I belong to a group of quilters who pick names out of a hat each year to see who
they are going to make a Christmas present for.
Last year I picked Linda's name. I had a hard time trying to figure out what to
make her. Meanwhile, another friend, Darlene told me that she thought the bird legs
from my "Denise" pattern might look good with a shelf on top of them. I loved the
idea. And, it sort of mulled around in my head for awhile.
Meantime, I still couldn't figure out what to make for Linda -- until I focused on
the fact that her husband had built her a quilting room, which he dubbed the "Hen
House.". That, combined with Darlene's great idea of a shelf on bird legs, led me to a
chicken leg shelf.
Well, after I started, the shelf just became a bowl instead. This was the first,
original chicken Butt:
The beginning of the first version didn't even have the tail feathers -- and I was
okay with that because I thought it was great just the way it was. Then, my
husband asked "where are the tail feathers" and then I couldn't have it not have
chicken feathers, so I made some.
The ladies at the quilt shop liked it and said I should teach a class, so I made
another one rather hastily because I really don't like to make more than one of
something. I call this "The Plain Chicken Butt:"
Pretty plain, but the idea made everyone laugh. Two sisters signed up for the class
and their motto is "the gunkier, the better" and they made these chicken butts:
This lead me and a friend, Jo Ann, to do some hatching eggs.
Then I did a Turkey Butt.
Well, I had to make one more chicken butt so I could photograph the steps for this
pattern, and this is what I call the Fancy Chicken Butt:
There is no end to what you can do with this concept and technique. It can be
anything your mind can come up with.
You will be making your chicken butt in four parts. I've tried to break it down
into portions where things need to dry for awhile.
Making the Chicken Butt Body
Making Feathers
Making Other Chicken Parts
Assembly
