Don't drop dead with shock........

This is a project from Girls Day in the Country GDITC 2008...........yep you read that correct.........this may be a shock Rosie I know but I have finally finished my needle turn project.............once I got my head around it so to speak I had the needle turn done in no time................and really enjoyed it - total flip from on the day might I say............not sure why I avoided it for so long............

the pattern is Rosalie Quinlan Designs - Summer Garden cushion and it is in Rosie's book "Gift"

This is my first effort at needle turn and I am so happy with the end result..........it has gone off to a special friend..........it is the perfect colours for her...........

and I have a couple more birthday calls............Teodo is 60 today (31st July) and Levin is 40 tomorrow (Sat) and wants everyone to join her for soup lots of "0" birthdays hope you have great days girls..........

Also Kris and May Britt this is a wisp finish for the month............yippee..........it is quite late but this one will scrap in...........

Take Care til next time..............Chookyblue

PS I can't believe August will be here in less then 2 hours..............there is so much on..........every weekend is booked up(and there are 5)..........bring it on..........it is going to be so much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone going to Stitches????

Happy Birthday..............

Mrs Ric Rac is turning 40 today go see if she wore the spock ears to work or not.............

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODIE

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Christmas in July sent............

In the Christmas in July Swap organised by Stephanie and Linda (thanks again girls for organising the swap) I made for Cheri. Unfortunately Cheri doesn't have a blog but her daughter Terri showed my swap parcel here..........(Terri also showed what she received in this post too)

here is the whole package I stuck some of my cards and a note pad in there too...........

the stocking - I made up the pattern as I went along.................Cheri can pick her favourite side

The needle case you will recognise as a Rosalie Quinlan Design Welcome Friends from GDITC @ Nundle this year..........this is the second one I have made and I have another one I am currently stitching for Fairy Girl........you can't see too well but it is stitched in green thread........the first one I made is here............

Take Care til next time..............
Chookyblue

PS the response to my last post was good - thanks for heading off and commenting on some other blogs......seems we all love to get comments......make new friends online............i even got some comments from people who had not commented on my blog before...............thanks girls..........

comments........

Did you see this post of Jenny's.........down the bottom she is talking commenting on blogs and encouraging others....(go have a read)...........if you follow this blog for awhile you will know I am not a fan of tags and awards cause I hate picking favourites......(cause there's so many good ones out there) but it is something for you think think about...........

My challenge for you is to go and comment on 10 blogs that you may visit and not necessarily comment on............let them know you're there and that you like their stuff..........like Jenny for me it is all you people out in blogland that encourage me to blog and it is not so much fun without the comments, feedback, help and support we receive from each other.........

don't leave a comment on this post today go find someone else and encourage them........

.......off you go quick.............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Sweet Pea Bag.............

My 2bsil came out last week and needed help with this bag................she did an excellent job.............I worked out the directions but she wouldn't have been able to as some of the directions weren't so good.......one part missing..........it is made from 4 fat quarters and 60cms of fabric.......great size finished.......the colours don't show so well in this photo but it is purple/mauves, green and cream.......while she made this bag I cleaned some of my sewing area...........got some more clear boxes and organised projects
etc.........found the top of a couple of tables.....

....(stop lol Farmyard Crafts)

(sweet pea bag)

2bsil has hardly sewn before - you may remember she made a simple bag with
me early this year.........she has done another one of those on her own and
some mending but that is it............well done............can't wait til
the next sewing day...........

Take Care til next time..............
Chookyblue

FQS BOM 9 & 3...........

During the school holidays I have finished a couple more blocks..............

Block 9 - Pinwheel Wonder

Designed by Deborah Schoof

This is the block causing problems - missing pieces...............lost by "ME"......(don't cut blocks and put the pieces away from the pattern packet)...........anyway I took it with me to Club Quilt last week and Peg had some scraps and luckily she had some of the green..........I only needed 2 x 2 3/8 squares...............I got the block together on the day then...........

