FIS received.............

My Friends in Stitching Swap partner was Sue from Quilting in Stitches..........

Each day just before Christmas we got to open a little parcel...

S - snowman  press a button on his back and he boxes

A- aeroplane ornament

N - natvity wooden buttons

T - illuminating tree

A - Angel button

It was fun having a little parcel to open each day............

My main present was this gorgeous table runner............

I just love it.........

I was so excited when I opened this up............it looks wonderful on my table.......

It is right where I walk past all day and it looks great.........perfect colours...........and even more perfect design.............the centres of the flowers are the tiniest yo yo's........

Thanks so much Sue you are the best Santa anyone could ask for........

Sadly this is my last swap with this group as I am stepping back.........life is a little overloaded at the moment so something has to go.............it is a yearly commitment and I don't want to let the group down.............thanks girls but I know I will still be in touch on your personal blogs still......

Catch you later

Chookyblue

PS need to find the pics of what I sent to share too............

FIS Swap from Bec.........

My Friends in Stitching online group had a christmas swap.

five small gifts with a theme to open from the 20th each day and a main gift.

Bec sent me all these lovely gifts..........

For the tummy.........

for the tree..........

for the hands...........I started reading the book the other day.........

for fun.........Fairy Girl had stolen the little buzzy insect..........

for the table.........the candles nearly got put to use when I had no power on Christmas Day...........

Here is the main present........... lucky it had a mug in it as it may have taken a little bit to work it out but it is a mug bag.............just perfect for me as I have been thinking about making one for myself............ just haven't got there yet so now I don't have to worry about it.

How perfect with a chook button and blue fabrics............

here it is opened out...........

Thanks heaps Bec I love all the goodies you sent me.............

A nice cool day yesterday only 31 degC.......

.....back to the mid to high 30's for the rest of the week............

Next up the SSCS parcel i received...........

off to do some sewing.........

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

Chookyblue

Presents...........

All those parcels in the last post got opened 1/2 in the morning and the other 1/2 that night......

This is my present from my Friends in Stitching birthday swap............

the lovely Jen sent to me.........

look at the wonderful bag she sent me..........it's a nice big size............
I was a little delayed in taking the pics as I have been using since the day I got it..........and with a few busy days finally with everyone gone for an hour or two I got the chance to grab some pics........... 

And some close up detail............the flowers, special saying and it's got pockets all around the inside...........

just perfect............

Also included are these goodies - tea towel, patty cake oven mitt and patty cake pincushion............
Jen thanks heaps I love all the goodies you sent me...........

I was also spoilt by my secret sewing sisters........we have a fat 1/4 swap happening..........

don't they look great all lined up................some of these will go into my mariners quilt and the blues will be used in my EPP quilt too.............Thanks Secret Sewing Sisters - you know who you are........

I am so lucky to receive all these goodies...............the family gave me some great presents too.......

Hope your having a great weekend..........

we had a little working bee in the "chook shed" yesterday putting in some storage cupboards..........didn't get the job finished as I had a couple of extra friends come and we had campoven lunch and nibbles and drinks belated for my birthday...........I didn't snap any pics but I will do that for you next time...........I do a beef  casserole campoven that i put a bread in on top of and it's great..........

ok better go the family will be back soon.........jobs to do............

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Heart Quilts.........

I promise this is my last quilt on my Sydney trip..............remember the excess luggage...........lucky I had a bigger suitcase as below is what I had to fit in.........

I am blessed to have amazing gorgeous friends and these quilts were delivered to me when I was in Sydney............I was in shock there were lots of tears I had no idea about them.......it was the most wonderful surprise...........

This one is for someone close to me................

This one they made for me............

thanks to all the amazing girls involved which were some bloggers from Girls Day in the Country or my online Friends in Stitching group.................

Dawnie, Lynda, Kerri, Jane, Leanne, Vicki, Teresa, Fiona, Bec, Jenny, Janice, Miss Jules, Fiona, SandyN, Belinda, Lea, Sam, Tracey, Lynda, Alison, Anita, Trish, Khris, Deb, Suzie, Susan, Lise, Maree, Kayly, Ann, Bronwyn, Peg, Dale, Kerry and SandyC

Keeping my friends near..........and they are keeping me warm..................

TAHNKYOU..........

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

Chookyblue

FIS swap sent and received..........

My online group Friends in Stitching had a Christmas swap..........5 small parcels from the 20th Dec and a main present on Christmas Day...............Now I did show what I received on the group blog at Christmas so that's ok..........firstly what I made..............one of these key fobs was one of the smaller presents..........I don't have any pics of the other gifts I sent.......you can see what I sent here....but small bits and pieces and some cards...........

