The Chicken Is A TOP!!

Pieced border in place.

Okay. . .I have to admit it. . .finishing the appliqué on the chicken felt great. Although, I was disappointed in how many of the leaves and chicken feathers blended into the background. Oh well, live and learn!

I was ready to work on the two pieced borders. The instructions for each border weren't that detailed. Also, the  line drawing showed less than a quarter of what the border was supposed to look like.  The first pieced border wasn't simple to stitch. The kit was about six inches short of black fabric; but, my small black stash box had just what I needed.

I like the interest that this border brought to the appliqué.


What was AMAZING about stitching this border was that  the border fit exactly on three of the four sides. The fourth side, I "got" to do a little easing. I anticipated having more of a fit problem! (Keep reading, I had a problem; but, I hadn't realized it yet.)

Uh--oh--it doesn't fit!! Why not???

Then, it was on to piecing the second border. Again, I didn't have enough fabric. The kit was the equivalent of twelve 2 1/2 inch squares short. Fortunately, I had some neutrals in my stash which worked.

When I pinned the border in place, the previous border was one inch too short. What to do? I pinned the other side which I expected to be one inch short as well; but, it fit perfectly. How curious to have one side fit great and the other side not!

To start with I had measured and both sides were the same.
Hm m m m m. . . .I counted the pieces. Aha. . .the side that didn't fit the second border was one piece too short.


Next, I looked at the piecing. Then, I saw it. Do you see it too? (I was should have had two cream squares between the two sets of two black squares. I only had one cream square!)

Interestingly enough, this was the first border that I stitched and which I thought fit so well!

Oops. . .missing one cream square!

What to do? I decided to unstitch this border and add the one cream square. In terms of time spent on this project, this bit of unstitching didn't take any time at all.  I added the piece, restitched the border  and then the second border fit. Whew!

The pieced borders complimented the appliqué blocks. I'm glad I stitched them. I am even happier that the project is at the top stage!!!!

So exciting to have a completed top!!!

Backing and binding fabric

A couple months after I started this appliqué project, I saw some chicken fabric at a quilt shop. I purchased it for the back and possible binding. So all five yards of the chicken fabric and the yard of feather fabric has been sitting in my stash for 10 years!

I still like the hen fabric for the backing. I like the feather fabric; but, not for the binding. Right now, I'm leaning toward a neutral binding or perhaps, I will apply a facing to finish the edge instead. I've time to think about the binding as it will take me some time to quilt this project!

For now, the backing is in the prewash phase. The next step is to baste the layers together. I guess I'd better see what batting is available in the cupboard!