The Chicken Run comes to Texas

I'm joining The Chicken Run! 

I fell in love with these colorful little pieced pin cushions and thought it looked like the perfect weekend project ... small enough to cut, piece and finish in one sitting. Little did I know that they are so fun and quick to put together that I would soon have a growing flock of them.

The Chicken Run began in England in January and has made landings in Australia, Germany and Virginia and Montana, USA. And now it has made its way to Texas! Where in the world will the next chicken fly away to?

That's where the real fun comes in .. I'll be sending one of my little hens on the next leg of The Chicken Run and if you want to be the next stop and win one of the chickens pictured, here is all you need to do:

1. Agree to make another chicken and give it away on your blog within 4 weeks of receiving your prize.
    
Include a link back to Oh Sew Tempting, where your chicken will appear in the Chicken Run Gallery, along with a link to your giveaway.
( If you do not blog, Avis will be happy to organize the giveaway for you on her blog Oh Sew Tempting )


2. Leave a comment below telling me which is your favorite chicken and where she would be going if you are the winner :)

I'll be selecting a lucky winner next friday night ( yes, that's July 4th, an easy to remember deadline for entries )

This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere!


Want to see more before you decide which one you would like to win?

If you don't want to wait to win one, you can make your own little Pin Hen out of scraps of your favorite fabric. I love these patchwork ladies ... you can find a great, easy follow tutorial by Sarah on her blog Here We Are!

Of course, once I had made a few of the patchwork chicks, I had to try out a couple with matchstick quilting, and I love the way they turned out.

I'll be posting a tutorial to make the upcycled matchstick quilted hens on Saturday so stop back by if you'd like to see how easy it is to join The Chicken Run yourself.

Which will you choose?

Umbrella Prints : Trimmings 2014 finish

I was so excited to participate in the Umbrella Prints Trimmings 2014 competition!

I love the natural texture of the graphic prints and the hand of the hemp cotton fabric. I selected the warm colorway and waited anxiously for my package to arrive.

What a cute little packet of "trimmings" .. I sorted through them several times, loving the juicy warm colors and the different feel of the fabrics .. 

It was hard to decide what to do with them, but I knew I wanted to upcycle so I headed off to the resale shop to find some natural fabrics to use with my trimmings collection of hearts, cats and leaves. I got home with a large shirt in oatmeal linen and a pair of loose pants in a great orangey coral color.

I laid the Umbrella trimmings out on top of my fabric finds and loved the way they both blended and popped on the oatmeal linen, so with that decision made, I only had to figure out what to make that would showcase the prints and colors .. 

I am seriously obsessed with matchstick quilting right now, so I decided to make a mini-size back pack using the quilt as you go method .. and we ended up with "Oreo"... a Fat Cat Backpack that's the perfect size to pack a journal, crayons and a snack or a crafty project for a car trip.







































Oreo is made from a simple one piece flat pattern. Her spots are all from my trimmings packet and are attached with the quilting stitches leaving raw edges that work well with the natural fabrics. 

I pieced a few of my trimmings into her tail which doubles as the shoulder strap and is attached at the back of one ear with a repurposed vintagey button.

I found a great orange sport style zipper for the back opening and made it as wide as possible. You can't well inside, but she is lined with Amy Butler scraps in coral and limey colors.

You can see in the closeup that she's quilted all over with closely spaced lines using pink cotton thread.

So what is Oreo carrying today? 

I packed her with a crochet project I am working on during my lunch hour at work. Tomorrow I may have to do a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors with my daughter though, to see who gets to carry her next ... 

The Umbrella Prints competition entry period runs through May 30 (yes, I'm making it just under the wire) ... and then you'll have a chance to repin your favorite entries from June 1—5th ( that's Austrailian time ).

I'm really excited to see what others have done with their little packets of color. This should be fun!

UPDATE!  Voting has started over on Pinterest .. go here to see this year's entries and cast your votes for your favorites. Leave a comment and "like" your favorite "makes" to boost them up in the rankings.