Chicken Pillow-A Redwork Project That Is On The Way To Finally Being Done!

You might remember that I unearthed this chicken in January during the annual clean out? I made this during my 1990's Redwork frenzy.

This was a phase where I was enamored of this bird, had them as door stops, centerpieces, on towels etc....you get the idea. My own little Chicken Derby.

I finally decided what to do with it. A decorative pillow for Mondo, I am trying to moderate some of that brown in there. (who decided that all things needed to be brown in Motor homes I wonder? A man I bet, blends with dirt.) I learned some time ago that after trimming a Redwork piece to size that all the hand stitching needs a bit of tack-down to prevent the fearsome unravel. Enter the sewing machine and a handy little zig-zag stitch.

Well, that's how this all started anyway. No zigs, no zags. What in the world happened to this machine over night? I studied my manual, tried every known-to-me fix but no luck. I had read that shutting the machine down for 30 minutes and rebooting the computer will solve a lot of little problems. So I did, had some tea, did a load of laundry, returned. I turned it back on with great anticipation and blah, none of the zig-zag stitches would stitch out, they were all straight line stitching...and...the needle position on the straight stitches would not move left to right. I grabbed my chest, ran for the phone and called the shop. I explained my problem and within 2 minutes the problem was diagnosed and fixed. I was DREADING dragging that monster to the shop and the delays I would encounter while waiting for a part. It was soooooo simple, somewhere along the line the day before I bumped a single button in the settings menu, off to on. That is all that was required...La-De-Da! This is the distinct advantage of purchasing your machine from a trusted and responsive dealer. Some people brag about the bottom line prices they get at ON-LINE shops. But come a problem they are stuck. All is now well, the Sewist has a renewed nervous system.   

OK, back to the chicken.

I also found the remnants of this red fabric too, it is still one of my favorites.  Just added a 2 1/2 inch border all around layered the batting scrap (yes another scrap) and spray basted. I don't have much success with spray basting on large items but do OK with littles.

Now I am doing a width-of-presser-foot quilting channels. I will trim all those travel stitches when I'm done. I do a lock stitch at the beginning and the end of each channel. 

Many of the Baby Lock machines can be programmed to do the lock stitch and I am sure many other brands do as well. It makes the stitching a bit more fun! 

• Since this post is getting long I will finish it up in a near future one. I still have to finish the channels and add the backing. 
• There are times when I question why I bought such an advanced machine. I am decent with the whole technology thing but it really isn't necessary. I have a little Featherweight straight stitch from 1948 that can do the basics but I like to play, I like to tinker with this and that. Therefore, I did it. I do not regret it, please understand, but sometimes I think I might have bitten off more than I needed.  
• BTW-Baby Lock does not sell machines at online sites, only at a certified dealer.