bittybirds: the blog

Valerie snapped this picture of me holding Piper (left) and Petrie (right). Notice the red-eye effect on Petrie!

I’ve just started out an effort to clicker train the boys. It should be very interesting!

Tonight I just started with getting them used to the concept that “[click] = goodies”. So I started with Piper on top of the cage (since both of them enjoy hanging out there) and clicking, then letting him take a bit of millet from a clump in my hand. Piper seemed to enjoy this, but it had a really noticeable effect on Petrie–he wanted a piece of the action!! After a few minutes the boys traded places. Piper was even more aggressive about trying to horn in on the action. He crawled around the roof of the cage upside down, hoping to snag some dropped millet on its way down I guess. Petrie was not amused. It looks like we’ll need some other area for the “serious” training, but for now it was a fun start.

Here is a picture of the pillow I made our friend Douglas for his 9th birthday, featuring an appliqued version of his cockatiel, Petrie. This was an easy, no-hemming-required project that didn’t take much planning. Made entirely of fleece, it washes well. It is also a nice, snugglable alternative to a stuffed animal.

Materials:

• textured blue fleece (enough to make a pillowcase)
• fuzzy gray fleece (a small amount)
• embroidery floss in orange, black, and yellow
• two white buttons
• pillow form (I used a half-sized pillow)

Instructions:

1. Cut out a cockatiel shape from the gray fleece.
2. Cut a piece of blue fleece large enough to wrap around the pillow. Do not sew it into a pillow yet, but figure out which side you would like to use for the front. Leave a generous amount for the short side of the pillow where you will sew button closures.
3. Pin cockatiel applique to front of the pillow.
4. Sew cockatiel in place, about 1/4″ in from the edges of the cut-out, and also sew a line in place to represent the cockatiel’s wing.
5. Use black emboridery floss to embroider eye
6. Use orange embroidery floss to embroider feet (I used a chain stitch) and orange cheek patch
7. Use yellow embroidery floss to embroider beak
8. Now, sew the blue fleece into a pillowcase. Leave one side open.
9. Carefully cut small buttonholes on the front of the pillowcase.
10. Sew the white buttons in on the back inside of the pillowcase, corresponding to the location of the buttonholes. Use the orange embroidery floss for cheery effect.

And, voila–a cheery, child-sized cockatiel pillow!

Here’s one of Petrie, Piccolo, and Piper.

Here’s a photo of Piper and Petrie. (Petrie is Piper’s “big brother” but is not one of the Reggie-Charlie offspring.)