Chickadee Blog Hop - FREE Chicken Quilt Pattern!

Monday, February 13, 2023

When I was given chicken fabric, I had to make a chicken quilt!! 

Chicken quilt made with applique and batik fabrics

When Heidi Pridemore of The Whimsical Workshop sent me her newest fabric collection from Island Batik, I tried to focus only on the rich colors and make a quilt reflecting those. But the chicken and barn batiks were like a siren call! I *HAD* to make a chicken quilt!

Chickadee fabric collection from Island Batik

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If you're new here, hello! I'm Laura! I design quilt patterns, and I'm a self-proclaimed deal hunter! Be sure to join the popular Quilting & Sewing Deals Facebook group where I post sales, deals, and coupon codes from all around the web!


The Chickadee collection is a mix of blue, green, red, and orange batiks. (Ask your favorite quilt shop about it!) There are some with chicken wire, some with chickens, some with barns... I couldn't think of anything but a chicken quilt. I drew up a quick chicken in EQ8 to see what it might look like. 

Mock-up of chicken quilt with navy background
Mock-up of chicken quilt with light gray background
Mock-up of chicken quilt with dark green background
Mock-up of chicken quilt with hot pink background

I immediately knew this was the right quilt to make! I tried several background colors (even more than what I'm sharing here!). I really love the idea of a hot pink chicken quilt. I just might have to make another one!

Close up of finished chicken quilt

Ultimately, I chose solid black for the background. It really made all the colors of batiks stand out, and I had a whole bolt of it on hand.

Hobbs 80/20 black batting

Since the background was black, I used batiks, and the backing fabric was mostly black, I decided to use black batting. Yes, that's really a thing! It's just like a regular 80/20 batting, it's just dyed black!

Black batting and SewTites magnets on a longarm

Speaking of the backing fabric, I've had it in my stash for about a decade. It was just waiting for the perfect project! (I use SewTites magnets to hold my backing onto the leaders of my longarm.)

Large meander quilting with black thread on a chicken quilt

For quilting, I used black thread and quilted a large meander all over the quilt. Up close, you can see the black thread through the fabrics, but from about 5' away, it just blends in.

Scrappy binding on a chicken quilt

The quilt was pretty quick to sew up since there are just two pieces of fabric for each block!

Satin quilt label

I even had enough scraps leftover to make a scrappy binding! (I use these satin quilt labels.)

Sewing on a scrappy quilt binding

This quilt is perfect for 10" squares or layer cakes! You could get one stack of prints and one stack of solids!

Applique chicken quilt

used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 for my applique chickens, and I used a handful of different colors of 50wt Aurifil thread to stitch down the chickens.

Applique chicken quilt made with batiks

I do not own any chickens, but I have a friend with quite a few! Once it's not quite as cold out, I think the chicken quilt should have a photo shoot with some real chickens!

Chicken quilt blowing in the wind

Be sure to check out all the other quilts made from this collection by following the links at the bottom of this post! It's so fun to see what other people came up with!

Throw sized applique chicken quilt

Would you like to make your own chicken quilt? Make just a few blocks for a table runner, or make a whole flock of blocks for a quilt!

Get the applique chicken quilt block for free

Get the FREE quilt block pattern by putting your email into the box below. You'll automatically get an email with the pattern delivered to your inbox to save!


Be sure to hop over to the other designers in the blog hop to see what they've made with the new Chickadee fabric collection too!



23 comments:

  1. Thank you for the chicken pattern and the bargains you post for us!! I first got to know you from your Exploding Heart pattern!!

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  2. Love those chickens! They look amazing. Thanks for the pattern!

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  3. Thank you for the chicken quilt pattern....and all your inspiration!

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  4. Thank you for the free pattern. I am in the process of making my first exploding heart and I love it! Thank you!

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  5. Laura, this is an adorable quilt! I love chickens! And what could be better than chicks made with Island Batik fabric?!! Thanks for the pattern.

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  6. Sew cute! I love the bright colors and the way those chickens pop! Thanks for the pattern!

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  7. Thank you for the free pattern. My grandmother had chickens and I loved feeding them. Such an awesome quilt for memories like these. I have been collecting 30’s fabrics and I think this will make the perfect quilt for chickens. Again thank you.

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  8. Thank you for the free pattern. So enjoyed your program at our Quilt Guild last year!

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  9. Thank you for the pattern and the great deals that you post.

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  10. I love this so much! Thank you for sharing!!!

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  11. Thanks for the pattern. I love chickens, especially listening to their “chatter”.

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  12. I work for a woman on Wednesdays that has chickens and I get eggs every week!!! I'm so excited to do this for her for Christmas this year! It's perfect!!! Thank you!

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  13. Thanks for the pattern! My husband was born in the year of the rooster, so I have some chicken and rooster decor in our kitchen and breakfast room.

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  14. Looking forward to making this chicken block! Thank you!

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  15. I’m excited about this pattern. My granddaughter currently has 3 chickens 🐓 and this will be a perfect quilt for her.

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  16. Thank you for the chicken pattern

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  17. Love the pink one. Made me chuckle 🤭

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  18. Oh my goodness! I LOVE CHICKENS!! Crazy ones, normal ones, silly ones, all the chickens! I can't wait to show Karen and Joyce!!

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  19. Thank you for the chicken pattern. My husband loves and has chickens this will be a future project

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  20. I wanted this pattern so that I can make it for my niece. I have tried several times to get it and the pattern never comes in my email.

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  21. Like others I learned about you through your Exploding Heart pattern. Waited for just the exact perfect occasion to make it - my granddaughters’ high school graduation in June 2023. Going to post a picture of it after presentation in Instagram. It turned out so lovely. Thank you for that pattern. An excited to try the chicken quilt.

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  22. I love chickens and roosters. In middle school I had a 4H project and I raised a group of chickens

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  23. This chicken quilt is PERFECT for my friend who loves chickens. Thank you!

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Thank you for visiting and for your comments! I try to reply to comments via email, so if you're expecting a response and don't hear from me, check if you're a no-reply blogger. Happy sewing!