Chicken Flock

My chicken flock has been decimated. No, I haven't been cooking and eating them. I seem to have given quite a few away, so today I made some more. I didn't want the last two to be lonesome. It is also a great way to use up a few orphan blocks.

Chickens

I have been playing a bit more with the new camera. We are still thinking we will take it back and get a different one, probably a Cannon but higher end. If we want a cheap travelling camera I will look for one of those that is about the size of a credit card. I hate carrying cameras. Lol.

Here are some chickens that possibly were some of the inspiration for the chicken quilt.


This one is for hard boiled eggs and the chickens are salt and pepper shakers.



This one is a mustard container I think. The chickens bob their heads as if eating. I guess with my new camera I could do a little video of that. Hmm... maybe later. These chickens are also salt and pepper shakers.


This one has been broken and rather badly repaired at some time. I love it though because it was my favorite when I was little. The top of the hen lifts off and inside you can put a hard boiled egg. When we had been sick and were feeling well enough to eat, my mother used to let us have a hard boiled egg served in this chicken. It used to make me feel better at once. That's why I love it even though it is mended. Maybe it's in much the same shape as I am!

Foxy

First, I want to thank all of you for the comments! I was amazed at how many of you took the time to encourage me and to give an opinion on the roofline. Happily, nearly all of you liked the one I had pretty well decided to do.
I have made the fox and it wasn't easy! This is the second one. The first one was way too big. He could have devoured the entire chicken house. His tail is made separately and lined. I will just sew it on at the base and tack it down near the end. I made it that way because I really wanted a round end on it. I could also aplique it down, which I may do.
The roof is still just pinned on. I am not sure how to deal with the overhang. It looks better with an overhang but I am not sure how to finish it. I can't imagine binding around such sharp corners. Maybe I will make an envelope, but I'm not sure how that will work with those angles either.
Now to decide how to quilt it.

Which One

I have tried several different ways of finishing the chickens. I am a bit limited with the brown fabric. What I have up on the design wall is all that I have.
I think the pointed roof needs somthing up there at the point to relieve all that brown but I'm not sure what. I did think of piecing the year 2007 but I'm not sure if that would look strange or not. I also thought of a star but not sure what color. Any ideas?
The plain square frame looks good to me too because it doesn't distract from the chickens. I think it will sit there for a couple of days while I cook for Easter dinner. Maybe I'll get some opinions from my quilty granddaughters when they come on Easter Sunday.

Chickens

I am back at the chicken coop again. Dot kindly sent me a bit of egg fabric. It's quite strong contrast but I think a bit of it livens up the chicken house.
The whole piece is about 35" by 40" so I am not sure if I will try to make a house for them or just frame it with a dark color. It seems a bit large to make a house . I think it might just look like a sort of wonky frame. I may try it out on the design wall. Once it is all sewn together it will be a bit smaller too. I am always surprised how much smaller a piece gets when it's sewn together.

Chicks and Eggs

It doesn't look like I did much but I made a couple of baby chicks and two eggs. I am not at all happy with the eggs. What I would really like is a piece of fabric with eggs on it. There is probably some Easter fabric with eggs but it would not likely be the right colour. I do want eggs of some sort because I was thinking of using "The Chicken or the Egg?" for my words. Of course, if someone comes up with a better quote that doesn't involve eggs, I am open to that. The eggs would fill the odd shaped spaces nicely though. I could also applique some eggs but I'm not sure how that would look since everything else is pieced. On re-reading this post, I have certainly used the word EGGS enough times!

Rooster

I finished the rooster today but I may change his legs. Somehow they don't suit the rest of him. I had quite a time piecing the tail and sewing it onto the rest of him. You can see all the wierd seams I had to do. there was only one set in piece but it took a LOT of sewing, ripping, resewing, re-ripping and on and on to get it to look like it does now. Somehow I liked the shape better before the legs were on. I could put him on a nest but I don't think roosters sit on nests. He definitely has to strut. I may put some feathers on his legs like the one in the picture I used.
Looking at the other post, I think I had the body at more of an angle before. I could easily change that so maybe that's the first thing I will try tomorrow.

