Did you guess this was coming from the sneak peek on Wednesday? How about walking with me through this burst of creativity to see how it's made?
First, the hen house image I was inspired by. Mine's got the elevation and the little ramp, but minus the doors for piecing's sake!
With a quick glance in my brown drawer, I found two fabrics that worked well to continue the landscape around the chickens - lucky!! Plus a red for the barn, and maybe a green for the roof.
A bit of curved piecing created some interest to the ground under the house itself,
and with the addition of posts and the ramp, the outdoor area started coming together.
Now, our first round of this Round Robin should contain the following: pinwheel or something from nature. Paying homage to barn quilts, I mounted a pinwheel at the top of my hen house.
Then added the roof, though tying the house to the outdoors and the sky was a bit of a puzzle. I got it figured out even though I had to trim the house down a bit.
Now for the really fun part - the details! What hen house wouldn't be complete without a nest?
Lots of 2" fabric strips are randomly plopped at the open door to form a nest. Straight line stitching winds its way through the straw, catching pieces here and there to hold it together. That way the straw stays free, keeping a 3D effect, since this quilt will be a wall hanging.
And of course there's got to be eggs!
Stitched onto a fusible, the back was slit to stuff in two pieces of batting - more 3D!
They were then stitched down, only along the bottom, in the nest area, so that it looks like their standing away a bit from the quilt. Couldn't resist the jealous hen eyeing those eggs!
One last thing to blend the chicken panel in with the rest: hand cut flowers from leftover fabric from the panel's border. Then they're stitched down, no fusing, and painted. Also painted the small portion of ramp behind the tail feathers, to make a continuous line.
These few small details really complete the illusion, hiding the piecing line between the panel and my pieced background. Check out the before picture below.
This has been a big hit with my family so far, and hubby is ready for it to be done. But there's a few more rounds to go, which will be more rows than rounds. Wonder what I'll dream up next month - it's quilters choice.
Happy Creating!
This is so much fun! I love all the details (especially the nest)!
ReplyDeleteHow whimsical. It must have been fun assembling the components. Can't wait to see what gets added next.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to be a chicken coop contractor and builder. Every detail is so well done. I love, love, love it, even though I am not fond of chickens ever since we lived in a rental where the people behind us had a rooster that crowed every morning.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, between your project, your entertaining writing style and the photos, I smiled the whole time I was reading your post! Thank you for bringing joy in to my day and for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis project is SO cool. Why on Earth would your husband wish it was over already?! You haven't even put a sneaky little fox peeking out from behind the bushes yet. I LOVE the detail of the eggs in the nest, the house, and the way you used the flowers to "hide your tracks." I feel like this should be part of a larger project, and there needs to be a block with some ducklings, one with cows or goats, some pigs... Who else lives on this farm? And put your husband in the quilt as a cameo -- he can be the farmer. :-)
ReplyDeleteSusan - you are just too creative! This is just so adorable! Love it! You did a fantastic job!
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