13th birthday.......

Guess what.......

The Chookshed is officially a teenager.........

The naughty bitchy teenagers are here......

Laughs, stirring, good food, inspiration, motivation, and special time together.......

The last Chookshed party in the Chookshed was 2021.....

2022.....to wet flooding

2023.......Cancelled the night before - family emergency......

2024...... Rained and roads were terrible.......So only online.....

2025 we are back!!!!!

Got the binding on this quilt........

OMG the food..........very delicious by everyone.......

Everyone jumps in and does something..........

Hope you find some times to sew this weekend too.......

Catch you later........

Chookyblue......

feeding the soul........

I made the long weekend extra long and took Thursday off also...........

Friday was a public holiday for Australia Day..........

As it was going to a true summers day in my part of the world aka stinking hot I decided I wanted to zoom.........and make it a big day...........

Here we are at some stage during the day.......some of the girls holding up there Scrub Stitchin' bags or January Chookshed Challenge project...........

I started at 6am and finished at 8.30pm

32 wonderful people popped in and out all day.........The most we had on at once was 18 people........we also welcomed a couple of new girls............Maggie and Tazzie.......on the sidebar........Tilly I hope you can get on again next time with things working right.........

My baby Willy Wagtails that I have been following left the nest early in the morning on Thursday and this is how I found them Friday morning...........they still are not flying much but I am thrilled to say they survived the heat of the Thursday Friday 42-43 (108-110F)......I saw them all this morning.......they just grow so fast........they will be flitting around the garden in no time..........

19 blocks completed for "They all add up" so that means the 36 required blocks were done.........

I laid it out on the design wall and was at a stand still when most of you left trying to decide what to do in the rows..............but when we were down to 4 -5 people Jindi's Cottage asked what was going on (before as she was listening but busy away from the camera)

at this point I had thrown all options down and given up but as I started to explain it again and show some options I came up with another option that we had not discussed earlier and it works and I started sewing it again...........and no it does not require me to unpick 18 blocks..........thanks to whoever suggested that..........LOL.......the top is well over 1/2 together now..........

I then moved onto the Moda Love mini quilt..............some bits are missing..........I did a bit more on this on Saturday also.........

Sunset at the end of Australia Day............I do get some lovely sunsets...........

Yesterday my friend Sue came down to sew.........we had a couple more coming but due to family emergencies they had to cancel last minute.......

We had another visitor that was not welcome in side but cool to see just less then a metre away thru the window.............my resident Blue Tongue lizard...........he only scares me occasionally.........he lives in the garden...........he's harmless.......sadly I didn't capture him with his blue tongue poking out..........

anyway after 2 wonderful days of sewing my soul feels replenished...........

Last night was cool enough to sleep without the air con which was lovely............and what a stunning start to the day............

hope you have all refueled your soul with something good this weekend......

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

Chookyblue.......

Reflections.................

Reflections on the dam and the weekend that was............

So what's happening in your world.............

I went to check a dam early one morning...............cool reflections and it was fun watching the sheep and cattle come into the dam...........their behaviour etc.............

the edges are starting to get a bit boggy.........

The clouds have been cool some days when i've been driving around...........

the emus were pretty inquisitive..........

Couple of trees got hit by lighting last weekend at the neighbours...........one of the splinters from this tree metres away...........

This is what the trees would have looks like...........

This one got hit and caught fire..............lucky it must have got some rain over the area..........

amazing to see the shattering/splintering of the tree..............

This weekend I actually had some friends come and sew.........I had a few blocks done to start.............was nice just to be able to grab it and make progress.........It's been so long since I sewed with real people in the Chookshed.........before the renos i'm sure................    

exciting interruption to sewing when hanging out the washing...........I had been suspicious but I found another nest for the guinea fowl and she is sitting and loaded with eggs.............the other nest I found got raided and they stopped laying there..........they are communal nest layers until someone decides to sit on the nest..........the eggs I collected from the first nest are currently in the incubator.......i'll keep a close eye on this one and try and catch her and the babies as soon as they are hatched if she makes it...........If I lock her up in a cage she will raise them well.........otherwise she will be hopeless.......and probably lose the lot..........I've had no luck with mine raising young on their own.............

 made some good progress on the blocks...........

buggered up this trying to sew early yesterday morning in the dark with only the machine light.........

all fixed up this morning............right sides sewn together..........

Lesson learnt turn the light on!!!!!

And I am excited to report for the second year in a row I have a baby spotted bowerbird in the garden............the bower I found last year in the garden is no longer in use but there must be one close by to keep them around the garden........I was only 2 metres away from him and I also took a little video of him..........If I put that into youtube I will let you know........I found some info below...............

