Over The Moon To Offer Monaluna

Among the 150 fabrics that Owl & Drum is delighted to offer are four stylish prints from a California company lead by a talented, versatile artist.

Jennifer Moore designs and sells modern, organic cotton fabric out of a100-year-old farmhouse in Walnut Creek for her burgeoning business, Monaluna.

Owl & Drum is currently featuring four fabrics from Monaluna’s Fox Hollow line - Foxy Too, Shroomy, A Is For Alphabet and Wonderland Blue – and will be adding more of the funky firm’s fabrics in the future.

Foxy Too

Shroomy

A is for Alphabet

Wonderland Blue

“We are big fans of woodland creatures, particularly owls, so we immediately fell in love with their collection called Fox Hollow,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

“The response to Monaluna has been great. It is refreshing that our customers are actually asking for organic cottons. And people love Monaluna’s whimsical designs. ”

Moore began licensing her artwork for fabric four years ago. After designing several successful collections for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, she decided to launch her own collection of prints in 2010.

Monaluna has been well-received within the industry, garnering press and accolades, and proving popular at trade shows and events.

“I really enjoyed meeting Jennifer for the first time at the Spring Quilt Market last May in Kansas City,” Howell added. “And people will really like the new designs she debuted at the Fall Quilt Market last week in Houston. We’re looking forward to having them in our store in Tulsa.” 

Monaluna’s fabric is made from medium-weight poplin weave, which is ideal for quilting, apparel and baby and childrens’ items, plus home accessories, too. The firm’s fabric is made in India from 100 percent organic cotton.

“Starting in 2011, all of our collections meet the Global Organic Textile Standard, or GOTS, which ensures that production is both ecologically and socially responsible,” Moore says on her website’s blog at monaluna.com.

“Our older collections  - Monaco, Marin and Anika - are made from organic cotton, but printed conventionally with AZO-free dyes.”

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she earned a degree in cultural anthropology and design, Moore has enjoyed an interesting and varied career in many aspects of product design.

She has worked in toy design for Manhattan Toy,  childrens' apparel for Target and decorative accessory design for Pottery Barn Kids.

But with the creation of Monaluna two years ago, Moore decided to follow her own creative path in textile and surface design.

Monaluna and its fabrics have been featured in numerous publications, including Stitch, Modern Patchwork, Modern Quilting, Sew News, Mary Jane’s Farm, American Quilt Retailer, Making, Handmade Living, Living Crafts and Do It Yourself.

Moore says on her website that her  “creative inspiration infuses both her business and personal life.”

She also says she “strives to create a life that is in balance, where her work and home are both informed by her love of beauty, nature, art and creative projects.”

Owl & Drum stocks dozens of fabric bolts made by seven designers and manufacturers. More fabrics are added on a regular basis, and they can be bought in the Tulsa store or on its website at www.owlanddrum.com.

The 2810 E. 15th St. store also sells unique jewelry and other items made by Tulsans, Oklahomans and artisans from Portland, Oregon, plus a 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 us on Facebook, Blogger.com, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Birch Fabrics Evoke Style From Iconic Era

For Cynthia Mann, it all started with a love of style from a distinctive era.

“My own home was built in the 1950s,” she told Sew Hip, a UK crafts magazine, in an article titled ‘Devoted To Fabric.’

“It’s a design style that I completely connect with – simplistic and colorful – and seemed a perfect fit.”

She established Birch Fabrics in 2009 with the aim of creating 100 percent organic cottons in colorful, adventurous palates to appeal to the quilting and crafting community.

Ellie Fam in Grey

And the company’s first collection debuted in January 2010. 

“Circa 50,” which was designed by Jennifer Moore of Monaluna, was described by Mann as having an “(Charles and Ray) Eames-era appeal with whimsical juvenile accents that lend themselves perfectly to nursery bedding, while still being sophisticated enough for pillows on your sofa or curtains in your craft room.”

The fabrics evoke colorful 1950s themes including iconic automobiles, houses, chairs and woodland creatures.

Birch Fabrics, based in Paso Robles, California, makes vibrant organic, environmentally-friendly fabrics for today’s crafters and quilters.

