Country chickens

For those of you who has followed my blog for some time, know my weakness for chickens.. You know; once farmer - always farmer! :) We always had chickens at the farm and when I was a little girl, we sold eggs to the local grocery store. I loved to pick the eggs, counting eggs, wash the eggs before they went to the shop etc. The eggs were big - no joke - and many clients wanted eggs from our chickens!

Remember the old lady who hinted to my friend Johnny about sale in her local quilting shop? Well, not the old lady... I mean the box full of fabric swatches I got last year - it was a 10 kilos / 22 pound box! Lots of yummy fabric swatches there and what caught my eyes - no surprise! - was the chicken fabric; hens and roosters, from the 'le petit poulet' line by American Jane for Moda.

I almost broke my brain figuring out how to get the max out of the swatches. I knew using only the swatches and panel pieces were far from enough for a quilt, so I added white tone-on-tone.  

The panel pieces also included small squares of bunnies and sheep. I decided not to mix sheep into the chickens and bunnies...

What was left of the swatches after the quilt was finished,  turned out to be; a table topper...

I think it's going to look much better if I add a white border around it, like I did on the quilt... Looks like something is missing...

Looking at it now... Do the bunnies disappear somehow with the big pinwheel blocks around? The blocks are 7.5 inch square (sewn into quilt) and I only had 5 bunnies (one not used). What do you think?

Now I'm waiting for matching backing fabrics... :)

   

New York Beauty QAL block #5 and #1

Over the last couple of weeks I have finished another 8 (I make 4 of each) of the New York Beauty QAL blocks. I have decided to make four of each block, which should give me a decent sized quilt as well as good practice! :) The blocks are 8 inch sewn into quilt.

Each week, from March 7 (first block) to May 7 (last block) there will be tutorials by different bloggers. It's not too late to join! :)

The QAL (quilt-a-long) is hosted by Sara over at Sew Sweetness and you can read more about the QAL here. 

The second block (block #5) has Sew Sweetness' tutorial. To see the tutorial, click here. 

Block #1 has Canoe Ridge Creations' tutorial.

I'm struggling a bit with the curves, but I think the trick is to cut them on the bias for maximum stretch - or am I wrong? Do not get me wrong; I don't overstretch them - lol! I always cut the edges 1/4 inch bigger, because it is easier to trim the block to the right size. I don't know about you, but for me the pieces added together tend to shrink somehow when pieced together. I also add the pieces together without removing the paper and using lots of pins! :)

What about you, how do you make the blocks and what works best for you?

Next block - #8 - is on from tomorrow - Monday 26th, tutorial by From the Blue Chair.

I want to continue the remaining blocks using Civil War/reproduction fabrics, but I ran out of light fabrics. More is on the way, but I won't receive it until 2-3 weeks. Not all of the fabrics I have used so far are reproduction fabrics, I think, but that doesn't really matter as long as they fit together! :)  

  

NNC Friendship Bag Swap

I have said it before - and I say it again; NNC is never boring!

There are always different swaps going on and I was participating in a 'Friendship Bag' swap earlier this year. I received the cutest bag and goodies from Sally in Malaysia!
The requirement was to make a bag and stuff it with goodies - anything a crafty person needs. I also received a cross-stitching book with very  cute designs, ribbons, buttons and labels.
Meet Sally at Etsy too.

Cross-stitching book and goodies

... and here's my bag to Sally, accompanied by matching pin cushion and needle book

.... and here are the 'stuffings'; fabric, felt, buttons, needles and sewing thread.

And yes... Sally loves owls, hence the fabric! :)

Sally, THANK YOU so very much! I love the bag, it's so cute!  

A big THANK YOU to headmistress MW for organizing the swap!