21 February, 2011

stickin' chicken

many many months ago, i took a trip with some friends to orange, california. that is where i found, fell in love with, and purchased this:


as soon as i picked it up i knew i had to take it home with me. filled with emery sand, this is about the cutest vintage pin cushion i have ever seen. working with pins and needles as much as i do, i can always use a pincushion. i've got pins and needles in champagne corks, in the arm of my couch, woven though my tablecloth -- all over.
once the little chicken was mine, i knew right away that this was something i had to figure out a pattern for so that i could make a brood of my own.
but it took me several months to get to that point.

after several tries, i came up with a pattern and a method that made me happy.


and then i had it, my own little clutch of chicks:


gah! i can't stand it; they're so stinkin' cute. sorry, i'm just very pleased with how they turned out. i wish i had better photos - you're gonna have to trust me that if you think they look cute here, they look even cuter in real life. (and if you don't think that they look cute at all, even just a little, then you are loco.)


i put them up on etsy, even though i'm still thinking the photos could/should be better....



i'd kinda like to see them go to a shop somewhere - somewhere where they can hang out together in a little cluster until they all find new homes. maybe i'll shop them around.

oh - here's more info on them (in case you're interested....)
they're filled with sawdust. i did a little poking around on the world wide web and found that sawdust was what many homesteaders and simple folk used to fill their pincushions. emery sand isnt exactly easy to come by, you know.
the sawdust has been provided by my friend josh, who is a super-talented carpenter/build-it-man. i guess you could say he's my dust-dealer. (that was his joke.) if you're in the southern california area and you need something built, call josh; he's your man. (find him here.)

i'm kind of in love with chickens a little. a few months ago, i experienced the dream-come-true moment of being able to hold a chicken in my arms:


oh my goodness, can you see the rapture on my face (even though it's a poor cameraphone photo)? i never wanted to let her go. but i did.
someday, i hope to own chickens of my own, like my good friend melanie linder.

i've taken lots of photos of chickens. here's one of my recent favourites, from the same day that i held the chicken:


and now you think i'm totally crazy, right? that's okay with me.

9 comments:

Mollyandollie said...

Oh My God!!! I love love love love love your new chickens!!!!

chezkimberly said...

thanks, molly!!

Green Girl said...

i think your chickens look adorable :)

Jamie said...

Aww this are so freakin cute!! i looove all the different fabrics you chose!

Leila said...

Oh my goodness! I'm screaming over here -- they're COMPLETELY adorable! I love them all, from the vintage one to all of the others to the idea that they're filled with sawdust. Wonderful!

I wish you still lived near me -- I have 3 hens now and you could come by and play with them any time. Maybe if you're ever back visiting. . .

chezkimberly said...

hooray! hooray! i'm so happy to hear that you all are as excited about them as i am! woo-hoo! now i just gotta get to work on promoting them (the hard part) - i'd be happy to make lots of these! (and to have a reason/excuse to get even MORE chicken-colored fabrics - like browns, and whites, and reds, and blacks, too!!!) oh swoon!
leila -- i love your reaction! heehee! i'm headed back east in april, and i would LOVE to make a little trip to see you and your chickens! hooray!

melanie linder said...

YEY!!! i LOVE these chickens!! Now I have to learn to sew so I can buy a flock for myself! Maybe you can give me some lessons this summer and I can put them to good use? PS - we're getting new chicks this spring so you can come and claim one as yours and hold it whenever you like. :)) xoxoxoxo

Megan Woodard Johnson said...

1) I love the chicken pincushions!
2) I am desperate to own chickens. I think I'm getting close to ready to begin petitioning my city to lift its ban on 'livestock' in the city limits so we can get just 2 or 3.
3) I always thought you were crazy- but in the best of possible ways. :)

Clothesline said...

chickens chickens chickens!