Here a chick, there a chick

I have chickens! My father-in-law bought them at the farmers market for me. He is a crusty 90 year old long-time farmer and surely thinks I'm daft because I always have a whip-round to see and visit with the 'girls', his four laying hens.

Here they are in their little brooder apartment, eye to the escape hatch. They are Sex-Links and I'm so excited to see what they will look like as they mature. Feathersite shows some great pictures of the feather pattern and color possibilities.

What do chickens and quilting have to do with one another? Because fabric that could stand in for feathers was my obsession a few years back when I was doing Maggie Walker's Country Garden quilt. It finished at such an odd size I bound each section individually, quilted each one with a different technique, and of course added button embellishment to some of them. They make me smile each day when I sit down to this computer to play or work.

When my girls mature into their full plumage I'll pop an update photo in here. Just picture me as Eva Gabor in Green Acres, cadging a couple of eggs to go with the hotscakes.