I got this pattern when i was at Anni's - The Home Patch late last year.............linen and "Strawberry Fields" fabric.............Fig Tree Quilts "Notions To Go" I started making 2 and I have another nearly finished for myself...........

some of the stitching I worked on out at the cows last year............... finally into a finished project...........2 of the stitcheries from Tis the Season quilt by Natalie Bird.......so different to my Tis the Season quilt................
All these goodies went to Kylie..........I loved making for Kylie......we have met a few times too which was lovely.............enjoy the gifts Kylie...........

now De was sending to me...............the first day i got a bottle of champagne...........(I think De has been reading my blog)..........I the bag with a some of the smaller parcels...........

A cute reindeer to hang on the tree............

This gorgeous backpack was just perfect.............

Designed by Brenda Dean in Patchwork and Stitching Magazine Vol6No5
It's very cool how it is nice and wide but narrows in when shut..................
I love all the gifts you sent De thanks heaps.............

Sorry I am so late with the posting..............
Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

catching up......

Kris you may need a cuppa.............lots of bits here...........
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While I was in the "big smoke" for a few days I got to have a quick blog meet lunch with Sonia.....after approx 5 years online we finally met........now not really knowing what Sonia looked like I spotted her by a lovely stitched bag with this quilt poking out..........she has quilted it by hand and it is gorgeous check it out...........so nice to see another finished quilt as part of the first SAL...............we enjoyed a lovely lunch...........thanks for the little prezzie..........

I am loving all the goodies from Kris in the Advent Swap organised by Fee.......

....Kris also included a little parcel for Fairy Girl since she knows she opens every second day of my parcels.......I only get to open 1/2 but we do it together and she remembers first thing every morning.................this parcel below Kris said she could open now or later...........as Fairy Girl has no will power to hold off it got opened ASAP.........thanks heaps Kris she LOVES the gift you sent to her and felt very special............much appreciated.........you should have seen the look on her face when she was sorting thru the dates to find the first parcel and found one with her name on it............

Fairy Girl and I had great fun making these ornaments...............super quick and easy and very cute hanging on the tree...............the round beads look much nicer then the oval ones..........you can find a tutorial here with Annette.........she made some for her teachers too.......

we had a good fall of rain on the weekend............the biggest for 12 months........I had a pool in the front yard for awhile...............still a long way from our annual average rainfall................what we have had all year is nearly the same as what Maree has had in the last few weeks...........no wonder she has been flooded...............
the last few weeks have mainly been high 20'sC temp wise............very mild really for December in my area so I will enjoy it while it continues..........the next week looks much of the same............when the heat comes we'll be in for quite a shock...........the garden is loving the rain and me the break from watering all the time.........lucky I have a dam to water my garden and now it is FULL along with all the other farms dams bar one...........

some mystery envelopes went off  to some special friends.............hope they arrive before Christmas but not sure.............

My Friends in Stitching parcel below was sent off and I received mine in the mail today....Thanks to the sender i'm very excited...........you know who you are............

Slowly the SSCS parcels are arriving.............mine hasn't landed with the receiver yet............I wished the sleigh would hurry and deliver............don't forget to email me ASAP as we have some anxious Santa's waiting to hear about parcels.........EDIT just got an email to say mine has been dropped off the sleigh.........and I have a happy recipient.........yeh......
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With the wet weather the Fairy Girl got the Christmas tree up while I was sewing..........
.......I just love pulling out all the hand made decorations and wall hangings............some from my beautiful blog friends...............
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Two Christmas parties to go to this weekend if it doesn't rain......
it is predicted so we'll see what happens...........
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Finally school holidays start in a few days.............I am so excited................no bus run..............no routine...............a few weeks holidays from work over Christmas too..........
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this post is a bit of everything but it has been in the planning for a week or so and I started to write it this morning and I have been working on it for 2 hrs since I got home in between phone calls and cooking dinner etc.........so i hope it makes sense.........off to finished some teacher present - cooking little boxes with choc chip biscuits, rocky road, chocolate balls..........Fairy Girl has loved helping
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12 sleeps til Santa comes......he's watching so you better be good....................
Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

Birthday swap.........

Several weeks ago I celebrated my birthday................in an online group I am part of we have a birthday swap and this year we had to make a small gift for the birthday girl and the gift had to start with the town your from............my gifts came from Lynda at "P"

I was so excited as I got to meet Lynda at the Quilt Show in Sydney a few months ago.............

She made me a gorgeous PUNCHNEEDLE PURSE, with POLKADOT tin containing and emergency sewing kit (perfect for the car) and a lolly pop PEN and PAD................love it all...........

some close up pics.............

thanks so much Lynda I am stoked with my beautiful gifts............

I was back at the cows today and will be for the next few.....it was blowing a gale today so I sat in the car most of the day.............lucky I had prepared those paper pieces the other day as I was able to work on a project stitching some together............

