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Denizens of the Traveling Chicken and Monster Show

Pile of Patches with clippers ready to be trimmed
Best in Class -- Textiles. 
Montevallo Arts Fest, 2025
Yeti plushie with orange face and pocket mouth
Very Shy Monster who lives under the bed.  Green monster plushie with zipper mouth.
A fabric chicken with a mountain landscape design sits on a brick path.
Small doll with tooled vest, green pants, white shirt and brown cape.  Curly brown hair.
Gracie handmade stuffed doll and book
Cosplay Kitty in his ghost costume.  

He wanted to be a ghost at the last minute.  I only had a flo
Fortune Cookie, Green Tea and Bowl of Ramen plushies

Adopt a Denizen or Read the Books

WaggonsWest Etsy Shop

A small selection of Denizens (very shy monsters, llamas and more stuffed animal plushies) are available in my shop.  


If you don't see the one you met at a show, send me a message.  We will find the right friend for you.  


WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show Adventure Series books are available on Amazon.  

The Artist behind the Traveling Chicken and Monster Show

The Proprietor of the Traveling Chicken and Monster Show in a booth leaning on a suitcase.

Background

  

Charlene Waggoner is a fiber artist who creates original embroidered sculptures, badges, and books that celebrate curiosity, humor, and imagination. A self-described recovering academic, clean water fanatic and lifelong maker, she discovered machine embroidery after receiving a sewing machine for her fiftieth birthday. She now transforms her own drawings into embroidered patterns and expressive three-dimensional characters.

Working whenever possible with reclaimed fabrics, Waggoner enjoys the challenge of translating two-dimensional sketches into sculptural forms while using stitch direction, texture, and color to bring each piece to life. Unlike a painter who can mix any color, her palette is limited to the fabrics and threads she discovers. Some characters wait years for the right fabric to appear, while others introduce themselves the moment she stands in front of a bolt of cloth. Every character is designed, digitized, embroidered, and assembled in her studio. Every character is designed, digitized, embroidered, and assembled in her studio. As the cast of characters expanded, so did their stories, inspiring a growing series of illustrated children's books.

Together, the sculptures, books, badges, and displays have evolved into the WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show, an invitational storytelling environment where visitors discover stories, contribute their own, and leave with a smile—and sometimes a new friend. Through this evolving world, Waggoner encourages people of all ages to notice small moments of joy, embrace creativity, and remember that imagination is something we can all share.

Waggoner's work has been exhibited at fine art festivals throughout the United States and has received awards including Best in Class for Fiber at the Montevallo Arts Festival and Honorable Mention in Fiber at River Clay Arts.   

I am a recovering academic who is president of a non-profit environmental group. I have always been a maker. When I was 50 I was gifted a fancy sewing machine. From this I learned to digitize my sketches and turn 2D ideas into patterns to create soft sculptures. I love the unique challenges created by working with fabric that stretches in sometimes unpredictable ways, using a palette that is restricted by available fabrics and thread, and getting the angle of the stitches just right so that the play of light over them brings the sculptures to life. As the characters have evolved, so have their stories and I have started publishing them in the form of books for children. I have been selected to participate in shows including Levis Commons Fine Art Fair, Pinckney Art in the Park,  Huntsville Christkindle Market, Down Museum of the Arts Holiday Art Show, Strangefolk Festival, Poptropolis, Salida Arts Festival, Artsweek Golden and River Clay Arts where I was awarded Honorable Mention in Fiber.  I was also awarded the Best in Class for Fiber in the 2025 Montevallo Arts Festival.  

Traveling Chicken, Ralphie and the Chickens book, bowl of eggs.

Inspiration

I make things that make me laugh.

Show Schedule

May 9, 2026

Fairly Odd Finds Festival: Tennessee

10 am - 6 pm

6790 John Bragg Hwy., Murfreesboro, TN, United States, 37127

Event Details

May 9, 2026

Fairly Odd Finds Festival: Tennessee

This one is going to be fun.  We love doing events hosted by the One Stop Soul Shop in Ann Arbor.  Except for this one the Waggon is headed ...

Event Details

10 am - 6 pm

6790 John Bragg Hwy., Murfreesboro, TN, United States, 37127

June 6, 2026

Fairly Odd Finds Festival

10 am - 6 pm

Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds 5055 Saline-AnnArbor Road, Ann Arbor, MI

Event Details

June 6, 2026

Fairly Odd Finds Festival

Who Hoo!!!  We are headed back to MICHIGAN.  In the Summer!   We love doing events hosted by the One Stop Soul Shop in Ann Arbor. 

Cosplay Ki...

Event Details

10 am - 6 pm

Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds 5055 Saline-AnnArbor Road, Ann Arbor, MI

October 19, 2025 Past Event

Sunpainting Workshop with Rocket City Modern Quilt Guild

About 1 pm

Green Mountain

Event Details

October 19, 2025 Past Event

Sunpainting Workshop with Rocket City Modern Quilt Guild

 In the workshop, everyone will create their own piece of sunpainted muslin suitable for sewing and quilting projects. Paint is messy and we...

Event Details

About 1 pm

Green Mountain

June 21-22 , 2025 Past event

Artsweek Golden

9 am

-

5 pm

Parfet Park Golden Colorado

Event Details

June 21-22 , 2025 Past event

Artsweek Golden

Find me  Parfet Park, a new location for this festival.  Loads of great art.  Kids area.  All located in scenic downtown Golden, Colorado.  

