August...

...for me, is...

...and today is the day!    

Teachers come back on the 20th....

...and students come back on the 27th...

So.... what did I do yesterday?

Yup... made another chicken....  

... it made me happy!

Hen Party

Several friends, online and in real life, have chickens; however, the town in which I live.... in all their "wisdom"...  doesn't allow chickens.   So I'll have to make do with these cuties....

Pip of Rest is Not Idleness the ones with the feathered topknots are Silkie Bantams!  You learn something every day...

Do the Funky Chicken!

Since I had to take a break between priming and painting, I thought I would make me a funky chicken!

There are lots of tutorials online but this is the way I did it.

First, I cut a strip of fabric 6x14" long of both the outside and lining fabrics.  Sandwiched these two fabrics with batting and then quilted the sandwich.

From this quilted fabric, I cut two 5x5" squares.  From a yellow/gold fabric, I cut one 1.25" square.  From the outside fabric, I cut three 3x3" squares.

From the four small squares, make prairie points...  fold in half diagonally, press.  Fold acute angles together and press.

(These are the tail feathers and the beak.  If you don't want to use feathers, make three prairie points from 1.25" squares of red fabric for the comb.)

Pin the beak about 1/4" from the top on one side.  On the adjacent side, pin the top feathers.   

(I pinned the feathers in the body of the chicken to corral them a bit... so they wouldn't end up in the beak-side seam.)

Next, sew the top of the chicken with a 1/4" seam as well as the beak side of the chicken.  On the side opposite the feathers (or comb), sew a 1/4" seam leaving appx a 3" opening for turning the chicken inside out.

 

Stack the three tail feathers, staggering them so they overlap.  The widest part should be about 4.5" so the tail feathers will fit in the opening across from the beak side.  Pin tail feathers to chicken on the inside, centering on a seam.

 

Fold sides together, pin...

...and sew a 1/4" seam.

Turn chicken right side out and poke the corners to make sure they are as far out as they can go.  Use a "high tech" funnel to fill with rice, making sure to get the rice to all corners.

Sew the opening closed.   

Add two buttons of your choice for eyes.   ( I used a heavy-duty thread intended for buttons, carpets, and crafts to sew on the buttons.)

Funky chickens can be used as pin cushions but I think this one will end up with one of my granddaughters.   (I'd better make another, don't you think?)

You can make your funky chicken any size, use quilted or non-quilted fabric, use prairie points or rickrack for the comb, and embellish with anything you can think of.  You're only limited by your imagination.

Google "funky chicken pincushion" or "funky chicken tutorial" and see what others have come up with as their funky chicken.

Note:  For the feathers, I purchased a multi-colored feather boa from Hobby Lobby and used a coupon.    Next time I make a funky chicken, I won't use quite as long a section of the boa for the topknot.