Block 3 - Peace in Flight

Designed by Joanna Figueroa

only 5 more to go..............would be great to have it done by the end of the month but I think that is pushing it...............

Take Care til next time..............
Chookyblue

Fairy Girls Xmas Decoration Swap...........

When I signed up for the Christmas in July Swap Fairy Girl wanted to do something...........so after the fun Fairy Girl had with Tink in the SSCS last year I made contact with Oz Country Quilting Mum again to see if the girls wanted to do a swap again...........definitely YES...........a few days and a few conversations later about little girls sewing we had 4 girls for a swap instead of 2..............

the rules were set at something to hang on a tree..........and since there was only 4 they were to make 3 (or 4 if they wanted to keep one) of the same decorations.................

this is what Fairy Girl made............all hand stitched...........

it is a slight variation of the Hatched and Patched Design - Tis the season (xmas tree)

close up..............

This is what Tink sent...........

(the lollies disappeared before I could get the camera)

(decoration hanging off a dead Agapanthus flower - that should have been cut out months ago)

This is what Jessie Girl sent............

Jessie Girl and Fairy Girl made the same decoration but that's fine cause they look a bit different.............Jessie Girl blanket stitched her tree onto the white...........beautiful stitching Jessie Girl............

Poor Angel's have not arrived as her Dad is not good at jobs like remembering the posting so her Mum found out today...........when she found them in the ute...............woops............anyway the girls will love to get something in the mail again next week..........July isn't over yet.........I will show it to you when it arrives...........

I think we will have to organise another swap for the girls maybe later in the year...............the mum's will have to think of something we think the girls can all do.......

....keeping Fairy girl on the job occassionally has been a challenge but she enjoyed making the decorations for the girls..........and it is lovely both of us sitting on the lounge of a afternoon stitching together.............

Take Care til next time..............
Chookyblue

Christmas in July - received...........

Wow it has been a busy week...........tired kids one day, work, cattle work (sorry no pics forgot to take the camera) and a couple of lots of visitors...........now we will slow down and enjoy the last few days of the school holidays..............

but this week my Christmas in July swap parcel arrived from the lovely Carrie P at A Passion for applique .................

Thanks Carrie for a beautiful parcel..........a snowman decoration, stocking, pincushion and some other goodies down the bottom, fabric, cute tin, threads and bits and pieces..........sorry the pic is a bit small............

The stocking has applique and beading on it...........it is beautiful......Carrie does beautiful work............I love all my goodies thanks so much Carrie P............you don't have to lurk anymore.............lol............

Thanks to Stephanie and Linda for organising the swap.......

My parcel has not landed yet so I will wait a little longer til I post a pic of what I sent...........

take care til next time..........Chookyblue..............

Road Trip.........

My Xmas in July swap parcels have been loaded onto a sleigh and heading for______??????

Fairy Girl also sent her Xmas decoration swap parcels.........

But Fairy Girl and I had a little road trip..........40 years since man landed on the moon and we went to see where all the info was processed...........Parkes Observatory............this thing is huge..........64 metres across........there was thousands of people there..........travelling from everywhere............talks, planetarium(?), tours up the tower (if you lined up for hours - I didn't).......it was wonderful..........spoke to one of the men that works in that little box at the top...........he said he may go up and down a dozen times a day and the dish gets moved even if he is up there .............that is a long way up........

the technology they had then compared to now is mind blowing so how they did what they did 40 years go is AMAZING............well worth the trip...........

here are some other sites along the way........must also say the country side looks so beautiful with all the crops coming up hope the season goes with them.............

the monument is on top of the lookout in Parkes.............it it really high...........a view from the lookout........also Peak Hill Open Cut Gold Mine - now disused...........

We finished up having the day sewing with the wonderful Narromine Club Quilt girls............thanks for hosting me and Fairy Girl today...........it is lovely having someone to share time stitching............

