The Chicken Quilt

 When I made the bow tie block as part of the We Can Do It!  Skill Builder Sampler in July I knew I had to make a whole quilt with them.  A few months later my good friend Becca had a bouncing baby boy and I knew just what kind of quilt to make for him.

Let me tell you a little about Becca.   We met when we lived in Texas and she taught me that you can stack your paperbacks two deep in the bookshelf, threw great Halloween parties and was just totally cool.  Then we both moved - thanks to blogs and facebook we kept in touch.

My pig got out -again!- dug up my flower bed and decided to take a nap!

 She blogged about keeping pigs.  Pigs?!?!  I couldn't believe anyone would keep pigs - then the idea grew on me and we bought two piglets - very crazy days.  She kept introducing us to cool books and shows.

Becca's Chickens

Then we both moved again.  She now has a whole flock of chickens and a few ducks and rabbits.  I have downsized to 6 chickens.

Becca's chickens won prizes this year in their small town county fair.  I love this picture Bec posted after their win and days before their baby boy was to be born.  It is totally her.  :)

The kids got all dressed up in their cowboy duds for the fair and their youngest girl was the star of the stick horse barrel race.  (Notice the cowboys on the blue fabric?)

My chickens even cooperated and got in the shot.

So I thought this would be the perfect quilt for her.  A classic quilt with a retro vibe and chickens - who wouldn't love it?  I pulled all of my red fabrics - it turns out I had quite a few - who would have guessed? - and started cutting.  There is a lot of American Jane in there along with a few Cosmo Cricket, DS Quilts and misc 1930's reproduction fabrics.

The chickens were raw edge appliqued on the quilt front before it was quilted.  The templates are from American Jane's book Quilts for all Seasons.  I got stalled for awhile after I ironed on the chickens because I was nervous about messing up the stitching around them, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The eyes were suppose to be little pieces of fabric, but I just did a wide zig zag in place until I thought it looked like an eye.

The back is an American Jane panel - can you tell I love her stuff?  - bordered with cowboy fabric.  And yes, I did have a I-can't-do-math moment when I was cutting the borders and didn't have any more of the blue fabric.  So the off centered-ness was not on purpose, but I think it looks kinda...purposely off center, you know, a real designer look...right?  ;)

 I free motion quilted it with a meandering stitch and loops and bound it with my No-Fail-Cheater-Binding.  After decorating my living room for a few weeks, I finally got it boxed up and sent off.  Becca loves it as much as I do.  Welcome Baby!  You've got a great mom and family!  Enjoy!

Block 6 - Bow Ties

Well, we are going to say goodbye to half square triangles for awhile and move on to a new skill.  I don't know what the "real" name for this skill is, but I call it corner to corner sewing and I am presenting it as a bridge into making flying geese next month.  Plus, I love bow tie blocks.  They are a fun block that I think everyone should know how to make (as an added bonus, they are as easy to make as cold cereal).  :)

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Edited (5/15):  The Skill Builder Sampler will is available for purchase in book form!  It has been renamed "You Can Quilt!  Building Skills for Beginners" but covers the same skills with the easy, medium and challenging blocks and is a million times better than the original quilt along.  It is perfect for the beginning quilter or the experienced quilter who wants to branch out and learn new skills.  Find more information and order a signed copy in my Etsy shop or order on Amazon.  

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Cutting:

For this block you will need:

8 - white 3.5x3.5 inches squares

2 - 3.5x3.5 inch squares in 4 different colors (8 squares total)

2 - 2x2 inch squares in 4 different colors (8 squares total)

Draw a line from corner to corner on each of the 2 inch squares.

Sewing:

 Lay the 2 inch squares on one corner of each of the white/background squares.  Sew together ON the line - Not to the side.

Place the ruler 1/4 inch from the stitching line and trim away the excess corner fabric.  Press open.

 Lay out the white and colored blocks as shown.  Sew a white and colored piece together.  Pressed towards the colored fabric.

 Then sew the two halves together.  Take a second and measure your blocks.  They should measure 6.5 inches on each side.  If they are larger, trim down to size.  If they are smaller than 6.5 inches make your quarter inch seams a bit smaller on the next step.

Now take some time to play with your blocks.  You may want to lay them out like this...

or this...

or this...and sew together.

So many possibilities with just one block.  I can't wait to see what design and fabric you choose.  Be sure to check back in next week for some quilt math, a giveaway and a bonus block challenge!