Fat 1/4 swaps...........

Oh I love Fat 1/4 birthday swaps...............and I am part of 2 swaps.............the first is organised by Maree - On my verendah............thanks heaps Maree...........
the girls in my group are Lurline's Place, Kate - Stitched with Love, Anita - Rileys Rambles, Dale - Day Day's blog, Peg -Happy in Quilting

Also some of us at Girls Day in the Country organised a Fat 1/4 swap together........

thanks Alison, Cardygirl, Peg, Dale, Anita, Jo Jo, Maree, June, Jenny, Kerry, Lynda, Shelley and Hells................now I have 6 months to work out what I am going to make............

All you girls (in both swaps) helped make my day wonderful and I am so lucky to be able to participate in such fun.............I have enjoyed picking out fabrics for each birthday until now but to actually receive is wonderful.............so many beautiful fabrics............

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here is my cake.............book worm and I cooked it together................it had to have strawberries in it..........so we served it with more strawberries and cream..........yummo..........

He wanted to cook me a rainbow cake..............it was a recipe I have not remembered using and was a bit different to usual to make but hey it worked beautifully...........all gone in a matter of minutes...........

oh and hints of spring sure are here..................yesterday was officially a shorts day.......I was wondering why I was so hot in my jeans and jumper and changed to shorts then discovered it was 27 deg C...............it started off windy and little cool but certainly warmed up...............and I still had doors open after dark and it wasn't cold...............madly trying to catch up on the neglected garden watering..............suddenly I am way behind....
.......hope you weekend was wonderful mine was............

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

busy busy............

This photo is from Nundle and the moon was just setting as the sun was rising............especially for Leanne.........

for the bloggers in the Secret Santa Christmas Swap SSCS09.........this is when I got the idea for the ornament..............Tracey sent this one to me last year and I thought it would be great to have a decoration to hang on the tree to remind you of a kind friend each Christmas...........just a small decoration to hang on your tree......many friendships have been made thru the SSCS so I can't wait to see what happens this year.............check out the list on the sidebar............

oh and I have a new blogger for the swap............Granny Goose go welcome her to blogland
(if there was someone else too let me know cause I had a feeling there is another new girl too)
edit Teresa is the other lady please welcome them both

.......you should have all received an email from me now so check the "junk mail" first if you haven't........ 1/2 of you have replied in less then 2 hours OMG you are soooo good.........makes this job so much easier...........

yesterday at a friends I spotted this lone dandelion in the middle of the mown lawn.............more pictures of it here on Snappy Friends.............

I am in a few birthday fat 1/4 swaps and I am patiently waiting to open this bundle..............(counting down the seconds but patiently waiting)

life is busy so if you don't hear from me don't worry............back when I get a chance.............

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

Champage and Chocolate............

I know what you girls are thinking with the champs and chocolate..............the worst cause I was with Farmyard crafts..............remember I went on a chocolate diet after the last time I saw her............but it is all good..............here are a few snaps around Cottage on the Hill............so many beautiful quilts to make and fabric to choose..........I always have the best weekend when I go to Nundle............this is the 6th year I have been for a retreat weekend...........we travel over Friday........pick our quilt we want to make Friday afternoon and fabrics - sew Sat and Sun and the travel home late............(narrowly avoiding a pair of echidna's in the middle of the road)

in the picture above on the bottom left is Valley Forge collection..........wanted to get some of that but just got 2 pieces for the nine patch block swap...........

basically when you go to Nundle you pick what ever quilt in the shop you want to make.............then whatever fabrics in the shop you want to use........
Kerry cuts all the fabrics for you...........nothing is ever a problem......the quilt on the left is the same as mine but I laided my blocks differently..............amazing the difference by colours and placement.............the one on the right is a first time quilt..............shaggy's are perfect and she is hooked............planning 2 quilts and starting one of those there..........

here we go...........mine on Sun morning now this is where the Champagne and Chocolates comes in........although I did find some Rocky road over the weekend.......

the fabrics are Sachet Flannel II - Marcus Brothers .................the pattern is Champagne by Kerry Swain (different block placement on mine) and I just had to add that Chocolate chenille for a narrow border................just love it.......forever known as "Champagne and Chocolates"

making progress.............

here we are............Champagne and Chocolates.................Nundle no 6 is off to be quilted already........(would be great to get Nundle no 4 finished and Nundle No 5 bound)

also the wonderful news of the weekend - beside spending it with my wonderful friends sewing and eating yummy food - there we some other visitors over the weekend..............Cardygirl and friend called in and stitched with us
(Jeeves is such a lovely driver.........Cardygirl he is worth more money) can't wait to see your projects finished..............

