The making of Mister Turkey
In 2020, I tried to stitch quilts that had been on my list for a while. Of course I got distracted through the year (!) but then the calendar clicked through to September and my family decided, with COVID numbers starting to rise, we just shouldn’t meet in person for Canadian Thanksgiving in October. I thought of one project nagging at me - Mister Turkey.
At least I could mark this Thanksgiving with something special.
My inspiration…
I needed a new project. (I didn’t!) And thanksgiving WAS around the corner...
This turkey has been calling my name for some time. Since @misterdomestic posted his version of the free turkey pattern in 2016, I’ve been coveting the cute little quilt from Peggy Aare (Wisconsin quilting). It would make the day more festive for sure!
Could I make the turkey in a weekend?
The pattern and the fabric…decisions, decisions
Progress on a turkey of a project. Pun intended!
I was trying to make this paper pieced turkey in one weekend.
I was a bit overwhelmed at the size of the pattern. Twenty pages! I am a bit cheap when I stitch, so printing 20 paper pieced templates on my little home printer seemed like a lot.
I shouldn’t have despaired. The free pattern from Peggy Aare (Wisconsin quilting) is terrific. What I appreciated, is all of the pinning marks (to match pieces to one another) and the colour guide (telling you what colour to use for that piece) on every pattern piece. So well done. Every paper pieced pattern should have these markings. What she’s done - with the markings on the patterns - takes some of the confusion of paper piecing. I’d love to rally pattern designers to follow suit. This lady knows how to create the perfect English Paper Pieced pattern.
I was very influenced by @misterdomestic’s pattern, so wanted to go bold with my fabric picks and I wanted to use existing scrap pieces I had (another COVID promise to myself - buy as little new fabric as possible). These are my choices. A lot more patterned than Mister Domestic but just as bold in colour hue. A bright turkey with a lime green grassy lawn.
The Flip Method for English Paper Piecing
Did I mention I was cheap? Yes. Printing 20 sheets of freezer paper made me pause.
I decided to use the flip method when I sewed my turkey project. How do you do this?
First, you fold creases in your pattern (see the image above).
With your iron, you stick the freezer paper to your first piece of fabric (right side out). If you want, pin that stuck piece of fabric to the pattern (away from any stitched edge, to keep the fabric secure).
Line up the next piece of fabric (as you would for normal paper piecing).
Then, instead of sewing on the paper line, flip the freezer paper back and stitch beside the paper. You will not pierce the paper. That way you can reuse the freezer paper, should you do the pattern again.
This method allows you to reuse your freezer paper in a repetitive design quilt.
I built the turkey in quadrants. Grass, tail feathers, body. My turkey building progressed.
I must admit, I was distracted by beautiful fall weather. I finally gave up - my self-imposed deadline wasn’t going to happen. Stitching Mister Turkey in one weekend - it wasn’t a tough choice to make. I needed to enjoy the weather and not spend so much time in my downstairs sewing room. Walking my dog outside was fantastic in the unseasonably warm weather. Canadian falls aren’t usually this glorious.
So. One weekend became one week. I rationalized with myself - a week still ensured I made my deadline. I certainly could have him together for the Canadian thanksgiving holiday just a few days away.
Change of plans for the paper piecing of the head
Wattle and Snood. What’s what?
It’s funny what you learn when you are making this like quilts. For this project, understanding the difference between a wattle and a snood was understanding the colour difference between the two pieces as I stitched. According to the Spruce blog, “The snood is similar to a wattle, and may be called a wattle when all of a turkey's face, head, and neck markings are described together, but it is a distinct feature.” I guess the snood changes when the male bird gets…busy! Huh! Who knew?!
For me, the preciseness of the piecing didn’t work for the head, wattle and snood pieces. I abandoned the flip method for stitching the bird and used the traditional method - stitching through the pieces, on to the freezer paper. I rationalized to myself I could afford this small bit of reprinting of the pattern should I make the project again. It really was because I didn’t want the paper shifting as a stitched. I just didn’t have the patience for the freezer paper to slip.
Canadian thanksgiving was almost upon us so I was trying desperately to finish this guy by the weekend.
I completed the quilt top and couldn’t be more proud. Just love the colour choices. My seams are great. Everything has come together quite well. Gobble gobble he’s a very handsome fellow.
Removing the paper - the Flip Method scores another plus!
I’d used the flip method for the English paper piecing in case I wanted to use the pattern again.
A great surprise using this technique is how nicely the epp paper came off and how clean the back of the turkey was before he was quilted. No little bits of freezer paper needing to be removed. Gobble gobble I will do that again!
Quilting - faking trapunto
To complete the quilt in a week, I needed to quilt the project myself.
I’m not the world’s most confident quilter. So I approached the quilting with some trepidation. Just hoped I didn’t screw it up. He’s SO regal!
I like to spray baste, because I absolutely hate running my sewing machine needle over a pin.
I quilted him myself, using a fake trapunto technique to make Mister Turkey fatter. Trapunto, from the Italian for "to quilt," is a method of quilting that is also called "stuffed technique." A puffy, decorative feature, trapunto utilizes at least two layers, the underside of which is slit and padded, producing a raised surface on the quilt. I cut an extra layer of quilt batting for the full shape of the turkey and didn’t quilt his belly so it looks robust.
Here’s my quilting plan:
I outlined the entire body.
I then outlined the white part of each tail feather - the arc of the shape. I did the same of the rust coloured fabric.
For the tail feathers, I used a wide “W” between each two white separators.
For the body, I used a decorative wavy quilting stitch to make him look full.
For the background, I did 1/4” horizontal lines for the sky; 3/8” horizontal lines for the grass, to show some dimension.
I left the breast alone, as I wanted it to look full and big.
Quilted and bound. Finished for Canadian Thanksgiving. Gobble gobble! He’s so handsome. And knowing the difference between a wattle and a snood helped win trivia at a local bar. This turkey is such a great guy!
With thanks:
Kudos to Peggy Aare with WisconsinQuilting. I love how you create epp patterns. So well written and easy to follow. I love the symbols you’ve added to every piece. Every epp should have these markers.
Thank you again to @misterdomestic - you see I copied your colour palette very closely. Please please please take that as a compliment! Copying is my very sincere form of commendation - I love how bright and cheery your Mister Turkey is. Finally I have my own version. Thank you for the inspiration!
Such a pretty bird!
Completed Oct. 11, 2020 for Canadian Thanksgiving.