I have had this cute kit for quite some time, and I really wanted to work it up as a wall hanging, maybe for the kitchen, or some other spot where it makes sense.  Working on a kit means I don’t have to think much, and keeping hands busy is a way to stave off thinking of certain things.  So, I got out the kit and laid out the pieces.  Mind you, I have been playing with this off and on for a while, but now was the time to finish it.  The total time doing this took a couple of months, working on it here and there, taking pictures as I remembered to do so as as I went along.

The instructions said to begin with piecing the background.

So I started with that, and the whole background framing went together very quickly.

Next, the instructions said to begin appliqueing the wool to the frame. But, being as I didn’t want to mess around with fussy quilting around all those little pieces, I decided to quilt it at this stage. I figured it would be a lot easier to quilt, plus give me more substantial fabric to hold while doing the appliques. I loaded it up on the longarm, but this could easily be done on a DSM. I started with stitch in the ditch using my Quilter’s Apothecary rulers. Plus I stitched down all the edges to stabilize it and keep it square.

I put free motion swirls inside the frames.

I love ribbon candy as a quilting design, so that went in the outer borders.

More swirls in the cornerstones and it is quilted.

Next, I got out all my DMC floss and matched up some colors, as the kit didn’t have any floss. I have every color DMC ever has made, I think!

Yep, those look good.  Notice I started out using a hand needlework hoop, but I quickly abandoned it in favor of just holding the fabric sandwich.

With the quilting done, time to cut out all those bits.

Lots of little bits to cut out!

It also made more sense to applique the smaller bits onto the larger pieces first, before adding them to the project, instead of putting on the big pieces first.

With those elements done, I appliqued the chicken feet.

With the chicken, chick and eggs done, I moved to the border flowers and stems.

I started with the stems, then added the leaves on the ends and the flowers in the centers.

Next, the leaves were spaced along the stems on all four sides.

Embroidering the chick beak and feet were next.

Did I mention that not a single stitch shows on the back? Made it a little more challanging to stitch, but much easier to hold with the quilting done first. The stitches just bit into the batting and not all the way through the piece. Adding the final embroidery of hay under the eggs and it was ready to bind. I used a scrap of brown from my stash for the binding.

Ready to hang!  These kits are still available, if you do a search for Spotty Hen Quilt Kit, you’ll find places to get one if you like it.  This one was entered into the fair in the crafting category where kits are allowed.

I was very happy to see it win a third place ribbon in the applique crafts. More about the State Fair next time.

Do you like to work kits?