Owl & Drum's "Look What I Made!" Contest Until March 31

What have you made from our wide range of fabrics lately?

Well, Owl & Drum wants to know . . .

. . . and, if you show and tell us, you could win a $50 gift certificate that can be used for fabric and supplies.

Owl & Drum's first-ever "Look What I Made!" competition will be a randomly-drawn contest.

But to enter, you have to submit a photo of an item you have made from fabric bought from owlanddrum.com or from our midtown Tulsa store.

The homemade item can be a quilt, clothing, handbags, curtains, wall hangings, home accessories - or anything else that you have decided to make from Owl & Drum-bought fabric.

The contest will for run one month - starting Friday, March 1, and running until Sunday, March 31.

So, start/finish those stylish-looking fabric projects, take your best picture of your homemade item(s), and send it to us at owlanddrum@gmail.com.

People can enter more than one project for the new giveaway contest - but should only submit their best single photo of each of their projects.

When it comes to entries, our philosophy is simple: the more, the merrier! That's because we want to show off your creative skills to as many people as possible.

Please give us your name, email address, the title of your homemade fabric project, and a brief description of what you made, why and which fabric you used. Simple. That's it!

The photos of every item entered into the "Look What I Made!" competition will be shared on Owl & Drum's blog on blogger.com and we will create a cool photo gallery on our Facebook page, too.

So, even if your name isn't lucky enough to be drawn out of the hat March 31, everyone in all those far-flung galaxies in cyberspace will be able to see the nice-looking fabric fashions you have made.

And that ain't so bad, is it?

For more details, send an email to Bianca at owlanddrum@gmail.com.

For more details about Owl & Drum – Tulsa’s one-stop shop for fabrics, homemade gifts, craft books, accessories and supplies – visit owlanddrum.com, or follow the store on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.

Owl & Drum's Blog Giveaway Contest Winner!

Big congrats go to Ellen, the winner of Owl & Drum's latest blog giveaway contest.

Ellen is the lucky recipient of a fat quarter set of Bugs by Jone Hallmark for Blend Fabrics.

Bug Dots in Blue

Ladybugs in Green

Swarm in White

Hatchmarks in White

Thank you to everybody who entered Owl & Drum's randomly-drawn competition. Be on the look out for our next giveaway contest!

You can find these and other modern fabrics by clicking here.

Q&A with Sydney from Meekly Made

Sydney Meeks is a proud alumna of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where she earned her bachelor's of science degree in nursing in 2008. 

Originally from Arkansas, she moved to Tulsa with her husband, Ben, several years ago. Although she spends most of her days working as a pediatric nurse, Sydney loves to craft in her spare time.
Sydney makes her line of children's aprons - under her brand name Meekly Made - which are sold at Owl & Drum in midtown Tulsa. 

Children's Aprons by Meekly Made

"I wanted to make something cute for a friend, and the aprons I saw in the stores were so plain, so I decided to make a colorful one for her," she said. "I thought 'I can make that' - and I did! I like to use lots of colors, especially pinks and purples, and to make the aprons look cute and fun for young girls."
A keen quilt-maker and all-round crafty person, Sydney is a member of the Tulsa Modern Quilt Guild, which meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Owl & Drum, located at 15th and Delaware. New members are welcome.  


Describe your workspace/studio?
My husband and I recently bought a house and I am so excited to finally have a space all to myself! The room isn’t overly large, but has a nice storage closet for all my craft supplies and a big window with a nice view of the neighborhood. My sewing room has yet to be completed, as far as decorating goes, but I’m loving all the possibilities!



Do you come from a craft-making family?
It used to be said that my mother couldn’t even sew a button on (whether this be due to lack of sewing skills or dislike of buttons, in general, I will never know!). So, I suppose the only craftiness I got was from my grandmother, who sewed quite a bit. That’s what makes it odd that I didn’t take up sewing until several years ago. I much preferred scissors and my hot glue gun.



Are there certain colors, shapes, or patterns you like to work with in your crafts?
I guess I’m a “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” type of person. I rarely use patterns. And, if do, I usually make them myself. I’ll see something and think “I could make that!” If it's not right the first time, I just start over and try again. I love colorful things - anything bright and cheery. I did a black-and-white quilt for my sister once and, while the fabrics were lovely, I found the lack of color quite boring!