Also the Oh Sew Busy Bec called in with most of the family and the kids were so good............Jessie Girl showed all the ladies her knitting and Xmas decoration swap gifts..........Bec brought lots of show and tell.............loved it...............

thanks girls for making the effort to catch up it was wonderful.................bloggy friends are just so lovely.............thanks Kerry for another fantastic weekend already booked in for next years retreat and Girls Day in the Country 13th March 2010

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

SSCS girls I will send you an email shortly.............basically the swap is closed unless you are a regular on my blog............

back........

I am home safe and sound had a fantastic weekend with a fantastic group of women will be back soon so show you what i have been up to but it involves champage and chocolates...........

I will reply to any emails sent in the last few days tonight if I get a chance...........back soon...........

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

Happy 40th Birthday.........

yep another big birthday in blogland.........Tracey is 40 on Friday 7th............head over and wish her a great day.............she is have a it of a shindig over the weeknd with The Chocolate Cat..........

I'm off on retreat to the Cottage on the Hill with some friends and also meeting up with some bloggy buddies..........sooooooo excited.............see you soon Cardygirl, Farmyard Crafts and Oh Sew Busy..........oh and i get to buy fabric............the fabric diet is over...........yippee..........

Any emails answered on return..............the secretary is having the weekend off...............lol..........

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

wattle time...........

August always brings out the wattle.................golden yellow...............so beautiful.............sorry about the pic but it was windy.............brightens up winter days though...........

July and August also brings on emails like below

Subject -??????????
"I was just thinking about your last secret santa s w a p and was wondering
are you doing it again this year because I want in if you are I LOVED last
year" (Beth)
Well you know it is time to put the SSCS post up when the emails asking
about the SSCS go from weekly to daily...........
2007 - 80+
2008 - 156
2009 - ???
2 people didn't get gifts to their partners so you're not welcome this year
Cindy and Debbie B- sorry but that's your fault not mine
If you want to see what happened last year go to my labels and choose Secret
Santa Christmas S w a p or Secret Santa Christmas S w a p 2008 (just after xmas there are a pile of posts of presents)
The rules are simple
. Make a beautiful gift (love, time and effort required) - you
can make whatever you want eg, bag, wall hanging, stitchery, table runner,
Christmas themed gift - whatever it is you love to make...send something you
would love to receive... (not something you whip up in a couple of hours)

. This year you also need to make a small decoration that can be
hung on a Christmas tree (simple or fiddly up to you)

. Don't tell anyone who your SSCS partner is please. This is a secret
shhhhhhhhh!!!!!! A different person will be sending to you....
. international posting essential.

You need to have an active blog .....posting a couple of times a
month.... so your partner can sneak a peek and get ideas of what to make for
you and they know you are active.....therefore existing
. Swap partners emailed when I can get it done (hopefully by 31st Aug)
. Sending (not before 20th November) deadline is 25th November to
ensure your partner gets their present before Christmas (remember reason for
swap)
. Please don't sign up if you are not prepared to send, non-senders!!!! will
be named and shamed
. Make sure you "thank" your Santa - very important and post about your present when you receive it..........
. If you are difficult to contact you may be dropped from the
SSCS.....several times between now and the deadline I email out and you MUST
reply...so if you are going away for a week or 2 just let me know
. If everyone can follow the above it will make for another very successful
SSCS..... less headaches for me.........
. Any problems make sure you contact me

. If you want to join email (chookybluesscs at gmail dot com) I need your
Name, Address (including country), email and blog address eg
http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/

PLEASE DON'T BLOG ABOUT THE S W A P ON YOUR BLOGS TIL IT IS CLOSED....

...more fun for my regular visitors.......

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

EDIT......................CLOSED.........................

Stitching kit.........

I know you're shocked I have got some more finishes but hey don't get used to it because it is about to come to an end for a bit...........I am not the kind of person that works on something til it is done and then starts another one...........I don't even want to think how many projects are in various stages............I have lots of projects on the go though............if I don't like what I am working on I can just move onto something else.............

The lovely Cardygirl sent me this pattern Nellie's Sewing Bag because apparently I didn't see any of these bags at GDITC this year............I must have had my eyes shut.........lol.......to busy chatting probably...........another Rosie project..........

also teamed it with a Anni Downs Hatched and Patched needle case

I love this stitchery..............it is from her book "The World as it Should Be" and called My World Needle case............now Anni warns in the directions it is difficult to turn the needle case thru because of the stiffer interfacing but persist.........well Anni persist I did and it was difficult but so worth while in the end........the stiffer effect is great..........

I think most of the fabrics are from the Chocolat range..............

another gift for a friend that i didn't want to part with...........lol.............

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

PS I know I know I have been doing lots of Rosie and Anni at the moment..........but I am loving it...........

Xmas Decoration swap..........

This is the Christmas decoration Angel sent in the girls swap.............Fairy Girl loves it..........thanks girls for a fun swap...........whats next????

well done Angel.......

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