Thursday, May 9, 2013

We call them....Yard Birds

Welcome to More Stars in Comanche !
Meet my models... Buff Orpington chickens.
These are the first chickens I've ever had and I thoroughly enjoy them.
That's why my, "It's for the Birds" project is about my "Yard  Birds".

 This is Fonzie...The Rooster with the BIG comb.

And these are his chicken wives.......Henrietta and Buffy.
They live under a big OAK TREE. 
 I must tell you that I never knew how entertaining a chicken could be before these guys came .

 They're usual position is, bottoms up !
 Scratch, Peck, Repeat all day long.

 Henrietta is inspecting her portrait. She said, " CLUCK ! " 
 Which I think means, "Do I really look like THAT !" 

 I bought a stack of fat quarters at the HOT Quilt Show last month because there was Kaffee Fassett in it.......and these are those. The fabrics match the color of my chickens "sew" well !


I used my Dresden ruler for the oak tree and sun,
then used several different sewing techniques to make this wall hanging, ........
The chicken wire is thread painted, my first attempt and the object of my fury. Sally Singer didn't like the thread I used for that. It broke and broke and frayed. I threaded my needle no less than a hundred times, and let me tell you, I got "sew" hacked  off  I wanted to chunk it !  I hung in there and finally got done and I'm pleased with it....now that it's over.   I also did both machine and hand applique. I thought the stitch on the grass up there looked a bit like chicken tracks and I used seed beads for chicken feed.
 Do you see the zig zag stitch on the chicken's hangy down things ? That is supposed to represent the fact that their  heads bob up and down constantly and the thing jiggles.
The hangy down thing is called a wattle...Both hens and roosters have that red skin hanging down from the neck. Wattles are the cooling system of a chicken. Chickens do not sweat, blood circulates close to the surface of the skin in this area, allowing the air around it to help cool the blood of the chicken during hot weather. 

I did not know that ! I had to look it up !


Mary and Madame Samm , you are both A-w-e-s-o-m-e ! Thank you for all of your HARD WORK !
Below you'll find links to the other awesome people showing you all the fabulous things they made for your visual pleasure today.

Y'all come back to see me again sometime !
 Have a wonderful day and God bless you.