My string quartet, "Out of the Snowstorm, an Owl" was begun in 2014, but personal circumstances delayed its completion until 2017. It received its premiere at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018, performed by the Brodick Quartet. In the present inquiry, I will explain how this music was created in response to the transformation of my life and the recovery of my lost career as a composer, and was also impacted by a devastating bereavement that I experienced during the three years of its incubation. I will situate the circumstances surrounding the piece within the context of the creative lives of other women composers with particular reference to Ruth Crawford and Ethel Smyth, and I will explore how a piece of music can function as part of a creative autoethnography. The full score and a recording of "Out of the Snowstorm, an Owl" is provided to elaborate and elicit enhanced meanings for the reader.