Chuck-a-Chick Egg Hunt

I had fun recently making pyramid beanbag chicks from fabric scraps and sample stitch outs.

They will feature in our family egg hunt and then be used in games. I find adults enjoy egg hunts as much as children and help read clues with younger ones .

For the hunt, chicks will be hidden around parts of my clued trail, each sitting on their clutch of eggs. The slackness of the beanbags allows small eggs to be covered completely.

Once all the eggs are found and shared out, the Chuck-a Chick games can start. I will use a plastic bowl as the goal ‘nest’, but it could be any safe container or even a stick or rope to throw beyond.

The idea is to ‘home’ the chick by throwing it into the bowl nest. Participants can move further back as they become more accurate with their throws.

Young children may enjoy simple throw-and-catch activities. Beanbags are so good for small hands. I expect some to end up balanced on heads. My grandchildren always find this amusing. No doubt the family will invent other games for the beanbag chicks.

These chicks are not a new idea. In the past I made them in various sizes as ornaments, pincushions and doorstops but I hadn’t tried a beanbag version.

Each of my chicks used a couple of squares. These were randomly pieced from scraps, some from really small ‘crumbs’. I backed each with some soft iron on interfacing to add strength. Once assembled humbug-style, I filled with small plastic pellets, using about 120g for 13cm/5inch squares. Plastic pellets were chosen because they are washable and light.

The seam with the opening was finished with a triple zigzag stich for added security.

I like to use a 97D foot for piecing on my Bernina 780. This is the dual feed quarter inch foot. When teamed with the straight stitch plate it is easy to produce evenly fed and accurate seams.