle and Eunice

The very clever Mytle and Eunice have created this gorgeous little chick and with Easter coming up, it's a perfect craft to share. They are very easy and all you need to know is blanket stitch. If you don't, then we are happy to teach you!

photo by Myrtle and Eunice

Kits will be provided on the night and will cost $2. Or BYO craftiness. And show and tell. ;)

You will need to bring:
* sewing needle
*scissors

Next meeting: 13th April

Same place: Box Factory, Regent St, Sth Adelaide

Same time: 7pm til 9:30pm

Bring a friend! We'd love to see some new faces!!

Brown Owls Mongolia

Felting and knitting continues in Ulaanbaatar! A bit light on photographic evidence this time but here is one of the final products: a bird bag (finishing touches after our last visit to Ayush at the Woolcraft NGO for some feltmaking). Next time, either/and/or papier mache or back to Ayush for some wool dying and spinning!

Canberra Brown Owls Felt Brooch Frenzy

On a glorious autumn afternoon last Saturday, a parliament of Brown Owls came together to make felt brooches.

Fabulous brooches were created, including flowers, toadstools and matryoshkas (designed by our own Prefect Georgie - link to the tutorial coming soon!). A cloud, cupcake and icecream also made a showing.

Yet again, Canberra's Brown Owls shone in the afternoon tea department, with the centrepiece being a delectable brownie. So our fellow Brown Owls do not miss out on the chance to sample them, here's the recipe!

Chewy chocolate brownies

150 grams unsalted butter

200 g block dark chocolate, chopped

1 ½ cups self raising flour

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup dessicated coconut

1 395 g tin sweetened condensed milk

2 x 50 g packets Rolos

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Grease a 20cm x 20 cm lamington pan. Line with baking paper.
3. Place flour, brown sugar, and coconut in bowl. Mix well.
4. Melt butter and chopped chocolate in a saucepan on a low heat. Combine well.
5. Add condensed milk and chocolate mixture to the flour, brown sugar and coconut mixture and mix.
6. Spread the mixture into the lamington pan.
7. Cook for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Do not over-cook.
8. Cool slice in pan completely before removing and cutting (if you don’t do this it will fall apart when you cut it up).

Special thanks to Joanne, who made the brownies and kindly gave us her Granma's recipe to share.

- Emma

Brown Owls Mongolia (Still) Love Felt

Brown Owls in Mongolia - the home of felting goodness

Brown Owls Mongolia have been getting busy following in the footsteps the nation's felt-making traditions. This time we've taken craft back indoors to learn from local felt, spinning, knitting and crafting gurus at the Mongolian Wool Craft NGO. Read more about our latest Ulaanbaatar adventures in felt here!

April Canberra Meet - felt brooches

Hello lovely Canberra Owls,

Our next meet-up is fast approaching - Saturday April 18th from 2 pm to 4.30 pm, at the Downer Community Centre (enter from Frencham St, Downer). To cover the cost of the hall, we are asking for a $6 contribution per month.

This month we though we might work on some bling for ourselves. Hand-sewn felt brooches are on the agenda!

pic knicked from here

We prefects have been scouring the web, and have come up with a short-list of fun and funky online tutes for you to choose from. Natch, if you have one of your own you'd like to make, please do!

You should have recieved an email with more deets (links and such), but if you haven't please contact one of the Prefects by email or in the comments.

As with last month, here's what to do:

• Comment on this blog post to let us know you are coming
• Bring a plate of teatime goodies to share if you would like to
• Bring your supplies for stitching your felt brooch of choice, or let me know if you'd like one of the kits we'll make up
  
• Bring change for your tea and coffee
• Your kids are welcome of course! Bring some stuff for them to do, though. There is plenty of space for their crafting or activities, and a little area for running around outside.

Oh, and don't forget to bring along your completed (or, ahem, still in progress!) stiching from last month for show and tell!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Dr Hoo (Georgie) xo