Wishing Everyone A Very Happy New Year!

Owl & Drum would like to wish its customers, vendors and friends all the very best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Since opening our doors last August, we have enjoyed meeting many crafty people from across the Tulsa area, Oklahoma and way beyond.

It's been really fun to learn their new ideas for art and design projects and we are grateful for everybody's support for our fabric-crafts-gifts shop. It has been a great experience.

Our store will be closed from Monday, Dec. 31, to Monday, Jan. 7, due to a pre-planned trip out of town. We apologize for any inconvenience the brief closure may cause.

However, Owl & Drum will be open for business online as usual at www.owlanddrum.com and in our etsy store.

And, when we return to our 2810 E. 15th St. store, we will be hitting the ground running.

For details about our many upcoming in-store classes in January and February - including crochet, beginning kids' sewing, beginning quilting, paper piecing, vortex pillow-making needle felting, and "Pinterest Parties" - please visit our Facebook page or send an email to owlanddrum@gmail.com.

The classes should be a real hoot - for young and old crafters, alike!

Thanks for helping make Owl & Drum a success and we wish you and your families health and happiness in 2013!

Blend Fabrics Feature Great Designs

Among the many new fabrics featured at Owl & Drum are some beautiful designs by a stylish Georgia textile design company.

Blend Fabrics, based in Atlanta, is the new licensing division of Anna Griffin Inc. Griffin has 18 years of successful product development and design while working with a dynamic mix of talented, versatile designers.

Three fabrics from Blend’s Tilly line and six from their Timber & Leaf collection are currently being sold at Owl & Drum’s store in midtown Tulsa and on its website, www.owlanddrum.com.

“One of the new collections by Blend Fabrics that we’re really excited about is called Timber & Leaf,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

“It’s got a lovely woodland creatures theme, with wolves, foxes and deer. The colors are really great and the animals are beautifully illustrated.”

Playful Fox Blue

Fawn in Birch Blue

The Timber & Leaf collection, which is designed by Sarah Watts, features the wonderful flora and fauna of the forest in two sophisticated color palettes that include coral, gold, aqua and taupe.

Gerbera Grey

Tree Rings Blue

Watts, an independent illustrator and designer based in Atlanta, earned a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design.

In addition to her passion for textiles, she is also an “image maker” of books, concert posters and stationery. Storytelling, folk art, and “a touch of darkness” shine through in her work, while she says ink drawings and vintage color have shaped her visual aesthetic.

Designed by Charlotte Lyons, the Tilly collection features mixed-media collages of vintage stitching cards, hand-painted florals and woven textures.

Rabbits and Roses Multi

Cherie Cards Red

Lyons is a self-taught designer and artist who developed her own techniques for painting, needlework, felting, mixed media and a number of other crafts. She combines the humble designs of traditional art and craft and the inventive use of repurposed materials.

Over the years, her work has been featured in her own books  – The Companion series, Mothers and Daughters at Home, and Between Friends  – as well as numerous magazines. She currently sells her wares on Etsy.com, teaches classes across the country, and creates designs for licensing.

Born and educated in St. Louis, Missouri, Lyons and her husband live in the lower Hudson River Valley of New York, with her three daughters and their partners living nearby.

Other Blend Fabrics collections are called Bugs, Global Bazaar, Gabbie, Blomma, Alchemy, Bella, Cushion & Dust, Animal Parade, Little Monkey and Hope Chest.

The company has been featured in McCall’s Quilting: The Best of American Quilting, among other publications.

“Blend is a collective of many artists’ work, a mixture of styles and a celebration of talent,” according to the company’s website, blendfabrics.com.

“(We are) a high-end textile design company that supplies fabrics and licensed designs to major retailers, independent retailers and e-commerce retailers worldwide.

“A true tribute to talent, Blend’s artists represent both well-known designers and some of the world’s best-kept secrets. With unique, ‘fashion forward’ design aesthetics, each artist brings an all-encompassing approach to the marketplace with a fresh, on-trend design perspective.

“Blend expressly designed to reach new product categories, while promoting talented artists from around the world.”

Griffin first made her fashion mark in the wedding industry during the mid-1990s by developing one of the industry’s first “print-it-yourself” invitations with a custom look.

She is an expert at translating exquisite patterns evocative of Old World style into modern mix-and-match designs. In addition to numerous fabrics, her signature collection includes invitations, stationery, home office, decorative paper and accessories.

Blend Fabrics’ website features easy-to-use PDFs of numerous patterns that interested crafters can follow to create their own quilts and other fabric-based homemade projects.

The company has recently completed a very busy period of showing its new collections to buyers across the United States, including Owl & Drum owners Bianca Howell and Dani Weaver on a buying trip to Texas.

Blend Fabrics staffed booths at the Los Angeles Textile Show from Oct. 22-24, as well as at the International Quilt Market – an important twice-yearly industry trade show –  which was staged shortly after from Oct. 27-29 in Houston.

Joe Spiegelberg, the president of Blend Fabrics, is a veteran of the industry, having founded Maude Asbury in 1988. Maude Asbury is a luxury gift company that designs and manufactures fabric covered photo albums, picture frames and magnet boards that are hand-made in the U.S.

For more information, visit blendfabrics.com, or follow the company and its designers on Facebook, Twitter or their individual blogs.

Owl & Drum, located at 2810 E. 15th St. in Tulsa, OK, sells about 150 bolts of fabrics made by more than a dozen manufacturers and designers.

The store and its website – owlanddrum.com – also offers unique handmade gifts, jewelry and other items made by Tulsans, Oklahomans and artisans from Portland, Oregon, and northern California. It also sells many different craft books, equipment and supplies.