I did some organizing this morning and folded a lot of fabric that I have hauled out lately. I folded and neatly put the background fabric on the bottom of the pile of smaller pieces. For a few horrifying minutes I thought I was out of background fabric. The store where I bought it is closed so there would be no chance of getting anymore. Luckily I found it before I had a panic attack! Is the lesson here to not tidy up in the middle of a project?



Here is the stack of neatly folded fabric. I wonder how long it will stay like that?

The New Rooster

I took apart the rooster I showed you yesterday. It just looked too goofy for my taste. I have the new one half put together. I kept the comb and wattles (is that what they are called?). The tail and the bottom of the body are just placed there to see how they look. I will do a lot more work on the tail feathers. I tried legs like they have in the book but they look a bit wierd for some reason. Maybe when there is green around them and feet ore attached they will look better.
This one looks a lot more like what I am trying for than the other one did.

Rooster

Here is the little iron I bought yesterday. It comes apart amazingly. It has a problem with the steam part. The little piece that the spring fits into should clip into the other part somehow but won't stay in. I just left the steam part off and use it dry. It is so light for ironing blocks that it saves my arm a lot. If I need steam I just use a spray bottle.



Here is a Chinese drawing book with a rooster. I have been trying to use it as a base pattern but I don't really like the results so far. Maybe I need to graph this one. I will go a bit farther with it before I give up and start over. Sometimes they look terrible and then you add a few more pieces and suddenly they look right. Possibly the addition of wings and tail feathers will help.


And finally, here are the chickens with some eyes. I just stuck them on with masking tape to see how they would look. Having eyes certainly changes the expression of all the chickens. I'm not sure if a quilt needs eyes but if it ends up as a wall hanging I will probably go with these eyes.

Chickens

I have done a couple more chickens. Next I want to do some that are more colorful and I need a rooster.



This one I made to use the head that didn't fit on the body I made for it. I want to put a nest under it but don't have a fabric that suits me. The one I have in the photo is the same as the head and too close in color to the body. I should have used a lighter background so the chicken would stand out more but my rationale is that when nesting chickens don't want to stand out.


This one is a bit large in comparison to the rest of them so she may have to wait for another quilt. Also I don't like the shape of the breast. It is too straight so I may cut it apart and change that line.

Here is the flock so far.



Thanks for all the encouragement and especially the puns!

Chicken Update

Today I went from this,



To this.




What a difference! I don't need to put on a lot of pressure and then cut missed threads with the scissors. I need a new ruler too but they didn't have the one I want. There was a 40% off sale at Fabricland so I got a good deal.



Here is the latest chicken with a different head. I think it looks much better. I am going to put it on at an angle to give it some movement. This time, for the comb, I made a lined piece and sewed it to the top of the head. It is not sewn down to the background. I like the look of it that way. The head looks a tiny bit big for the body but I am hoping when it's sewn in and at an angle it will look a bit smaller. Or maybe it's just a very intelligent chicken. An egghead, if you will.

And finally, all the chickens so far up on the design wall. They haven't laid any eggs yet. Maybe they are waiting for the rooster.

Still Chickens

Here is the one I started yesterday. I don't like it as well as the other two. It is not as lively. I really like the one that is looking back. I also need to make some looking the other way.


So I started a new one this morning. Now I think I will have to make a different head and save this one for another chicken. It just doesn't seem to match the rest of it. I really like the pale batik on the body and I want to keep that. Maybe the head needs to be lighter in colour. Or maybe the head is the wrong shape. I'll try some options when I go back after lunch.

Chickens

I tried the quilt with no sashing and, although you do see a secondary pattern, it's too jumbled looking. I will just continue my search for the right gray. I am thinking there might be a batik that is mostly gray with a soft pattern on it. I can wait until I find the right one, or maybe dye some muslin that I have.

I have made another chicken. I took a picture during the process. I build them up like Tonya's wonky houses or letters . I haven't been able to think of doing wonky yet because they are so complex to make. I start with a rough drawing divided into squares and triangles. Then I decide what colors would look good for each part.


Doing this one again, I would use triangles on the corners to round the head a bit. I would also try to put triangles on the end of the brown wings. I am debating whether I should embroider eyes or glue on plastic one s that I have or just leave them as they are. I will decide that later when I start to assemble them. I want to try a rooster as well.