35 Years and Counting!

September 5, 1981

C is for Chicken

Gayle at Mangofeet got me thinking about chickens with her recent piglet (you have to see it to understand).  And I remembered a chicken phase I went through in my VERY early quilting career.

At the time -- 2000 or so -- there was a lot of chicken fabric on the market and I started collecting it.

Little chicks

Chicken wire and eggs

I don't know why. I didn't grow up on a farm. I never even had a baby Easter chick (other than the chocolate kind, the head's the best part -- no I'm thinking of the rabbit ears ... but I digress).

I joined Cumberland Valley Quilters soon after we moved across town and in 2003 the guild decided to enter the AQS Ultimate Guild Challenge when the show was in Nashville. We had to have 10 quilts (voted by the guild) in order to enter.  Our theme that year was "The Illustrated Alphabet." The only "rule" we had, other than the size limitation determined by AQS, was that the letter we were illustrating had to appear in our quilt.

I decided to put all that chicken fabric to good use by making "C is for Chicken."

In addition to the chicken fabric, I tried to include several block names that referenced chickens, hens, chicks, etc.

Hen and Chickens

Hens and Chickens

I even included some applique.

Funky Chickens

Dominique, perhaps?

I searched for a fabric that would pull all these disparate pieces together and thought this plaid would fit the bill.

No Chickens Here

Look at the name of the fabric !!! I just had to include a clip of the selvage.

Also, having been employed by The Coca-Cola Company for a number of years in Atlanta, I knew exactly what my C should look like.

"C is for Chicken" by Libby Smith 2003

Amazingly, our guild entry was accepted; that meant I would have a quilt hanging in a national show!!

I was as excited as if I had won Best in Show. I was in the first surge of quilters to enter the exhibit hall when the show opened and I headed immediately to the Ultimate Guild Challenge section to have my picture taken with my quilt (see my profile pic). 

So what if the guild didn't win; it was still an honor that I doubt I will ever have again.

Lucky Me!

Thursday I was up early to see what the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC16) color for September would be.  Nothing.  Same thing on Friday. 

I'm ashamed to admit that I had forgotten Angela at soscrappy would be right in Hermine's path and would certainly have other things on her mind!

Regardless, I decided to go to the studio to survey my options so that I'd be ready to move as soon as the color of the month was announced.  You see, each month this year I've been trying to link the RSC color to a UFO that I can set as my One Monthly Goal (Red Letter Quilts).

I pulled out two UFOs -- Star Gazing and Jubilee -- that had completed blocks and only needed sashing and borders to become finished tops. I decided to start working on Star Gazing, a quilt that I blogged about back in March, one that I had worked on while we were doing Grandparent duty over Easter weekend.

Star Gazing

This morning Angela announced the color(s) for September would be rose reds with a gold accent.  Lucky for me, Star gazing has several stars that fall in the rose red category!!

Not sure if this will be my OMG, but it will very likely get close to finished this month.

One Monthly Goal - August

OK

Sew I didn't meet my goal -- again.

August OMG - Serene Glow in RSC16 color, Hazy Purple

But it's not like I was idle.  No, I was distracted by another hazy purple project and managed to get the center of the quilt completed, starting from scratch. Border decisions still to be made.

Trellis Garden

I also attached bindings to two quilts, finished turning the binding on one quilt, finished three tops, made seven backs, and made a baby quilt from scratch, including the quilting.

Gee, I wish I was still tracking my stash usage!

I didn't get photos of the finished baby quilt, but I did get a kiss from the checker at Kroger!

Reporting in for the month with Heidi at Red Letter Quilts.

Retreat Reprise

Better Late Than ...

I was out of town over the weekend with no opportunity to blog. Also no time to sew, either, so nothing to report.  Therefore, I thought I'd post a few photos of what some of the others were working on at the S'mores retreat.

Ruth's Painted Ponies

Ruth began and finished this quilt in 2 days -- and that included removing three borders to fix the waviness caused be the pieced inner border.  It was a kit that included these darling, colorful ponies.

I wish I had gotten the name of the fabric.

Ari finished the center of her flip-flop quilt gifted to her by her secret sister last year.

Ari's Flip-Flops

The beach umbrella fabric she used for the alternate blocks is absolutely perfect!  The border will be a dark blue marine print with fish and sea creatures.

Kristen finished assembling Log Cabin Star Table Topper that she started in one of my classes several years ago.

Log Cabin Star Table Topper

At that time we were working from Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin by Marci Baker and Sara Nephew.  A stand-alone pattern has since been released as Log Cabin Star by C&T Publishing.

Several of the girls were working on their Stems and Stones from a recent Kelly Young class.

Diana's fabulous fabric collection for Stems and Stones

Ari's first two blocks - Stems and Stones

Nancy's Stems and Stones in progress

Nancy was the only one in class who used a dark back ground and it gives the quilt an entirely different look. It's all batiks, none repeated; the background is a very dark navy.

And in this photo you can see an edge of Lisa's Wedding March.

Lisa's Wedding March on the right

You can also see that we like to "loosen up" at retreat!

Retreat Day 3

A Day's Labor

Today was devoted to making a baby quilt for the checker at Kroger -- she hinted, and I thought, "why not?"

I kept it to a simple rail fence.

Regina's quilt

Regina requested pink for a girl. Though in this fluorescent light it looks more orange. Just three prints -- all from ancient stash -- and Kona Snow.

The back ...

Had planned to quilt it here, but forgot to bring the batting ... sigh.

After dinner I will try to work with the leftover pieces before packing up. 

Retreat Day 2

It Takes a Village

The S'mores will call, "I need a Village!" whenever a decision needs to be made on border fabric, or the arrangement of blocks, or just an opinion in general. Here Donna is getting input on her Stems and Stones. She and several others started this quilt in a class with Kelly Young (My Quilt Infatuation) several weeks ago. The variety of fabrics they are using makes each one unique. I'll try to get photos of all of them before retreat is over.

I've been busy at my table, too. I began the day putting borders on this variation of Wink and a Smile.

Shooting Stars (a/k/a Wink & a Smile

These were extra blocks from a class sample I made 2 years ago. I also cut a wide back for this one; the binding was already made before I came.

Next I attacked the borders on Tropical Trellis, using the teal diagonal stripe as the inner and the hazy purple circles as the outer (the vote was unanimous).

Tropical Trellis

Next up was Smith Mountain Morning. All it needed was top and bottom borders.

Smith Mountain Morning

It's only taken me 8 years to finish this one!  The border fabric was made for a West Virginia shop hop several years ago. I think I will donate this one to WV flood relief.

And before the day was done, I got the center of Trellis Garden put together.

Trellis Garden

Tomorrow I want to throw together a baby quilt for the checkout lady at Kroger. And if I have time I'll work on the borders for Trellis Garden, assuming I've brought usable fabrics.

All-in-all a productive day!