Double the Chickadees, Double the Love!

If you've fallen in love with Jackie Robinson's two recent chickadee themed collections, we've got two quilts for your to-do list! Both of these quilts use the red, green, and cream colorway of Jackie's collections, but they look completely different! We asked Jackie to tell us the story behind each quilt design. 

"Catch a Chickadee" is featured in the December 2016 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. This large lap quilt features a distinctive red background, fussy-cut chickadees in stars, and Jackie's popular border stripe. 

"Catch a Chickadee" by Jackie Robinson and quilted by Aimee Mahan;
featured in American Patchwork & Quilting December 2016
©2016 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

Why the red background?
The cut-able chickadees are on the cream background, and I liked the idea of a light-colored star surrounding them. That meant I needed a darker background. The red is the same as in the border stripe, so it flowed nicely. 

Tell us about the Christmas-y palette. 
The newer collection, My Little Chickadee, has more red and green prints, where Chickadees & Berries also had a lot of blue. The blues have a more wintry feel, and these reds and greens have a more Christmas feel. 

What do you like best about this quilt?
I like the half-rectangle star points. I like how they appear to curve, even when they don't actually do so. It creates an illusion. I like using tools, like the Tri Recs templates to create these. 

Click here to see the December 2016 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

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"Chickadee Baskets" is featured in the November/December 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. This lap-size quilt features log cabin blocks combined with nine-patch blocks in a unique on-point setting, and of course, fussy-cut chickadees! 

"Chickadee Baskets" by Jackie Robinson and machine quilted by Little Comfort Quilting;
featured in Love of Quilting November/December 2016
photo: Fons & Porter

Tell us about your design.
This quilt came into being as I was looking for ways to use the cut-able chickadees. The log cabin blocks create the basket and the handle, and there's a chickadee in each basket. 

You have talked before about the need for a variety of shades in your fabric. 
There are four different reds that I used in the log cabin blocks. I definitely like the variety.  

How does the on-point setting create such a distinctive look for this quilt?
The on-point log cabins create the baskets, and the alternating blocks creates the gridded look.. I really like the holly print--it's my favorite of the greens--and I used it in the alternate blocks. 

 What do you like best about this quilt? 
The chickadees in the baskets...as if they'd stay there...they'd be gone! 

Click here to see the November/December 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting.

Click here to see the Chickadees & Berries collection and here to see the My Little Chickadee collection. 
Click here to visit Jackie's website and see more quilts featuring her Chickadee collections. 
Click here to see our original interview with Jackie about her chickadee fabrics. 

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Looking for more Christmas fun? 

Join us and our friends at American Patchwork & Quilting for 25 days of Quiltmas! Starting today, check in each day leading up to Christmas for a new holiday quilting video featuring great gift ideas, décor items, tips and tricks, and more! The first video is available here: allpeoplequilt.com/quiltmas

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Christmas in July: Blog Hop Day 2

Christmas in July continues with a week of holiday-themed tutorials! Stop by each day this week to see the featured tutorial and find out how you can enter to win the fabric line being used!

Today Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts is playing with Jackie Robinson's My Little Chickadee fabrics. And she's using hexies! 

Here's Debby:

I love fabrics with animals and personality, but not so juvenile that they wouldn't appeal to an adult (for a gift). When asked to participate in this Sew in Love with Fabric Christmas in July hop, I knew that I would enjoy working with My Little Chickadee. I asked for 6 pieces (it was SO HARD) to choose

My Little Chickadees Fabrics

Look at these fabrics. You would have a hard time choosing, too!

My Little Chickadees

Here is a little bit of the print with the widely spaced chickadees:

I wanted to fussy cut those little birds. I wanted them to be the star! I thought of a previous blog post using some "birds". They are actually chickens (they're birds, right?) Do you remember this? It was called Boogie in the Hen House with No Fowl Play (the collection is called Fowl Play).

Fowl Play wall banner (or table topper)

I set to work fussy cutting 6 little chickadees. I cut a freezer paper template so I could isolate the chickadee before cutting it out. The height of my template is 4-1/2". The image will finish to 4".

One Little Chickadee

Then I cut a 2-1/2" strip of the green fabric and cut 60 degree triangles. I used a multi-sized 60 degree ruler. (I have shown how to cut these - and the hexagons - in a previous post).

60 degree triangles; will finish to 2" in height.

