"Tree Owls"

Owls were "a thing" in the 1970s. They were everywhere.

Today it is hard to go vintage shopping without finding lots of them.

at a shop in Hillsboro, Oregon

Seen on Etsy

1970s quilt from Cincinnati, Ohio

There are so many owl latch hooked rugs available for sale, I could have a large collection of them in just a few keystrokes, but there was one I liked best-- the Bucilla "Tree Owls" rug.

Like most of the other latch hooked rugs of the period, the design came as a kit, complete with printed canvas and yarn. This design is a little unusual in its use of longer "Rya" yarn in addition to the shorter length yarn. Part of the design is done in the reverse, more like needlepoint, with no shag showing on the front in the background of the tree hollow. The leaves were made with the longer, Rya yarn.

Although there were lots of owls, there were very few of these Bucilla Tree Owls, and the charming design jumped out when I saw it. The rug was less than half the price of the only kit I saw, which had sold about a month ago on eBay.

I love how easy it is to identify these 1970s rug designs. It is especially satisfying to have finite, straightforward answers when quilt identification is often anything but simple. Interestingly, none of the vintage 1970s latch hooked rugs I have seen have inscriptions or any information about the makers.
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