Owl & Drum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, and from 12-4 p.m. Sundays. The store is closed on Mondays.

For more details, call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit www.owlanddrum.com, send an email to owlanddrum@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook, Blogger.com, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Trina Teaches How To Make A Gift Bag

Owl & Drum is happy to offer to interested crafters a free gift tote bag tutorial, which has been designed by talented seamstress Trina Seagraves.

Trina, who lives in Broken Arrow with her husband, Josh, is an instructor for beginning quilting and sewing classes at Owl & Drum in midtown Tulsa. She makes her own line of soft goods, including pillows and burp cloths, under the brand called Gate17. 

The supply list for the approximate 11-inch-by-14-inch simple gift tote bag project is: 1/3 yard of fabric; 7/8 yard of ribbon: and coordinating and contrasting thread.

For more information, visit www.sewgate17.com or www.owlanddrum.com.

Good Times Roll At International Quilt Market 2012 in Houston

The fall International Quilt Market 2012 in Houston proved to be a whirlwind of renewing old acquaintances and making some new connections with talented people and their pretty, cool products.

More than 1,000 vendors exhibited their wares – from fabrics to sewing notions, patterns to ribbons, book publishers to sewing machines, buttons to batting – and many thousands more buyers and store owners flocked to the Lone Star State to see the shape of things to come.

The scene was bustling across thousands of square feet of floor space, a convenient “networking lounge” was created for attendees, and dozens of wide-ranging classes, workshops and seminars were held on numerous business and creative topics.

Michael Miller Booth

Yep, the well-run Oct. 27-29 trade show at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston showed the future for the homemade crafting community is bright. 

And, hopefully, will get even brighter.

Kokka/Echino

“There was such a lot of choice everywhere and people seemed upbeat about the business climate going into the holidays,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

Tula Pink and her new collection Salt Water.

“It was really nice to say ‘Hi!’ again to the people from ArtGallery, Birch, Monaluna and other companies we buy from and to see their great new designs.

“And, while we were there, we picked up some new lines from cool companies like Windham Fabrics, Lecien, Cloud 9 Fabrics, Andover, Riley Blake and BlendFabrics, who are all doing some great work,” she added.

“We also found a new ribbon resource, as well as some wool felt, that we think our customers will like.”

Among the prevailing trends in the field of fabrics are woodland creatures, bright colors (especially neon), distinctive chevron shapes, and nautical themes and imagery. So, look for some of those designs in the store in the future . . .

Michael Miller

“I liked that there were so many organic materials being used by so many different companies,” said Owl & Drum co-owner Dani Weaver, who was attending the twice-yearly trade show for the second time.

“Organic cottons are becoming more and more popular with people. It’s good, because you can make great products with them and they're better for the environment. Our customers have been asking for them.”

The International Quilt Market is staged by Quilts, Inc., which produces three consumer shows and two trade shows each year that “set the standard for both the art and the business of quilting,” according to its website, quilts.com.

The next International Quilt Market will be held from May 17-19 in Portland, Oregon.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Portland," Howell said. "It's where I lived for five years and where I established the Urban Creatures’ recycled T-shirt jewelry and furnishings business with my great friend, Carla.

“There are so many great designers and different stores in Portland. It’ll be fun to see the new places that have opened since I left town.”

Also next year, the spring edition of the International Quilt Festival will return to the Chicago area after a three-year hiatus. The event will run from June 21-23 in Rosemont. The last time the event was held in 2010 more than 20,000 people attended. Other festivals will be held in Long Beach and Cincinnati in 2013, too.

For more information about the International Quilt Market, visit quilts.com, www.facebook.com/quiltfestival or www.twitter.com/quiltfestival.

Owl & Drum stocks more than 175 fabric bolts made by more than a dozen different designers and manufacturers. More fabrics are added on a regular basis, and they can be bought in the Tulsa store or at www.owlanddrum.com.

The 2810 E. 15th St. store also sells unique handmade gifts, jewelry and other items made by Tulsans, Oklahomans and artisans from Portland, Oregon, plus a wide variety of craft books, equipment and supplies.

Owl & Drum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, and from 12-4 p.m. Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.

For more information, call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit www.owlanddrum.com, send an email to owlanddrum@gmail.com or follow the store on Facebook, Blogger.com, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

"Holiday Open House" Prize Winners

Owl & Drum customers Kara Lowry, Annie Ferris and Rennee Lenertz are the winners from our recent “Holiday Open House” in-store prize drawings.

Kara wins a multi-colored, one-of-a-kind Urban Creatures necklace, specially made by Owl & Drum co-owner Bianca Howell.

Annie wins a $25 gift certificate to spend in the midtown Tulsa store, while Rennee wins a pattern of her choice by Green Bee Design & Patterns.

“We had a really enjoyable first open house and we’re grateful to all our customers, old and new, who stopped by last weekend,” Howell said.

“People liked our ‘make-and-take’ gift table, especially children, where they had the chance to embellish glass ornaments with felt, feathers and confetti and make unique gift tags from fabric scraps.”

Owl & Drum’s inaugural “Holiday Open House” on Dec. 1-2 also featured a special trunk show from Green Bee, a leading pattern-making company from Nashville.

Attendees saw examples of Green Bee’s popular “Scoop Tote” bag, “Vera Bag,” and the “Amelia” dress – all of which are stocked at Owl & Drum – among other patterns and samples.

The star of the show was the spectacular Diamond Ring Quilt, a king-sized quilt made by Green Bee.

“Everybody who saw the quilt said they loved it,” Howell said. “People enjoyed seeing all of Green Bee’s different designs and samples – they really do create some beautiful patterns.”

For more details about upcoming events and classes at Owl & Drum, call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit owlanddrum.com, or follow the store on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.