What are your favorite materials to work with?
Oh, this is a tough one. This week it is probably fabric and thread. Next week, it could be buttons and paper - or lace and felt! I often think I have too many irons in the fire, but I can’t choose just one craft.

What is your favorite thing about Tulsa?
We have lived in Tulsa for several years now, but after you grow up in the middle of nowhere, a city like Tulsa has so many good things to enjoy. I guess my favorite thing (it's so hard to pick just one!) is having everything I could really want nearby. I was used to having to drive 20 miles just to go get groceries. Now, I have stores and restaurants all within a few miles of our house. I love that.

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

Owl & Drum's Blend Fabrics Giveaway

It's Valentine's Day - and love is in the air.

To celebrate, we're starting a new competition.

Yes, it's giveaway time again at Owl & Drum!

And this contest is quick and easy for all to enter . . .

Starting today, Feb. 14, and running until next Friday, Feb, 22, people can enter to win a fat quarter set of Bugs - a line of fun new designs from Blend Fabrics.

Bugs by Jone Hallmark

Everyone has five chances to win by simply "following" Owl & Drum on our blog, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - and/or typing a comment on one or more of our pages on those social network sites.

Please let us know in a comment how you are following Owl & Drum so we can enter you in the contest.

And let us know the best way to get in touch should you be randomly chosen as the winner Feb. 22.

The lucky winner will win fat quarters of four different Blend Fabrics - Bugs Dots Blue, Swarm White, Ladybug Green and Hatchmarks White.

For more details, send an email to Bianca at owlanddrum@gmail.com.

Lotta Jansdotter Designs Delightful Fabrics

Lotta Jansdotter is a creative tornado who touches down to create wonderfully distinctive fabrics, before picking up again to design and illustrate stylish stationary and craft books.

She’s a real whirlwind of creativity, incorporating aspects of her Old World upbringing to design products for modern women's lives and homes.

Bella, her latest fabric collection for Windham Fabrics of Jersey City, N.J., features a color spectrum of gray, white and orange, plus imagery that evokes her Scandinavian heritage.

Large Tree in Poppy

Ball and Leaves in Poppy

Wide Stripes in Gray

“I named this collection Bella because, to me, the word expresses excitement and delight for pretty things and events in my life,” she says.

Bolts of her new Bella fabrics – called “Ball & Leaves,” “Wide Stripe” and “Large Tree Poppy” – recently arrived at Owl & Drum’s midtown Tulsa store.

“I really liked the colors she uses,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

“I’ve always been a fan of Lotta Jansdotter. I have some of her books and she inspires me to want to create. I think our customers will like her fabrics as much as I do.”

Based in her Brooklyn, N.Y., studio/shop, she makes “things of simple beauty that bring relief to the urban landscape (and her) designs are like little plants working their way through cracks in the sidewalk,” according to her website, www.jansdotter.com.

Jansdotter says her work is about her life, and life is her inspiration, such as “exploring the beauty of everyday things – drinking coffee from a pretty cup, writing notes on a hand-printed card, dressing your child in the clothes you made.”

She was born in 1971 on Åland, a small group of islands in the archipelago between Sweden and Finland in northern Europe.

And Jansdotter says her creative aesthetic is “deeply rooted” in the Scandinavian landscape and the Swedish heritage of being pragmatic and self-sufficient: if she can’t find what she wants, she makes it; if she doesn’t know how, she learns it.

“I surround myself with colors and patterns at home and at work,”she says. “My every-day items feel more creative and meaningful by using fabrics, a few swift stitches and some dabs of glue.”

And Jansdotter took the basic craft skills she learned as a child, such as potato printmaking and sewing, and developed them into modern, sophisticated tools.

In addition to cool-looking fabrics, she designs and makes stationary labels, stickers, notes and to-do’s, and a printing studio kit. She also makes three types of candles (called Strim, Kvitt and Konralj) in conjunction with Crash Candles of Chicago.

“Lotta’s designs may be steeped in artisan traditions and a do-it-yourself spirit, but the homespun aspect ends there,” according to her website.