9 am

-

5 pm

Parfet Park Golden Colorado

July 5, 2025 Past event

Saturday at the Farm -- Brookedale Farms

10 am

-

2 pm

Brookedale Farm 8004 Twin River Road, Eureka, MO 63025

Event Details

July 5, 2025 Past event

Saturday at the Farm -- Brookedale Farms

A farmers market in beautiful Eureka, MO

10 am

-

2 pm

Brookedale Farm 8004 Twin River Road, Eureka, MO 63025

More Events

Frequently Asked Questions

Please reach us at waggonswest@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

  

The Denizens of the WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show are available for adoption at art shows throughout the year.

Don't worry. They usually choose their own people.

Many also make appearances in my Etsy shop at WaggonsWest.etsy.com, although the selection changes as everyone finds new homes.

If you met a particular Denizen at a show and don't see it online, send me a message. It may simply be traveling, or I may be able to introduce you to a close cousin.Characters from the books and Denizens of the Traveling Chicken an Monster Show are available for adoption in person at shows.  Don't worry.  One will choose you!  


They are frequently listed for sale in my shop.  


WaggonsWest.etsy.com


The Traveling Chicken and Monster Show Books are available in person at shows or on Amazon.


Gracie and the Llamas


Ralphie and the Chickens


Jack and the Cool Beans


Babs and the Bearooshnikov Brothers


Joanie Mike and the Monsters


And you can sometimes find them with plush characters in my Etsy shop.

http://waggonswest.etsy.com




  

When the Show is on the road, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone. The gnomes try but it isn’t an easy task.

Every Denizen is handmade, one at a time. Because I often work with reclaimed fabrics and remnants, I often can't make an identical twin, but I can usually make a close cousin.

Sometimes the new one turns out to have a personality all its own.

If you're looking for someone in particular, just send me a message. We'll see who turns up.My shop is WaggonsWest.com


When I am Traveling, with the chickens and monsters and llamas and other Denizens, it is hard to keep track of all of them and my shop gets thin.  Just send me a message and I can work with you. 


Some of them I can re-create, although it won't be absolutely identical.  They are all handmade by hand after all.  I often use upcycled fabrics or remnants so sometimes I can't make the exact same one.  But my fabric stash is LARGE and I will work with you to get the proper Denizen to you.  


  

Yes...sort of.

Many of my favorite characters began with someone saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if..."

I create custom plushies, merit badges, and embroidered pieces from your ideas or original artwork whenever I can. I can't reproduce copyrighted, trademarked, or licensed characters, but I love helping bring original ideas to life.Yes... sort of.    I mean that is where the whole Two Year Olds are Weird series of plushies started.  


Let me know what you want, plushie or merit badge and I will see if I can make it.  I can work from your idea or your original artwork.  I can't do anything that is trademarked, licensed or copyrighted.  



  

A denizen is an old-fashioned word for someone who lives in a particular place.

It just seemed to fit.

The Denizens are the strange and wonderful residents of the WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show. Some appear in the books. Others are content simply wandering around the Show, making new friends. Some just seem to wander around leaving mischief and chaos behind.  

A denizen is an old-fashioned word for someone who lives in a particular place.


It just seemed to fit.


The Denizens are the whimsical residents of the WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show. Some appear in the books. Others are content simply wandering around the Show, making new friends. Some just seem to wander around leaving mischief and chaos behind. 


  

The Traveling Chicken and Monster Show has always had a fondness for gimcracks and gewgaws.

They're delightfully old-fashioned words for curious little treasures, oddities, keepsakes, and wonderful things that may not serve much practical purpose but somehow make life richer simply by existing.

Around here, that includes the Denizens, the books, the merit badges, the fairy tails, the mysterious objects tucked into suitcases, and all the other bits and pieces that seem to find their way into the Show.

Some of them tell stories. Some aren’t talking yet. Let me know what they tell you.

They all seem to belong together, even if no one is quite sure how they all got here.


So... I cut up my husband's pants and sell them on the internet....  


Well, it started that way.  I wanted to make a badge for someone and the best available fabric was an old pair of the Mr's blue jeans.  Since I have three boys, I have a lot of blue jeans.  


I started making merit badges for things that make me laugh.  I mean, who doesn't want a merit badge for beer or candy corn?


Over the years, as I have done themed shows and as people have made special requests and as that other part of my brain that thinks it is hysterical to make a merit badge for a number 2 pencil, I have created in the neighborhood of 250 unique badges.  They are all stitched out on upcycled blue jeans and remnant denim.  


If you don't see what you are looking for just ask.  I might have it.  Or, I might just find it silly enough to make it for you.


The artwork in my banner was created by Jeffrey Johnson.  He sometimes goes by Red Herring Jeff.  You can see more of his work on his instagram page.  


https://www.instagram.com/redherringjeff


Jeffrey took my original banner which was an old advertising poster and added in the actual denizens.  


The inside illustrations are done by my sister Janine Sturdavant.  She is also the one who does the publishing.  


My editor is Kelly Scriven.  She not only dots all the i's and crosses all the t's but she points out logical errors and keeps things flowing. She is an all around fabulous editor. 


https://kellyscriven.com/


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Contact Us

WaggonsWest Traveling Chicken and Monster Show

Cottleville, Missouri, United States

waggonswest@gmail.com

Drop us a line!

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