Chooks and Quilts

This is my friend, Cat. Isn't she pretty? Cat lives in Australia and designs lovely Twilight themed paper piecing patterns and gardens and has chickens. In Australia they call chickens 'chooks.' Cat's husband calls her the Chicken Whisperer because her chickens all have names and listen to her and do what she tells them. Cat is a member of the Twilight Quilters Coven and she is expecting her first baby. Seven of the other members in the group who are not from Australia and are not expecting a baby (Angie, Iris, Jerri Lynn, Joyce, Mel, Wanda and me, except now Mel is preggers too) decided that we needed to make a quilt for Cat's little nudger. With chickens. And Minkee on the back. And lots of love.

We worked on this chook quilt secretly. We're virtual friends (most of us have never met in person), so we discussed plans in private messages (and a few e-mails) over at TwilightMOMS. Even though Cat could never walk up on us talking in a huddle at Guild Meeting about her baby quilt, we still had a really hard time keeping it a secret. And it was a LONG secret to keep. We started making plans and organizing in January. Blocks were due to Wanda in late February. When she finished with assembly, she shipped the quilt top and minkee backing to Angie, who quilted it, bound it and sent it back to Wanda. Wanda added a label and, at last, it was shipped all. the. way. to Australia. We're excited that Cat finally received the quilt and the doors are blown off this secret.

These two blocks are my contribution to the quilt (which, by the way, was so much fun to put together).

Hen with Chick

I did this block using Cat's own design, Hen with Chick. I thought it was fitting to use Cat's patterns in a baby quilt for her. I used a bit of Fairy Frost (a perennial favorite) in the hen's beak and for the fluffy yellow chick. I also used another of my favorite fabrics for the hen's body, Moda Essential Dots. The eyes are 'painted' on here. I hadn't decided how I wanted to do them at this point; buttons seemed too big and French knots seemed too small. In the end I did a satin stitch on them.

Rooster

When I started my blocks for this quilt, I had a something else in mind for my second block. But after putting together the Hen with Chick, I thought it might be cute to put together a little 'family' of chickens, using the same fabric (a Nancy Halverson print with hearts and a 'feathery' look to it) on the upper part of the rooster (another of Cat's designs) as I did the hen. I conferred with my co-conspirators and they all agreed that the family of chickens was fun. It was so neat to make a sneaky project for someone who inspires me so much! Good luck with the new little one, Cat!

Angie is our go-to girl for long-arm quilting. Here's a close-up of the super theme-coordinated quilting she did in the borders.

Iris made the label for the quilt back and Wanda organized and assembled this little fabric miracle. In addition to the quilt, some of us sent baby-shower-gifts-by-mail. Remember my Chicken & Stars Appliquéd Onesie? Mr. Chicken & Stars was originally intended to be my second block for the quilt, but since Rooster took his spot, I sent Mr. Chicken & Stars on a onesie instead along with a stuffed rooster for the baby to chew on play with.

Visit the TQC Blog for close-ups and more details on the Baby Chooks Quilt and you can also see Cat's adorable little boy.