Mann started with an interest in sewing and developed an “obsession” with fabric a few years after graduating from college, as her friends and siblings began having babies.

The company recently announced its two Spring 2013 collections that will be debuted at the Fall Quilt Market in Houston, Texas, in late October.

Birch Fabrics' newest designer, Emily Isabella, is a talented artist and a country girl at heart.

“She's passionate about organic fabric - just like us,” Mann writes on the company’s website, www.birchfabrics.com.

“We are so excited that Emily has joined our team … Her debut collection, Yay! Day!, is her first quilt fabric collection, but Emily has been designing textiles, among other things, for years.”

Birch Fabrics has also launched a new line of baby and toddler bedding called Birch Organic.

The California company’s collections also include Robotic, Set Sail, Safari Soiree, Commute , Storyboek Two and Mod Squad.

Currently, Owl & Drum carries 4 blue-and-green and coral-and-teal fabrics from the fun Mod Squad range.

Rally in Green/Cream

Stem Floral in Coral

Mod Squad in Green

Rally in Cream/Coral

The fabrics incorporate iconic images from the London of the “Swinging ‘60s” era, namely the scooters and mopeds, the logo for the Underground trains (or “Tube”), jangling guitars, raindrops, taxi cabs, the Big Ben clocktower and the Royal Air Force “target” logo that was so beloved of the Mods.

Owl & Drum stocks about 100 additional fabrics made by seven designers and manufacturers. More fabrics are being added each week, and they can be bought in the Tulsa store or on its website at www.owlanddrum.com.

The 2810 E. 15th St. store also sells unique jewelry and other items made by Tulsans, Oklahomans and artisans from Portland, Oregon. It also sells a 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 us on Facebook, Blogger.com, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

Morgan Wins Gift Certificate!

A big shout out goes to our blog follower Morgan Phillips!

She's the lucky recipient of a $25 gift certificate to Owl & Drum after having her name selected at random. Thanks for signing up for our blog postings, Morgan!

We would like to thank all the people who entered our blog drawing. It was a huge success and we look forward to doing more contests in the future.

To learn more about Owl & Drum, visit our online store at owlanddrum.com and check out our pages on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy and Twitter.

We regularly post items about fun events happening in our store and about new products and classes.

All the best,
Bianca and Dani

"Beila's Bunch" Walk For Juvenile Diabetes Cure

Owl & Drum is excited to participate in the upcoming Tulsa 2012 Walk For The Cure, an important fund-raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

And we are hoping our friends and customers will help us raise some much-needed money – or join our team on the 1.25-mile walk – to help find a cure for this debilitating disease. 

This year’s Walk For The Cure will begin with registration at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the OU Tulsa Schusterman Center, 4502 E. 41st St. The walk starts at 10 a.m. For those of you who are into something a little more challenging there will be a 5K run. The run begins at 9 a.m. Click here for the run registration.

The annual event generates funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, whose research goals are patient-focused on finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes and removing the disease from the lives of sufferers. The nonprofit also develops better ways to treat the disease and improve people’s lives, and to prevent Type 1 occurring in those most susceptible.

Owl & Drum’s “special little friend,” Beila, has Type 1 juvenile diabetes and has to go through a daily routine to deal with the disease.

Her family found out she had diabetes in the summer of 2011 and Beila, now age 6, began receiving an insulin shot as little as four times a day. Recently, she began using an insulin pump that feeds her insulin through a little tube.

Her mother, Sacha, and sisters Juniper and Kalliope will be supporting Beila on next month’s walk, plus many family and friends, as team "Beila's Bunch."

We hope you can join us on Nov. 3 or sponsor our walkers. "We look forward to a fun walk that means a lot to our family" says Beila's mother Sacha.

For more details on Beila's Bunch, call Bianca at 918-742-1404 or send an email to owlanddrum@gmail.com.

We also have a JDRF donation jar on the counter of our store at 2810 E. 15^th St. in Tulsa. Owl & Drum will be matching the donations given in the store.

Here's a little video about a day in the life of Beila.

