I gave this quilt to my father for Christmas back in 2000. It actually served as 2 gifts in one. I found the fabrics and the pattern in a kit at a local quilt shop and thought it would be the perfect birthday gift for my dad. His birthday was in August so I just wrapped up the kit and after he opened it I took it back and got started sewing away and got the quilt finished in time to give it to him for Christmas that year.
My father grew up on a farm in Tooele, Utah and they always had chickens. I guess for that reason he has always had a fondness for them. When I was growing up we lived in the more rural area of Holladay, Utah and dad had chickens there for a while -- we mostly had horses but we did have chickens too. About 10 years ago my dad started collecting various pieces of chicken and rooster "art". He set up a whole set of shelves just specifically to display his flock. My mom didn't exactly share his same affection so if you were to give dad a chicken as a gift it made him really happy and made my mom really not too happy. But I couldn't help myself when it came to this quilt.
The quote around the border has special meaning as well. My dad would always tease the grandkids by pretending to call the chickens to "come and get them". If they were doing something annoying, he'd say "chickens come and get ________ (insert annoying grandchild's name), Cock a doodle do!" For some reason this would always freak out the grandchild and they would stop doing whatever it was they weren't supposed to be doing and run to their parents for safety. After a while, all the grandkids caught on and it just became a funny, teasing, joking threat and soon everyone began calling the chickens to come and get him!
The quilt is machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted for the most part. I actually never finished quilting in the border. Everytime I see it I think I should take it home and finish quilting the border but it hasn't happened yet. This is the second quilt I have made for him. The first one is blocks of different cowboy boots and hangs up at the family cabin.
1 comment:
I remember a few chickens out back on the way to the corral. Is that where you kept the tiger for the tiger's milk? My little Jake is taking horseback riding. He goes early to brush and saddle and feed the horses, and stays late to muck out the barn, brush his horse, and put away the equipment. His mom is paying big bucks for this experience. And to think, I got such training all for free.
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