Take Care til next time..............
Chookyblue

PS thanks for all the comments on my errors with typepad I will catch up on the emails and get back to you all shortly.........

typepad errors..........

Is is just me or are others having problems opening typepad blogs............in bloglines I can see what they have written but none of the pics show..........the pics are all errors ........then when I try and open the typepad blog it says "internet explorer cannot display the webpage".........

this has been happening since last Fri or Sat..............does anyone have the same problem or suggestions to fix it...........

ADDED..............I have internet explorer 7 and xp on one computer and then vista and IE 8 on another and neither are working...........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Aunty again and fencing update..........

Here are some pics from the fencing yesterday..........since we still had a log burning we decided to have a sausage in bread BBQ down the paddock..........it wasn't too bad a day...........

love looking into fires..........

dinner wasn't done and this was rumbling behind us.............it wasn't very far off but thankfully missed us............

showery clouds scattered around all arvo.................we got back to the house about 4pm and the temps were heading down.............it was a pretty easy day for me as I was doing lots of VERY VERY SLOW driving laying out posts and then when we were driving them in.............BORING.........but the easiest job...........the iron posts are all in and one wire is strained...........

got this beautiful HUGE rainbow just as we finished...........what a great ending...........the kids were busted but having the best fun riding the 4 wheel motorbike up and down the fence and stoking the fires...........

today was supposed to be cattle work but it was damp this morning.........so we called that job off......and today has been awful day weather wise..........so we didn't even go to the fence............sleety shows scatting around and freezing cold so I have spent the day home bumming around......

...Fairy girl finished her Xmas decorations for a swap with 3 other little sewing girls...........more about that next week when they receive there parcels

.......the kids made me some fruit salad this morning...........they tried to present it well............except it was on my crappy biscuit tray.....lol...............but it is the thought that counts............even the tomatoes????.........

but all day we have been waiting for a phone call and finally late this arvo I got the call.............I have another niece...............no name - all well...............yippee...........Aunty Chookyblue again............

Take care til next time Aunty Chookyblue..........

PS got another block done of the FQS BOM 1/2 way thru the blocks now

fencing update............

these pics were from yesterday and I meant to post them last night.........found this fairy house that I HAD to snap a pic of it to keep the fairy girl happy...............

this old post had seen better days...........the white paint would have been a fox bait marker...........

last bit of the old fence to pull down..........but it is all gone now

these bolt cutters make my job easy, they are big but did they have to be so darn heavy.........

no wonder the fence was falling down..............most of the posts we push over by hand.....all rotted off at the base.............no idea how long it has been here but a very long time

here is a piece of the wire..............soon as you bend it it breaks...............

and for the morning I felt like I had platform shoes............we had a sprinkle of rain and the mud was just packing up a bit under foot........

discovering muscles I had forgotten I had.............

take care til next time.................Chookyblue...........

around the garden................

The tips of my purple leaf Cootamundra Wattle have gone a nice dark colour..........

despite a couple of reasonable frosts for my area I still have several of my bouganvilleas flowering........

this normal Cootamundra Wattle is about to flower........

.....hope I remember and get some pics............

common violet..........

Russian tsar - violet..............it is very dark purple............

my zygocactus is flowering beautifully...........

Take Care til next time...............
Chookyblue............

more links..........

A couple of new to me blogs.........actually Yellow Roses is a pretty new blogger.........and the other one is I think is Norwegian..........LeKaQuilt............hope you had fun finding some new blogs in my updated side bar list...........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Peace BOM............

Before the fencing I got these blocks done.........

I just went back to find the one and only block I have made from this Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM and I am embarrassed to say it was the 15th July 2008........but having signed up for a new BOM I decided this one had to get done.............it is the pieces I cut but hadn't sewn together for block 3 I was searching for the other night when I pulled out the charm pack and we know what happened then........off on another tangent............but prior to finding the charm pack i have 4 blocks completed.........and I still have to find the missing block pieces...........