For more information about the 2012 Walk For The Cure, contact Shelbe Adams of the Tulsa Green Country Chapter at sadams@jdrf.org or 918-481-5807.

Grooving To Melody Miller's Vinyl Fabrics

Writer, painter and fabric designer Melody Miller is a hard-working renaissance woman with a heightened sense of style and a love of cool retro designs.

Her newest fabrics feature “Old School” vinyl records, a range of very colorful throwbacks to the era of 33RPMs and 45RPMs that are made of a 60-inch-wide lightweight cotton/linen blend.

Miller debuted the fabrics at her booth at the Spring 2012 International Quilt Market in Kansas City, Missouri, last May, which was where Owl & Drum co-owners Bianca Howell and Dani Weaver placed orders for two varieties of the distinctive fabrics.

The 12-inch vinyl-inspired fabrics are now at Owl & Drum at 2810 E. 15^th St. in Tulsa.

The Kansas City event was the first time she had hosted quilt market booth, and she said it was a “fantastic experience” to meet customers in person, as well as other designers and vendors. She said having her husband, Greg, along for the event was “super fun . . . and he loved everyone he met.”

Her other fabrics include: Ruby Star Shining, which feature deep-orange electric typewriters on a blue background; Ruby Star Spring, which use dragonflies as the motif; and Ruby Star Rising, which focus on old viewfinder reels from the 1970s.

Miller has also designed a range of Gelaskins, which are coverings for smartphones, laptops, e-readers, iPads and gaming systems, based on the vinyl prints in her new spring fabric line.

There’s definitely no moss on this fashion rolling stone: Miller also has a new book coming out – it’s due in stores in late October on the Roost Books imprint.

“Ruby Star Wrapping: Creative Packaging to Reuse, Regive and Relove,” which she wrote with her friend Allison Tannery, is a testament  to fun, but frugal, wrapping ideas and minimizing unnecessary waste during the holidays and for birthday gifts.

The duo decided to organize the book based upon the different types of gifts being given – be it fragile, bulky, thin or flat – and created several packaging projects for readers  choose from.

Miller said the business-minded Tannery helped her hone the focus of her work had that they had talked for quite awhile about collaborating on a book.

“We always talked about writing a book together - she loves to write and I love to make stuff - so it seemed like a perfect combination,” she said on her website, melodymiller.typepad.com.

And then Miller had her literary epiphany prior to Christmas 2010.

“I had been thinking for several months about a gift wrap concept for a book, and then I saw the ‘Green Grocery Bag Challenge’ on (the popular website) Sew, Mama, Sew!,” she said.

“The idea is to wrap your holiday gifts in handmade, reusable grocery bags to cut down on the millions of tons of wrapping paper and plastic bag waste that end up in landfills every year.

“Suddenly, I was inspired! I could write an entire book about handmade reusable gift packaging. I thought grocery bags were a fantastic starting point, and I wanted to explore packaging options for gifts of all different shapes and sizes. 

“Allison found this statistic from the Sierra Club: if every American family wrapped just three gifts this year in something that could be reused, we would save enough paper to fill 45,000 football fields. That seemed like all the incentive we needed to start our book.”

And the book was very much a family affair: Miller’s husband, Greg, took the photographs for the book; while Tannery’s husband, Blake, undertook layout, design and art direction duties.

The photo shoot for the book was staged at their “dream location” – Elsie Larson's Red Velvet Shop, a “dreamy” old downtown building full of architectural details , vintage objects and huge windows in Springfield, Missouri.

“I'm so pleased with this book, and hope you will be, too,” Miller said. “This fall, at Quilt Market, I'll be devoting my booth to my new fall line for Kokka, as well as this book.”

For more information about Melody Miller’s fabrics, book, paintings and gelaskins, visit www.melodymiller.typepad.com.

For more details about Owl & Drum, which carries more than 100 fabrics made by several designers, crafts supplies and tools, plus numerous unique gifts, visit www.owlanddrum.com.

The 2810 E. 15th St. store also sells many other items made by Tulsans, Oklahomans and artisans from Portland, Oregon, plus a variety of craft books.

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, but it's open every day online.

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