Behind the Stitches: Chicken Tender
Sometimes inspiration arrives in the most unexpected ways.
For Chicken Tender, it came in the form of a simple selfie texted to me by a friend. In the photo, she was smiling while four baby chickens perched proudly across her chest and shoulders. The image was joyful, whimsical, and full of personality. The moment I saw it, I knew it had to become a quilt.
From Selfie to Quilt Design
The journey began by converting the original photograph into a black-and-white image. This allowed me to focus on value, shape, and contrast rather than color. The image was then overlaid with a 2-inch grid, creating the foundation for the Mosaic Tile quilting technique. Each square became its own miniature puzzle piece.
To account for seam allowances, fabric pieces were cut at 2½ inches. Every individual shape was traced onto the shiny side of freezer paper, carefully cut out, and ironed onto fabric. The fabric edges were turned under and secured using an invisible blanket stitch appliqué method.
One square at a time, the portrait slowly emerged. Like assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle, each section was completed independently before being joined to neighboring sections.
Choosing the Fabrics
The portrait itself required a surprisingly subtle palette. Soft pinks, peaches, creams, tans, and browns were carefully chosen to create the illusion of skin, hair, and facial features.
The background became an opportunity to celebrate color. Rich blues and turquoise fabrics radiate outward from the portrait, creating movement and energy while highlighting the focal image. The vibrant striped fabrics in the blouse echo the cheerful spirit of the original photograph.
One of my favorite aspects of Mosaic Tile quilting is how fabric selection does much of the visual work. From a distance, the viewer sees a realistic image. Up close, they discover hundreds of individual fabrics working together like brushstrokes in a painting.
Bringing the Chickens to Life
The chickens were perhaps the most rewarding—and challenging—part of the project. Each bird required careful fabric choices to suggest feathers, fluff, and personality. Textural stitching, fabric painting and strategic thread work helped transform simple fabric shapes into lively little creatures.
The goal was not simply to reproduce the photograph but to capture the playful spirit of these curious little birds.
Construction Details
Once the quilt top was assembled, I added one of my favorite finishing details: decorative piping. A decorative "wave" stitch created on my serger was inserted as piping around the portrait panel. This subtle detail provides visual separation between the central image and the surrounding border while adding an elegant finishing touch.
The outer border features matchstick-style piecing and quilting that draws the eye inward toward the portrait.
Quilting on the Bernina Q20
With the piecing complete, the quilt moved to my Bernina Q20 longarm. This stage added another layer of artistry. Dense quilting was used throughout the piece to create depth, movement, and texture. Different quilting motifs were chosen to complement various areas of the quilt, enhancing the illusion of feathers, hair, skin, and background movement.
The quilting transformed the flat quilt top into a richly textured textile artwork. What many viewers don't realize is that quilting often takes nearly as much time as the piecing itself. Every line of stitching contributes to the final visual effect.
An Exciting Honor
One of the greatest thrills of this journey came when Chicken Tender was accepted as a First-Time Entry into the 2025 AQS Daytona Quilt Show.
For any quilt artist, having work accepted into an American Quilter's Society show is an honor. To have this piece selected as my first AQS entry made the accomplishment even more meaningful.
The Best Reward
As gratifying as show acceptance was, the true reward came later.
Presenting the finished quilt to my friend who came to see the show—the woman whose spontaneous selfie inspired the entire project—brought the story full circle.
What began as a simple text message became 12 months of creativity, problem-solving, stitching, and artistic exploration. More importantly, it became a celebration of friendship, joy, and the unexpected moments that inspire us.
Sometimes the best quilts don't begin with a pattern.
Sometimes they begin with a smile, four baby chickens, and a text message from a friend.