With 6 chickadee images and 12 green triangles, here is my next step. I sewed two triangles to the side of each chickadee hexagon (it REALLY helps to lay things out on your table or design wall so you can keep things straight). But if you visit the Fowl Play blog post, you will see these steps in more detail.

All 6 of the Chickadees making a circle

Sew three sets of chickadees together for the top and three for the bottom. Now it's time for the center seam.

Two halves of the ring of chickadees

Then - Holy Cow! There's a hole in the center? What's that about? Well, we'll just cover it up with an interfaced hexagon. This is the same size as the chickadees. Sew around outside with 1/4"; trim all excess interfacing. Clip into interfacing and turn right side out; press well. (I cover this part, too, in the Fowl Play post.)

Interface the center hexagon

And we will cut 6-1/2" triangles to square up the sides. Again, this can only be done with a 60 degree ruler. These are 30 degree triangles, btw.

Cutting the side triangles to "square up" the ring of chickadees

So, let's see the parts. The center interfaced hexagon is pinned and ready to be zigzag stitched to the ring. After I do that, THEN it's time to remove the interfacing.

Squaring up the sides

The last challenge is to find something creative to make from that awesome chickadee panel:

One of the four vertical sections of the Chickadee Panel

I am a visual learner. I often cut, stitch and then - RIP! That's what happened here. (Good thing I had more of the border fabric left!)

First border attempt

I didn't like it. So - yes - I took it off. Then I cut four borders so I could make some attempt to miter them. This is the best I could do!

Chickadee Ring

I think it's sweet, don't you? This will be a perfect Winter table topper or wall banner. It's not necessarily Christmas, so it will have a long life.

Can I show you just a few other things I made using English Paper Piecing? I used The New Hexagon book by Katja Marek for several of the blocks. And I finished them into little quiltlets as shown at Katja's Quilt Shop pages. And yes, I fussy cut the centers. Don't you just love them?

Dawn Block #23 (Traditional Twisted Hexagon block)

And there is a brand new perpetual calendar based on The New Hexagon with 366 more blocks! I fussy cut a little chickadee and put him/her in the center of the July 1 block.

Almost finished; will be a coaster or mug rug

And I did some more fussy cutting:

Fussy cutting for another of Katja's blocks

 Yes, I was determined to make the best of that messed up border fabric!

Fussy cutting for another Grandmother's Flower Garden block

I fussy cut 6 birds and used them in a GFG block that includes red diamonds to "square" up the sides. Katja gives this block a name: Judy. I also turned this into a quiltlet.

11" x 13" super-sized Judy block

I am still making more of these little blocks. I can't help it. The chickadee fabric inspired me so!

Thanks, Debby! Head over to Debby's blog to enter for a chance to win a FQ bundle of My Little Chickadee fabric! 

Don't miss our Christmas in July tutorials all this week!

Monday: Chris from made by ChrissieD, featuring Jolly Penguin and Friends

Tuesday: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts, featuring My Little Chickadee

Wednesday: Alison from Little Bunny Quilts, featuring Sparkle

Thursday: Cynthia from Quilting is more fun than Housework, featuring Holiday Cheer

Friday: Benartex blog design team featuring Joyful

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Christmas in July: My Little Chickadee

The sun is shining, the temperatures are hot, everyone's wearing flip flops...it must be time for Christmas in July! 

Because we know that you like to get a head start on the holidays (or at least like the idea of getting a head start on the holidays), we're sharing Christmas in July here on the blog over the next few weeks. We'll be featuring our new holiday-themed lines and then hosting a blog hop showing projects made from these collections. 

Grab some mittens and a mug of hot chocolate (just kidding!) and enjoy!

If you were a fan of Jackie Robinson's Chickadees & Berries collection, you'll be thrilled to know she has a new companion collection--My Little Chickadee. Jackie's signature stripe--in blue and in cream-- and chickadees with plenty of space for fussy cutting for blocks, pinecones, scrolls...designed by a quilter for quilters! The panel from Chickadees & Berries is here as well, done in red instead of blue. These fabrics can stand alone or be used with Chickadees & Berries. 

The panel:

The fabrics:

Jackie has designed a free quilt pattern, "Chickadee Gathering," using fussy-cut blocks of chickadees and the stripe, in both red and blue. 

Click here to download the pattern.

Click here to see the entire My Little Chickadee collection.

Click here to learn more about the Chickadees & Berries collection.

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