.....Mr Chookyblue is doing Saturday sport.......so i'll be there for a few more days while he gets some work done at home.................not sure if he loves me at the moment..............we had a terrible and I mean TERRIBLE horrendous smell really in the house last night worse outside near the doorway.....I thought it was a dead mouse to start with but it got WORSE FAR WORSE then a dead mouse....................I made Mr Chooky go find it today......and it was a dead possum.........we have had a possum living on the roof for months and months...............I told him to trap it and take it away but he never did that..............several days ago the possum got stuck trying to get into the ceiling and died............i'm sure he wished he trapped it now.........woops.........

&&& 

on another note quite by accident - in a random conversation with a neighbour I discovered that a girlfriend from school was staying with her family only a few properties away.............I never knew it was her family when I was at school and we have lost contact since finishing high school...........so 20+ years later we caught up today which was very exciting...........we have girls about the same age so they will meet in the next day or 2 and I am sure we will catch up again for a few more cuppas over the next few days............her "town" girls enjoyed turning the cows back for me...........to think for all those years she has spent weeks and weeks visiting so close to me and neither of us knew............

&&&

hope something special has happened to you lately be it a parcel in the mail or a chance catch with an old friend...........

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Oh nearly forgot....I discovered a couple of brand new bloggers so go give them a welcome to blogland..........you know how exciting it is when you get comments when you first started blogging..........

Thimblestitch and Lavender Blue Stitches welcome girls..........

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

Chookyblue

FIS Swap Sent..........

Well I had something else planned to make for the Hatched and Patched Swap for Teresa in the Friends in Stitching online group (private group) but once i got this pattern at GDITC I just had to make it up...............

the pattern is "No Place Like Home"

I changed the thread colours to match my bag fabrics............Moda "Aviary"

I used a honey bun for the outer bag and I think I have enough left to make another outside............

I added a pocket to the inside of the bag too...........

the bottom was fiddly but I am so glad I persisted............now I want one for myself.............
This has been a wonderful swap.........
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Also thanks for all the comments on my post about Curly Pops.............late yesterday she was looking pretty good and moved up the paddock more and was feeding away so all great signs...........the calf is going really well.......I'm sorry I haven't replied to all the comments (thanks very much for them) but yesterday went pear shaped and I ended up mustering sheep for shearing today............

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

Chookyblue

FIS Swap received.........

My Friends in Stitching online group had an Anni Downs Hatched and Patched Swap.................this is the present that Jan sent to me............
Jan said it was Farm Girl stitchery and it was in an older magazine. 

Just perfect I love it...........farm lady, blue stitching and fabrics...................

thanks heaps Jan..............

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

Chookyblue

FIS Swap present & TTS blocks.........

In an online group FIS we have a birthday swap............I had to make a present for Vicki............

my gifts had to start with the letter "C"...............Carry all stitching bag, Cushion  for pins and also included some Chookyblue Cards...........the colour is a bit funny in the photo but it is a nice civil war print.........with a cream stitchery panel................

Here are my March blocks for Tis the season Stitch-a-long

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

Chookyblue

Paper bag swap sent...........

In the online group Friends in Stitching paper bag swap Razzy sent me this beautiful stitchery to play with, with the 2 fat 1/4's........

I made this bag for Razzy......hope you like it Razzy...............I love working with the fabrics too.............this is the first paper bag swap I have done so a bit scary playing with fabrics you know the recipient loves...............will you do them justice, will they like what you make............LOL....

Another fun swap........

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

Chookyblue

Paper bag swap received.............

Friends in an online group had a paper bag swap..........I sent my goodies to Kerri..........look what she made me.........a thread keeper for beside my machine. I only have one and sometimes Fairy Girl borrows it. Now we can share both of them.........

Woops just realised the little pincushion that moves is sitting over some stitching.............Kerri did this beautiful stitchery for me too..........

and the bottom part..........

The fabrics have extra special meaning as Maree Farmyard Crafts sent me the fat 1/4's in an swap and I was saving them for something special for me so the perfect use..............

Kerri has done a wonderful job and I have a wonderful reminder of both my great blogger friends beside my machine..........

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

Chookyblue

fire alert.........

Fairy girl got a little carried away with the candles............pleased don't count them but I was waiting for the smoke alarms to go off when we blew out the candles.............lol..........

these are the fabrics I received from my online group birthday swap...............Friends in Stitching............thanks Razzy I love the fabrics.........6 fat 1/8's and we have to make a small quilt from them........

my sister is a gem and she gave me this Material Obsession book..........

and the super treasures at my house gave me this mixmaster...............yippee..............my old one is about 50 years old and I have had and used it (and loved it) for about 15 years..............think it is running out of life though struggling a little............wonder if this one will last 50 years?????? 

it even has dough hooks- can't wait to give them a go...........

yep that is grey laminex on the wall and bench top..........the kitchen is from the 50's too............I do dream of a new one but the one I have is mouse proof and works well...............

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

Chookyblue