Chickenscratch Quilt

Well, my chickenscratch quilt may just be the most unique quilt I've ever made. The blocks were begun back in January 2021, completely hand-stitched with white perle cotton #8 and a handful of (mostly) variegated Aurifil cotton floss. The project itself was the brainchild of Blair Stocker, and she led us through a year-long block-of-the-month called the Snowflake Sampler, snowflake embroidery being one of the many names for this kind of vintage embroidery.

By definition, Chicken scratch embroidery (also known as Broderie Suisse, Australian Cross Stitch, and Depression Lace) is a variation of cross stitch that is traditionally stitched on gingham fabric using perle mercerized cotton thread or stranded embroidery thread. The gingham squares act as stitching guides and help to form a lacy pattern. [source: Quilting Daily]

For my version, I used 1/4" grey Carolina Gingham by Robert Kaufman, and there were three finished block sizes - 10" squares, 10" x 20" rectangles, and 20" squares. Where some folks in the BOM had issues with not really being able to match those gingham squares when piecing the blocks into a top, I thought the mismatched gingham seams added to its charm and reflected the time-period where this kind of stitching was done. In short, I just went with it.

When it came to a quilting plan for this kind of quilt, I really wondered about it for a while, as I knew I didn't want to quilt over my hand-stitched designs. It was Yvonne/@quiltingjetgirl who first gave me the idea to tie it, and right away, I loved that idea.

That process still took some figuring out. First, I clamped my pieced quilt back to my dining table, added a layer of Quilters Dream Cotton Request batting, then the quilt top of course, and pin-basted it everywhere I intended to place a tie. I had initially thought I would pin and tie evenly every 6", but decided that really did conflict too much with my stitching. Considering the batting recommended a maximum of 8" between quilting, I used that as a guide instead, pinning along seamlines, then uniquely in each block to stabilize but not interfere. 136 pins later, I was ready to tie!

The fun thing about Yvonne's idea to tie the quilt was that she suggested tying so the knots were on the back. That's the part that really sold me. But that did indeed mean that I needed to begin each knot on the back! I used my 12" wooden hoop to secure one area at a time. Then I basically pushed my needle in using a safety pin for placement guidance, removed the pin, and completed the stitch, going through the quilt sandwich twice, then typing a square knot, securing tightly. Once all the ties - all made with size 8 perle cotton - were done, I trimmed their tails to 1/2" long.

The quilt finished at 60" square, bound with more grey gingham. So loosely 'quilted', and with the lightweight batting and hand of the gingham itself, I ended up with a super comfy cozy quilt. Loosely quilted quilts are not my norm, so I'm wondering if I should add more ties. Then again, it's unique in every other way, so why not?  

And yeah, nothing about this project has photographed well. The stitching is colorful and beautiful, and despite all the wrinkled-looking photos, it is really sweet and lovely in person. Let's just say I'm glad I took the time to explore chickenscratch, and though I couldn't quite imagine a quilt made from my blocks, I'm glad I saw it to a finish just to see how it would turn out. Definitely worth the year of handwork!