Big Chicken quilted!

“New Zealand Chook #4”
Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp, 2013

Hooray! “New Zealand Chook #4” (a.k.a. “Big Chicken”) is threadsketched and quilted!

I really like the graphic pop-arty feel of this, and the bold colors. I added a little extra batting in the bottom of some of the feather sections to make them have a lot of texture. I did not quilt the comb, though, and it is a pretty big area; I hope it won’t sag without quilting. I heavily threadsketched it with a small meander, imitating the lumpy texture on the comb. It puffs out really nicely without quilting, and I didn’t want to quilt it flat. 

Now all that is left to do is to face it and add hanging sleeves for the slats. If you have never faced a quilt, I have a downloadable PDF tutorial on my blog, and on my website here. I recommend the non-mitered facing for beginners. It is much easier than the mitered version, and looks just as good.

I have a “Suffolk Sheep” painted and ready to stitch that is the same size; I think they will make great companion pieces, hanging side by side.  

Dear readers, I hope you are not getting too tired of looking at all these chickens and sheep. There is a reason for this madness; all will be revealed in a few months.