fun weekend......

Annette arrived Friday and we went and cleared off the beast in preparation for having a play........

But before I attempted to tackle the beast I wanted to achieve something.....

I had been playing with this quilt below.......I had pulled out 2 blocks in the bottom corner but on looking closer I had to reverse stitch all 6 blocks......so much for achieving.....

I was so cross as I had already attached the 1st border...........

But finally we went forward stitching and it was back together and the final border was attached............

For some reason this one is square but I thought it was going to be rectangle from the picture.........oh well.......I think its about 70in square...........now to join the backing and see about quilting.......

Today I was sitting looking at the bottom corner and thought I had buggered it up but turns out I just had it upside down to how I had been looking at it.........phew.........

I've been walking over to the dam a bit and it is so nice to see it chockers full heading into summer..... we had almost 2 inchs of rain last week........Annette and I walked over also.........

We loaded some fabric onto the beast and had a play.....broke a few threads....just trying to get even stitches at present.........i'm not in love..........Its official Lou @ Manxgirl Living and Crafting Down Under needs to come visit....but I have left it on and will keep playing.......

OK it may not be the one that got taken to Princess Pantry but it was pretty dam tasty........Loved this cake...........Its the one Annette was talking about on zoom last time. Its a ginger fluff sponge........ I'm going to try making one...... Or at least a sponge cake on the weekend......

Annette was working on this one at home and had a few blocks to join on the 5th row.........once that was done she started sewing the rows together..........it looks great.............. Top together ready for quilting......so pretty in Tilda fabrics

The whole time I was going in and outside I could smell this gorgeous rose........Susan Cooper Rose from Swanes.

And this section is ready to pop into the quilt.........

Annette was hand stitching more Ruby blocks to the backgrounds but I forgot to take a photo......

It was a lovely time sewing with a friend in the Chookshed..... Miss Jules even popped over late one afternoon...... And we had two scrub stitching friends on zoom for awhile also......

It was a lovely weekend with Annette.....

I did sew borders on another top..... But I'll save that for the next post ......

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

lanterns update.....

Had such a good catch up last day on zoom...... We had lots of girls on for most of the time..... Plenty of regulars......Marina hasn't been on for ages so was lovely to see her again.....

we had some new girls join us this time.......Canada Rose Marie, USA Katie, Aus Ondrea, Aus Christine and Aus Helen x3, Helen Qld ended up not getting in properly as she had camera issues but she has that sorted now......Helen NSW a friend from Scrub Stitchin' that doesn't blog and Helen in Victoria....... The sidebar had been updated..... Lucky I told the newbies to check their links as I had a few mistakes...... To much chatting going on while I was fiddling doing that on the side.......

We ended up sewing until 5pm......i did ok but don't think I was sewing as fast as usual..... Too many distractions...... Great distractions and I kept sitting my sewing down..... oops.....

Sunday saw us lamb marking again...... That's the end........ Thank goodness..... Love hate job but very satisfying once completed......

we were talking about spiders sewing...... This is the big one that lives in the storage fridge at the sheep yards..... Hence I never go to get anything out of it...... He's big...... Not as big as the one that was in the Chookshed that I was telling you about......

we had some wonderful rain yesterday......we maybe having a visitor this weekend so of course it would rain....... Beautiful 45mm.....

ok best go do some jobs...... Enjoying an extra long weekend with a few more days attached.......

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

zoom.....zoooommm......zooooommmm

As i'm in need of some sewing time with friends we best zoom again........

Please ignore the dates below but the day/time will be right for this Fri/Sat.. 

We will start at 6am Saturday morning my Aussie time and for most of you Northern hemisphere people that is some time Friday........see the time guide below.........

Oh and this one will be at least until lunch time but could end up a longer day........Just not completely sure what I need to do on Saturday......

The usual drill.......leave a comment and I will send a link........

If you haven't joined before be brave and jump in it's super easy..........

I'll leave you with a photo I took back in July in the Northern Territory......

We had driven for about 5 hours and seen maybe 30 cars..........the majority in the last hour.........

Australia really is an amazing country and so vast......

it was only a 28hr drive one way.......we did this in two days......

Stay Safe........

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

cheating on my buddies......

I feel like I am cheating on my zoom sewing buddies......

I've been working on Blue Lanterns without them........she's coming along well isn't she...............

I'm just a little excited.........

Only one centre block to make...... Then I will lay this out on a bed to see what the size looks like ..... 

If all good I'll make a decision on the sides......

&&&

thanks for all the great feedback re zoom..........

