Today I’m sharing the Chicken quilt with you all! It got a lot of love on Instagram which kind of surprised me. Apparently you all like the chickens ;)
This chicken quilt was made specifically for my sister who is a newer chicken momma. @hollygetsquilty posted a chicken pillow on Instagram and I was smitten. I knew I had to make my sister a quilt. It got added to the long list of “someday quilts”.
In July I attended a quilting retreat with friends and decided to start this quilt rather than all of the other projects I brought with. We have a fabric share table at our retreats and all of the fabric for this quilt (including the backing!) came off of the fabric share table. So this one couldn’t have been possible without friends sharing fabric :)
Link to the chicken block tutorial
I followed this Chicken Quilt Block Tutorial by Sew Inspired. I’m not exactly sure how the comb of the chicken is supposed to be attached but I ended up just raw edge appliqueing it to the fabric so it lays flat and is fully attached. It was fun to draw out random size and shaped combs. Each chicken has their own personality ;)
Chicken quilt size
This throw size quilt has 6 columns and 9 rows for a total of 54 blocks. I added 2.5in in sashing to complete the quilt. It measures about 60in x 78in.
Fabrics
I used neutral fabrics with yellow mixed in for my chicken quilt. A lot of these fabrics are Carolyn Friedlander fabrics. There are a few Cotton and Steel and Cloud 9 also. I’m not sure about the rest.
The backing is a Joann’s fabric.
Free motion quilting
The chicken quilt is quilted with free motion scallops. They are very organic as I kind of wing it when free motion quilting scallops. I mark evenly spaced horizontal lines with a hera marker and then free hand the scallops themselves. I have a tutorial for this quilting here.
This chicken quilt block in the middle below is probably my favorite chicken of the bunch :) I love that black and white print.
The quilt binding is a yellow Carolyn Friedlander fabric. It adds a nice pop of color to the chicken neutral quilt.
My sister loved her chicken quilt and it was so fun to surprise her with it.
This is SO cute! Love everything about it, great job and your sister is a lucky momma!
This is such a cute quilt! The fabrics you found for this quilt are just perfect, as is your quilting choice.
Though I would not remake it – not the chicken fan – it is a beautiful modern quilt – sure it gets lots of love :) I love the uniqueness of the hens and the colors/ fabric choices. And it is extra perfect for the new chicken momma/ lover. Hope she enjoys it!
So so great! I am gearing up to do this one, I have loads of “chicken” fabrics stored for my daughter. Her nickname is “Chicken”. Do you know approximately how much white/neutral fabric you used? I am getting fabric this weekend and want to make one column more than you did. Thanks!
I love all the hair do’s! I think that’s my favourite part! Lucky sister to get such a fun quilt ;)
Where do Iget the pattern for the chicken?
The chicken quilt is adorable. The perfect gift for your sister. My neighbor had chickens which was a surprise to me. My grandson told me that there was a chicken in my backyard. By the time that I got to the patio door, there were two chickens in my backyard. I believed my young grandson and still wanted to see for myself. I called the city who told me to call Animal Control. I did not care what my neighbor had in his yard. I did want chicken feces in my yard where my grandson played and being a cancer survivor I did not want foreign matter in my yard either. When animal control came, the neighbor would not answer his door. However, the guy asked if I knew that he had a goat over there. Yes, I did. He asked if the guy had an acre of land over there. Of course he did not. His yard is much smaller than mine and I do’t have any where near an acre. To have a goat in the city limits, you have to have an acre of land above what the house resides on, I think per goat. A couple of days later, the animal control officer returned to tell me that the neighbor would be getting rid of his chickens and goat and he would be making his bees, yes BEES legal. That concerned me as we had previously had a swarm of bees land in a tree in our yard and we had to have a beekeeper come after dark and get the bees. I was very concerned because at that time, my children were small and I was concerned about bee attacks. thankfully, that neighbor no longer lives there. I rarely see the couple that lives there and never hear their dogs. All the neighbors were suspicious that it was a meth house and according to the new neighbors it was. So, the chickens were the least of the problems there. It seems there is always excitement on the cul-de-sac. Thanks for sharing your wonderful quilt and I’m excited that you found most of the fabric at the retreat.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We picked out 4 chicks in May after returning from our middle daughter’s wedding. Our two young granddaughters went with us and 2 are their pets, Isabella (named by the 9 year old) and Cotton Candy (named by the 3 year old). Then there are two Americanas named Americana and Flower (after their mom’s pet chicken she had here at the same house for many years.
Our chickens are hilarious and my rescue chihuahua is terrified of them and I know have to put her leash on her and take her out to the front yard to take care of her business. They are making a bit of a mess of the back yard and our patio, but we will deal with it. I do a lot of sweeping!
I can’t wait to make this quilt, again thanks for posting the link.
Your chickens came out fabulous, good job.
Can you explain how you did the sashing? I’m making this chicken quilt and just noticed there is sashing. Thank you
Just measure each side and add sashing to that dimension. To figure out how much sashing you need, add all of the sides together and divide it by a WOF (42in) and that’s how many strips you will need.
Wonderful quilt! I love chickens although I don’t have any! I wish I did! Your colour and fabric selection is brilliant!
Thank you for sharing! Your beautiful work inspired me to make my own flock of chickens… it is going to be a fun baby quilt for some friends. Happy to have found your space,
Oh awesome! That will be the cutest baby quilt :)
Love it. I’m not much of a chicken lady, but this is so adorable. I see chickens in my future.
Me either! That’s why I was pumped to have a sister who did love chickens because it sure was a fun one to make :)
Just wondering if you sewed the comb down or just at the base like the tutorial? Did you use back to back pieces for the comb? Thanks.
I ended up using only one layer of fabric and sewed them down. It might be smarter to use two layers for stability.
I am 9 chickens in and these are so much fun to make. Thanks for the inspiration and the great tutorial on how to make them!
I love this quilt & your color choices. I don’t have chickens, but I think I have to make it. LOL How much white fabric did you need for the background?