Block 11 Anka's Star designed by Heather Peterson

Block 12 Harmony designed by Me and my Sister Designs

Block 10 Steppin Up designed by Camille Roskelley

Block 2 Star Struck designed by Sandy Gervais

5 down 7 to go...........wonder how long it will take me to get some more done...........

the directions for these blocks are the best I have ever seen............

Take Care til next time...............

Fencing dangers.........

There is never a dull moment here on the farm and today as school holidays started we were pulling down an old fence so we can put up a new one...........hopefully finished during the holidays.........as usual I took the camera with me............

we came home and had lunch and went back and I saw this behind one of the posts.........initially I thought it was a blue tongue lizard........I was trying to find his head.............then I realised there was a LOT more.............this was not a lizard..............

it was a snake and a big one.............6ft long............think it is a carpet python.........NOT dangerous............but for me a snake is a snake and he was right in my road.....

........mind you someone forgot to tell him it is WINTER.............he was basking in the sun trying to warm up.....he was VERY SLOW....

...there is a collage here but if you want more pics head here I posted lots of pics...........we were up close with this fellow but I did use my zoom lens too...........but Mr Chookyblue moved him away to another tree.............both the kids touched it...........

then to keep everyone happy (me and the kids) this afternoon we lit a fire to finish off the day.........bonfires are always a hit.........

I am getting very stiff sitting here (lots of cutting wires with bolt cutters and pulling netting out of grass) and I'm busted so off to bed for me...........more fencing tomorrow unless plans change..........who knows here....

Take care til next time................Chookyblue........

Alicia Jane............

Wow.........one quilt done and dusted in under 24 hours and cost under $24 .................I am soooo happy..........we'll start with the back cause I love the quilting patterns on the chenille............

at 1am in the morning when I was panicking about what to put on the back I found this beautiful perfectly pink chenille offcuts Flower Garden had sent me ages ago...........Annie thanks for coming to the rescue while you were sleeping...............lol..........

the batting is a double sided adhesive..........great to work with

Here is the quilt "Alicia Jane" a delicate beautiful name deserves a delicate beautiful quilt..........

very simple quilting but I think it looks pretty good..........

when I went out in the paddocks to take some pics I got carried away so here are some extra shots..........

the charm pack is Lecian Durham Quilt Collection that I got at Stitches and Craft in Melbourne last year...........

border fabric is left over backing from another quilt...........I got it at The Home Patch (early this year) and it is a wide fabric and the selvedge says NH208 - Circles by Max New Australia..........it is so soft and delicate.............

the quilt measures 36x27inchs I used 24 charm squares and the border is about 5inchs wide.........

because I had the chenille on the back I was a bit stuck with the binding but I didn't want to machine it down so i attached it on the back and then hand stitched it down to the front and I think it looks good..........everything is good I am so pleased with this..........hopefully it will be delivered on the weekend

Take Care...........Chookyblue

warning...........

WARNING......
Do not go looking for pieces of a block

(that you don't find anyway)

and find a very pretty charm pack
and leave it on your table at 10.30PM............

Otherwise you will just have to pull it apart and lay it on the
table (just to see what it look like)..........then you just can't stop and you will have to start joining
them.......and then well let's just try this for a border............. oh
and maybe I should find something for the backing and OMG what have I
got.........get the batting (ready for the morning) but oh
no instead of going to bed I keep going and put it all together..........but
then instead of going to bed I then start to quilt it.........opps need to
go to the kitchen.........OMG it is 2AM..........I have got to go to
bed...

....no wonder my eyes were starting to feel tired........but I went to
bed with a warm fuzzy feeling of creating and slept well.......just a bit of
quilting to do on the borders and bind it and it will be done............off
for a nanna nap......I am so tired.........

Take Care til next time...............
Chookyblue............