Chickens - again 11-17-08

Last night, truly the 17th, I had this blog post all ready to go. I hit the 'Publish Post' box, the post disappeared and my computer went down. So, I went to bed! This morning I had to reconstruct part of it, which takes longer in the morning than it does at 1am because I have a night owl brain. I know I have 'done' chickens before, but I ran across some pictures of "Odd Flock" and wanted to share one.

This little guy or gal is starting early with the 'chicken crossing the road' business.

Even in San Juan Bautista, where they should be accustomed to it, chickens don't seem to like to have their photo taken. One must stand very still and wait for them to stroll within range. I was standing in a front yard waiting for this showy guy to hustle his bustle in my direction. I don't think Mary thought it was nice to stand in some one's yard like that - especially since the people were home! "Those crazy touristas!"

I rather admire this fellow, he looks like he is made out of parts - one specked front plus a lustrous backside. He is grazing at curbside. The San Juan Bautisita chickens wander everywhere in town and are adept at avoiding being run over. The citizens are somewhat divided into 'love the chickens' and 'hate the chickens' camps. I suppose having a garden would automatically put one in the 'hate' category.

I used this photo in a blog post previously, but can't find it to give you a reference, so I am just re-posting it. I think he is the most handsome of all the roosters in town. And he is a BIG BOY, so he probably thinks he should be the Rooster King.

The hens, on the other hand, are mostly rather scrawny. Maybe it is because they have to run so much to keep away from "King" and his followers.

In 2004 when our friend Judy House was putting up a good fight to beat cancer, I started collecting chicken blocks for a friendship quilt for her. I did not expect the project to expand across the country, but once the word got around friends of Judy's sent wonderful imaginative blocks to tell her that they cared. It took me longer than it should have to get it together and it was an amazing test of my layout abilities. I put all the blocks on my design wall and moved them around until they were roughly in a rectangular shape. Then I started adding little borders around some blocks and making strips to fill in the blank spaces and constructing some small chicken related blocks to help fill out the quilt. I was amazed that the quilt came out so flat and I delivered to the long-arm quilter who did a lovely job of the quilting. And finally I wrapped it up and shipped it to Judy who was surprised and touched at such a gift. It is a bed sized quilt and she put it on her bed where it could keep her warm until the day she died. Sadly, not too many months later the wonderful long-arm quilter died of cancer also.

Among the blocks are several very clever ones. In the bottom row is a bowl of chicken soup made with chicken printed fabric for the soup. In the same row is a filler strip with three eggs - I didn't realize what an amusing juxtaposition it made with the astonished looking chicken above it until the quilt was finish and photographed. Margaret Miller sent the two strips in the top left corner, "egg - chicken" and I copied her lettering for the "peep - cluck" in the bottom right. Something was needed to sort of balance things. Freddy Moran sent the block on the right edge made from her original chicken design - I think Judy was in the Asilomar class when Freddy was developing that block. In the center of the quilt the speckled b&w chicken on black with a thin red border is "Spring Chicken" with little springs for legs - my brain will not retrieve that quilt makers name, but it has given a lot of smiles to viewers of the quilt. This photo was taken at Quilt Festival in Houston and the quilt won a ribbon at the Pennsylvania Mancuso show. So, a lot of people have enjoyed looking at all these chickens. The coordinating black/white/red/yellow fabrics are from "Fowl Play" an early collection from Free Spirit.