“Her look is sleek and urban, and her products are created for a busy city life. Her awareness, substance and instinctual sense of style are perfectly suited for contemporary lifestyles. As is her generosity and sharing of knowledge. 

“She plants seeds and let others reap the benefits – because you always reap what you sew!”

Jansdotter has also created four books – Handmade Living, Lotta Prints, Simple Sewing, and Simple Sewing For Baby – published by Chronicle Books.

A ledger on her website features lots of free, fun crafting ideas for around the home, for entertaining guests and for weekend breaks, such as a quick-sew picnic roll that serves as a placemat and carry-all for utensils. She also hosts a few workshops at her Brooklyn studio/shop each year, plus online workshops.

For more details about Lotta and her products, visit www.jansdotter.com.

For more details about her newest fabric line, visit www.windhamfabrics.com

For more details about Owl & Drum – which stocks about 200 different bolts of fabric, unique handmade gifts, craft books and equipment/supplies – visit www.owlanddrum.com, call Bianca at 918-742-1404 or stop by our store at 2810 E. 15^th St. in midtown Tulsa, OK.

Cloud 9 Fabrics Debuts Retro-Inspired Fabric, MicroMod

Rob Bancroft is branching out into the fabric field – and so is his pattern-making company.

Bancroft is the husband of Alexia Marcelle Abegg, with whom he co-founded the popular Green Bee Patterns in Nashville.

Bancroft's debut fabric line – titled MicroMod – by Cloud 9 Fabrics is now at Owl & Drum!

“I like the colors of the MicroMod prints as they have more of a masculine feel, which is something that we don’t have enough of in our store,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

Howell and business partner Dani Weaver selected four prints from the brand-new microMod collection – named “Tick Tock,” “Vertigo,” “Seaweed” and “Night Vision” – during a recent buying trip to the International Quilt Market in Houston.

Tick Tock in White

Seaweed in Purple

Vertigo in Teal

Night Vision in Teal

MicroMod, a 100 percent organic cotton fabric, is a retro-inspired fabric which features geometric shapes, with purples and teals incorporated in the interesting color pallet.

“With it’s moody, neutral colors and vibrant accents, this mid-century, modern-influenced collection is perfect for everything from home decor to garment sewing,” according to Cloud9Fabrics.com.

“It is also one of Cloud 9’s price-sensitive collections, which means you get the benefit of buying organic at an average quilting cotton cost.”

MicroMod is the first licensed fabric Bancroft has designed for Green Bee Patterns’ new fabric division. (In fact, the Tennessee company is now called Green Bee Patterns & Design!)

For more information about Bancroft and his work, visit http://alexiaabegg.squarespace.com/green-bee-patterns.

Want to see more? Here's a taste of what of some future collection from Cloud 9 Fabrics.

Four prints from Coleman-Hale’s new collection for Cloud 9 - "Blossom Festival," "Motif Madness," Cranes" and "Of A Feather" - are also due to arrive soon at Owl & Drum.

Her new range is called Tsuru, which means “crane” in Japanese.

Tsuru from Rashida Coleman-Hale

“Tsuru soars with beauty and grace - and a touch of modern funkiness,” states Cloud9Fabric.com.

“Rashida spent part of her youth living in Japan, and some of her beautiful work is influenced by Japanese culture and landscapes,” Howell said.

For more information about Coleman-Hale and her work, visit her blog at iheartlinen.typepad.com. 

Owl & Drum is also eager to receive the prints called "Textila," "Sparro," "Chevrona" and "Lechuza" from designer Eleanor Grosch's new Mixteca range.

Mixteca by Eleanor Grosch

"Mixteca serves up wild sophistication - exotic and energetic, bold and dynamic, vivid and subtle," according to the designer biographies on Cloud9Fabrics.com, which notes Grosch's collection is certified as organic as is part of its price-sensitive collections.

"Eleanor is a very well-known print illustrator of animals who is also creating great designs for fabric," Howell said.

For more information about Grosch, visit justeleanor.com.

Interested people can also visit Cloud9Fabrics.com’s downloads page for the company’s current selection.

For more details about Owl & Drum – Tulsa’s one-stop shop for fabrics, homemade gifts, craft books, accessories and supplies – call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit owlanddrum.com, or follow the store on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.