Jan 11, 2010

Ideas for “Patience, the Sittin’ Chicken”

The FREE-to-use pattern in the new issue of American Quilt Retailer is called “Patience, the Sittin’ Chicken.” I made her out of hand-dyed wool and used heavily textured yarn for her tail. More yarn is “couched” around  the edge of her wings and tied decoratively around her neck. Three felted wool balls make her comb. (You can find small felted balls from Art Girlz at www.artgirlz.com)

“Patience” will look just as nice in printed cotton. We even made a prototype version called “the rag queen” made of linen with rag strips sewn on as feathers. You’ll notice this first chick is not as plump, she has no wings and beaded wire legs. The legs were difficult  to get stable and even though we all loved her “rag” look, we decided she was just not much of a “cover” girl. However, you could use the final pattern and decorate “Patience” in rags if you like. I’d also love to see her done up in linen or other “blank canvas” highly decorated in baubles and beads. Can’t you just see her dripping in pearls? How about layering rows of white pearl buttons to look like feathers? What about a row of buttons peeking out from under her wings like scallops? Starter kits could contain the basic fabrics — let your customers take it from there. How about a “Sittin’ Chicken” challenge?

For our display, Becky and I scoured a salvage yard to find the faded white cabinet door used as the backdrop. At $15, it was a good investment! Look in the yellow pages — you probably have a similar business in your area. They had all kinds of things to use like cabinet doors, painted shutters and embossed metal ceiling tiles. Use a quilt to cover your display surface. Every hen needs a nest. We tried various baskets, bowls and even the antique wire egg basket shown in the far right photo. Perhaps you could find a small wooden or metal chair, one of those pretty white garden urns or a vintage cake stand to use as a base for her nest. Dried moss or grass makes it comfy. If you’re in the throes of winter, make it a fun “get-out-of-the-store” day, heading out to your favorite antique mall or decorative accessories shop looking for some new display props. Believe me, we had a fun time browsing the aisles and brainstorming for our cover set-up.

Use spools of thread or pearl cotton for eggs. Our thread eggs are vintage wooden spools found on eBay. The eggs could also be egg-shaped felted balls. Make the felted eggs plain or decorated. Teach a felting demo to go with your “Sittin’ Chicken” display. She could  be sitting on a nest of spring flowers. This could even be a small wreath. Spray paint an egg carton to hold more spools of thread. Or, fill the carton segments with buttons or beads.

In art or display, multiples are visually so much more interesting. Make an entire flock, clutch or brood of hens. Bundle folded fat quarters in stacks. Let your hens nest on these fabric towers each a different height. Remember odd numbers are better, so use at least three.

If you really take off with any of these ideas, and then think of some of your own, E-mail us some pictures and we’ll post them for others to see (sfuquay@americanquiltretailer.com).

Susan