Bowerbirds are polygynous, which means one male may mate with several females in a season. The female alone is responsible for building a simple cup nest well off the ground in trees and shrubs. There she usually lays one or two eggs, which she incubates alone. The eggs hatch after about three weeks, and she feeds the chicks for up to eleven weeks before they become fully independent. more info here

Catch you later........

Chookyblue.......

PS there could be a marathon Chookshed Stitchers sewing day for Australia Day 26th Jan keep an eye out........new bloggers are welcome to join.......(25th on the flip side of the world)

Its promising to be a scorcher so a cool spot will be required............

everyone needs a friend.......

The only useful sewing to show for the day.....

A sewing day with friends.......... It's been forever since I've had a sewing buddy in the Chookshed..... Besides the Chookshed Stitchers......

 Yummy chicken and sweet corn soup for lunch.......

Nibbles and bubbles mid afternoon.......

Making the first and only block so far...... Miss Jules Twister quilt getting the first border on in the background........

Now I'm forcing her to cut it so she doesn't put it off forever....... Lol......

Catch you later......

Chookyblue......

forgetful miracles.........

Got some more binding completed on another quilt last night..........think I got 1/2 way around........I was chatting on zoom to the Scrub Stitchin' girls........Tina even got to pop in while on her dinner break........

I'll fix those couple of dodgy corners today on the machine on the quilts I have been binding and I should have 3 finished this weekend........I'll be on fire for July Rose Marie...........

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I "forgot" to share this new book of Anni's that I got..........I keep forgetting to take a pic........but it's the new one from Quiltmania.......they do make beautiful books and Anni always has gorgeous projects........

I got these fabrics added into the parcel.........not sure if they will go into my big churn dash blocks but they were nice additions to the brights..........

Speaking of churn dash blocks I am going sewing today.......in the Chookshed.........

And the "miracle" of today is that I have friends really coming to sew with me in the Chookshed..........

I was going to have some sewing days when I was on leave but it kept raining then we were busy chasing sheep..........

OK better go get ready.......turn the heaters on....big frost here this morning.......

its exciting........have a great weekend......

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

Chookyblue.......

The final wrap....

wow the weekend just goes too fast...........Chookshed party all done for another year........

Miss Jules could not find her binding so she finished this one she was working on........

I was thinking of hand sewing but as the lounge was full and this quilt needed to be pieced I got the top together and the first border........its looking pretty........

I was working on some leaders and enders and got all the 4 patches together on the left..........it was just a random pile of fabric in a box from I am not sure where............and I am still deciding what to make of them yet............how to finish it.........maybe what is there is 2/3rds of the blocks...........

Ali worked on this braided quilt.......yes its crooked but I was in a hurry sticking them back up on the wall and she hasn't finished the two left rows hence they are longer in the photo too........its from one of the Jelly Roll quilt books.......she has 4 more rows to make...........

2/3rds must be the go as Lea has that much together of her quilt also..........

Up close where she had started to applique the pictures on...........

Kate was cutting heaps of hot water bottle covers and wheat packs..........OMG you could not have enough of these at present it it freezing the cold front at present is very strong........very windy and showery.........lots of snow about futher south...........we never get snow.........

Suze worked on these 3 wraps adding some applique.....

they are all a lovely dark blue but the light is a bit funny in these photos.........

Annette did some applique..........she has heaps of blocks to applique to back ground..........

she also did some spinning and I missed taking a photo........

Morning tea one day...........Kates fresh strawberry jam was a treat with the scones and cream........

Miss Myrtle Mae Muggins was looked after so well..........

Yesterday I left her in a cage for the day and she was frozen last night when I got home.........poor little treasure was bright as a button after some warming and a tummy full of milk.........

Sunset with a jet passing over...........it was sooooo pretty..........so calm....

Of course you need champagne and nibbles to enjoy while watching the sunset...........

we were all rugged up..........it was a pretty cool weekend but sunny........

And then just like that the weekend ended.....such a great group of girls to spend the weekend with........fills the soul.....7 is the max......filled the Chookshed and the beds......

If you sewed along at home let me know what you got up tooooo......

Stay warm Aussies.........even those in the warmer parts are feeling a chill..........

off to battle the road to work........

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue........

more party prep......

OK so party plans are progressing............I've got to go dig out some sewing........thinking I will just be hand sewing Saturday........I think I will be inside too not in the chookshed unless I move out there for a bit...........I'll see........need to test some things out but the heating is only good during the day not when it's chilly of a morning and night..........

Below are some of the time zones.....

You should have just got an email from me if I have you in the contact list for the zoom link..........let me know if you didn't get it.........

OR if you would like to join in the fun.............

So what are you planning to sew???

Stay safe.........

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue......