A Quick Appliqued Apron

 Someday I hope to have some chickens, I want to be the crazy Ol lady with the hound dogs and chickens that loves to quilt. Sounds like a great retirement, doesn't it? I think it does. In the meantime, I need to be happy with visiting my sister and sister in laws chickens and live vicariously thru them. I can also make cute chicken projects.... today I wanted to show you a quick apron project. The big cheat is to run to Hobby Lobby and pick up an apron that doesn't have any design on it because you are going to applique your own design using some fabric scraps from your stash. 

I went thru my fabrics and found some perfect colors for my hen and chicks. I traced the pieces onto the paper side of my fusible web for applique. I like to use Flexifuse because it doesn't gum up my needle on my machine.

Here's the apron I found at Hobby Lobby; I'll give it a good press to get the wrinkles out.

 I then cut out the shapes and pair them with the fabrics.

Press the shapes onto the back side of your fabric.

Then cut all the shapes out and lay them onto your project following the placement sheet or pattern photo. I'm centering the design on the front of the apron above the pocket. Press the design in place following the manufacturer's directions.

I traced a third chick and have placed it on the lower corner of the apron as a cute little added detail.

Using my sewing machine, I applique around the edge using a dark brown thread.

The final touch is to embroider eyes onto the Mama Hen and Chicks. I'm using a double strand of pearl cotton.

~ Hen and Chicks Apron ~

This pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop and also on the Website as a PDF download. It's a fun design for all year round. I bet you even have fabric scraps that would work for this sweet design. I was also thinking, you could make these birds bright and colorful too! Let your imagination go and have some fun! I made mine white to look like a Plymouth Rock, but you can switch up the colors to look like your favorite mama chicken. 

Have a wonderful day!

Cindy & Josephine

Chickens!

Spring is here, my sister has her new baby chicks! They are so adorable! I would like to show you a fun way to use the hen and chick designs on my Blue Ribbon panel from Marcus Fabrics. I have a limited number of panels and I also have the Blue Ribbon BOM quilt kit. Perfect to welcome spring! The quilt kit and panels can be found at the Quilt Doodle Website The design can be embroidered or left plain. It's totally up to you. I did not embroider the panel sections for the projects I'm showing you today. If you decide to embroider your hen and chick panels, do not trim up to the block sizing stated in the table runner pattern until you have completed your stitching. 

This is a fun table runner to make using the hen and chick sections of the panel along with scrap pieces of Aunt Grace's Apron fabric by Judie Rothermel from Marcus Fabrics. You can also dig thru your stash for reproduction 1930's fabrics to go with the panel too.  What I love about the Aunt Grace fabrics is they look lovely mixed up, even between different collections. As you can see the runner is pretty simple and can be easily pieced in an afternoon.

I did simple meandering for the quilting around my mama hen and her baby chicks. To quilt on the border I used my walking foot and quilted X ‘ s in each of the squares. 

I hope you enjoy this little freebie pattern using my Blue Ribbon panel. It’s the perfect table runner to put out during the spring and summer months. If you happen to love and raise chickens, not only do I envy you but you could keep your runner on display year round!

Happy quilting,

Cindy & Belvedere