This is a gum blossom at the front ramp.........some branches are getting too low so I broke some off and brought some flowers inside..........

Catch you later.......Chookyblue.......

zoom explanation/questions answered......

 Hi All

I had a comment from a blog friend and I thought I might explain zoom..........I never have so now's the time..........its started due to xxxxx and I wished we had thought of it before..........it will stay long beyond xxxxx also.............

Just wanted to say how I plan a zoom sewing day.......it isn't planned.......there is no consistency as to the frequency.........

I can't say I will do it at a certain time as I need to be able to be online when we zoom...........Sometimes I have posted earlier in the week..........sometimes it's been Thursday or even as late as Friday morning my time............Zooms are usually on a Saturday my time....I have done one on a Sunday but that wasn't so great to back up for work on Monday........they always start early my time so as to catch the overseas girls.........they are often a sewing marathon for some of us and others pop in and out...........hanging out on zoom for so many hours is not draining like work meetings/training.......

The last one was shorter......ended up being 7 hrs but I initially had only committed to 4-6hrs as I had to juggle some other things around..........

But the 1/2 day worked well also so maybe I may do some more often.......I really hate saying goodbye to everyone.......its easier at the end of a long day as I am so tired by then I just want to go to bed before I fall sleep online............don't laugh I am not great late of a night and if not to active can nod off......my friends who have seen this will be laughing right now...............

Who can join in.......any crafty bloggers.........it's not a select group.........it's not hard to get onto zoom.....you can do it on a phone, ipad, computer.........yes the first time you do a zoom meeting might be a little daunting seeing yourself and others on the screen but you quickly get over that as we mostly have our heads down sewing unless someone is leading us off in search of a "squirrel" or enabling us to shop for some fabric or start a new quilt..........some people have started off quieter but are now more confident to add more to the conversation and ask more questions........

Yes I pay for a zoom account every month which enables us to stay on for a long time but that is what I choose to do.........its my couple of coffees a month social fun........

So I probably annoy some people sending them an email about zoom as I don't hear anything back from some but I have thought maybe I should just have an email list.........then I am only contacting those who want to be contacted.....

If you haven't commented on the blog post when I put it up do you want me to send you an email to let you know????

WHAT DO YOU THINK?????

Catch you later......Chookyblue........

refueling the soul.......

The day started off pretty stunning.......

Gail @ Gail's Place wins the stayer award today....... She and Lou were on when I logged in...... And yes we only went until 1pm but later then planned but Gail stayed with us the whole time......

Was stunned when Jo @ ButterZ arrived bright and early..... Surprisingly she achieved lots at an hour she is not accustomed to.......lol

I plugged away at Blue Lanterns once again.....5 blocks needed to get joined to a big section I had prepared last zoom to fiIl in the right side......

People popped in and out.......

I think maybe 18 different bloggers....... As always a wonderful mix......

I started joining the big section in the right 3 wide by 4 long of blues...... Sewing from the bottom up you can see the break in the quilt where I am yet to sew.... Sadly I was thinking this was the end of the right side but alas I have another cream then blue row to add to the bottom corner.......

But I can see the end in sight .... Then I will lay this on the bed and see what it looks like for size before I start the edge pieces............

I've shut off all media, social, TV and radio re covid......I just can't do it at present.......

Times with these girls is great in a time of social isolation...... 

But even when it's just due to my rural isolation.......

It feels like everyone is sitting around the table in the Chookshed......

thanks girls.......

Stay Safe.......

Catch you later......

Chookyblue......

Zoom quicky.......

I don't have a whole day so this one will need to be a quick one......... 

Aussie girls as they say "early bird catches the worm"

Starting at 6am AEST Sat morning........

The rest of you check the pic below.....regulars you know the drill

This time I only have 4-6hrs.....NOT A LONG DAY

Just because we need a bit of beauty in our day some daisies I took the other evening..........

You know the drill.......leave a comment and I will get a link to you.........

Catch you later........

Chookyblue......

bits and pieces....

Not a lot happening here.........Lockdown got extended (no surprise) and I'm still working from home........thats good and bad.....

The daisies in the paddocks are flowering well at present and we has a bit of rain to freshen them up.........there has been a few frost still.....some really nice days some really windy ones.....and a few dam freezing......the washing has done several laps around the clothes line today.........

not really achieved much but I have joined a few blocks.......

still not made the extra backgrounds I need yet.........

Clean up around the yard and burning stuff is always a good feeling.........

Some stunning sunsets......

Stay safe everyone.......

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue........