theme dinner......

 

OMG it's taken me so long to get this one together...........finding all the pics........I hope I have not missed anyone............. 

Some stuffed Aussie animals..........the Goanna is a work of art by Brenda..........decorated with gorgeous stitches........

the table set and decorated beautifully by Di, Miranda and Brenda - thankyou.........

I outsourced this year for the theme and helpers...........

Di embroidered the gorgeous Australian animal table runners...........

bordered with an indigenous print..........

Aussie flags hung around.........Aussie tea towels............Aussie maps..........

the special dinner theme was Australiana - what Australia means to you.........

See the line of swap prezzies lined up on the end of the sewing tables...........

Its Make It, Bake It, Fake It swap prezzie night also..........

Harriett and Tina aka Kath and Kim arrived........

I'm sure they could replace the real deal.........the speech was spot on..........

Snugglepot (Lea) and Cuddlepie (Jo) - gumnut babies complete with champagne..............

With the addition of a gumtree - Raewyn she made a gumleaf and gumnut beanie...........

Everyone coming into the room and seeing what each other is wearing............so loud, fun and then Miranda added some Aussie songs.............

Lou (Aussie print nurses scrubs).......me (the big blue sky and nut necklace).........Miranda (free to be what she wants)

Chris brough in all the Aussie animals she's brought on holidays for the kids and added them to the tables..........

Susan the Sydney Harbour Bridge, fireworks and Opera House...........Maureen true blue aussie............Lynda a mad Queensland Rugby League football fan who was booooooooooed down by the NSW contingent........in typical interstate rivalry..........

Tracy and Deana were tourists............Ops Tracy is missing from this photo......

Me and Sylvia..........

Deana, Kylie, Lea, Jo, Raewyn and Sue (had native birds and flowers jumpsuit)...........

Chris, Jude, Raylene, Annette (blue sky, yellow for the sun and her fire volunteer lanyard for the fires Australia has and the amount of volunteers we have), Lynda and Maureen

Susan, Lou, Brenda and Pat (colours of the earth)

Diane (had her indigenous earrings), Harriett, Tina, Di and Jules 

Lianne, Miranda, Gail and Tracy (American tourist)

Sylvia (best dressed see below), Gail (in her Australia shirt which was surprisingly hard to find in Australia with all the great places/things she done listed on the shirt) and me........

Sylvia had a snake around her neck trying to catch a mouse in thoughts of my mouse plague last year..........

On her arm is a crocodile that she also made............

She was dressed in grey for a kangaroo and she even had a joey in her (apron) pouch..........

On her head she had a platter of sweet food and a teapot for high tea.........

Me and Chris

Kylie (Australian tea towel skirt and budgie shirt) and Maureen (mad Aussie supporter on Australia Day)

Lianne (the shirt is rabbitohs colours - Rugby League supporter - a real okka Aussie with her footy colours on and having a BBQ) Georgina (gumnut babies shirt), Miranda - freedom to be herself

Di wore her family members slouch hat complete with emu feathers........

Jude and Raylene - Aussie supporters on Australia Day

Sylvia, Jenny (farmer in his blue shirt and akubra), Helen (cows/farming apron), Georgina, Natasha (Rugby Union Wallabies supporter), Annette (swaggy in his flanny and hat complete with a sheep which is missing from the photo)

An amazing night and I hope I have not missed anyone............It was so much fun as usual......

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

Chookyblue........

zoom zoom and more zoom..........

 So last weekend I was hoping to do a big zoom day except I forgot about the power outage............

So I just planned a early morning session until the power went out...........

I hoped on again when I got back home and the power was back on..............the frustrating thing was it was only off for less then 2 hours but they had scheduled 6 and when they do that they usually need that whole time.........anyway this pic is from the morning.......I did pop in for awhile in the evening also........I worked on a sashiko piece i'm still stitching........I missed getting another photo...

I had a couple of quick zooms with some of the Scrub Stitchin' girls also.........

Wow it's really a few weeks now since we were together..........

&&&

Yesterday it was cloudy and rainy and cooling down..............I was achieving nothing, felt like being social so I thought I would see who was around...........

just under 20 people popped in thru the virtual door while I was on..........

I forgot to take a photo...........

I didn't have any sewing with me as I was inside and it was raining so I just sorted some papers while chatting...........

couple hours turned into a few more but it was a lovely way to spend the day catching up......

&&&

Anyway while I finish tidying up from Scrub Stitchin' (more posts to come) I am starting to prepare for the Chookshed's 11th Birthday early June........

She's a bit messy at present.........you know how I got the air con [super excitement].........that lead onto getting the wiring redone [super mess]..........which has lead on to deciding to line the roof in a few weeks[super mess remaining]..........which may lead to repainting [not a great painter]........BUT she's having a bit of work done........

&&&

Do you know early June it will be 3 years since we have been hanging out on zoom...........now we are known as the Chookshed Stitchers and I will be hosting a party online it will be joint with the online Chookshed Birthday party...........thinking this will be the weekend of the 27th May - pencil it into the calendar and there will be more news soon about that......

BUT it should be a big one.......thought i'd give you a heads up........

Anyway beautiful rain all day yesterday.........22mm

Winter is certainly slipping in.....

the sun's shining so I can get the washing done.......

Enjoy your Sunday.......

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue.......

so much happening.......

Friday was so busy.........from the group photo to show and tell to nibble and then theme dinner...........

I'm not sharing heaps of show and tell here......

It was amazing.........inspiring to see what everyone has been working on.........

Maureen, Lianne, Jude, Chooky, Susan, Sue

We had a few finished Churn Dash quilts for those who were in the SAL.........for those observant people I am not holding mine I am holding Janice's quilt........

Was especially lovely to see Lianne's as I was with her when she decided to make the quilt and helped decide on fabrics........

I think Deana took this photo of some of the girls watching show and tell........lol

I was quilt holder.............

Pat (did the hand stitching for Jude), Jude, Susan, Maureen, Lynda, Raewyn, Jo

This photo is the project in from 2020......a cute project bag designed by Anni Downs........

After show and tell we did get some sewing done until it was nibbles time.......

As we needed to prep for the dinner and it was such a lovely day I kicked all the girls out.......

Earlier in the day I decided that one of the bar areas would do for us also..........

quick wipe down of the bench tops and it was perfect......

enjoying the late afternoon light and some watching the sunset.........

Its showery this morning though I don't think we will get much rain......

But there is a definite change in the weather.....dropping from high 20's to low 20's and a single digits overnight...........winter is coming............

Catch you later........

Chookyblue........

Scrub Stitchin' why do I do it?????????

 Scrub Stitchin' and Chookshed Stitchers have never been more entwined...........I love gathering people together and sharing the same interests.........

This retreat started when another gathering ended and there was a big group of bloggers connected wondering how we would meet up again........and there was a few extra friends connected to the bloggers too...........

This was the 6th Scrub Stitchin' with 2020 held online on zoom due to "C"..........

following the Scrub Stitchin' online day I went onto to hold the Chookshed birthday online also a short time later.............previously it had only been sewing virtually with everyone doing a post during or after the weekend showing there progress..........

from then on I kept hosting zoom gatherings and eventually Gail named us the Chookshed Stitchers...........

But lets get back to the retreat...........I love to make the room look good and get everyone in the sewing mood when they walk in the door.........lucky we have the ability to hang quilts on the walls very easy......it really adds to the atmosphere......

the tables always have flowers of some kind........

there's even a vase of flowers in each cabin.......

This year with the Australiana theme I was able to get some natives and thanks to Brenda we added some more bits from her garden to make all the vases look great...........

Mum always makes us scones but this year one of her friends helped out also and they are always a hit with the girls............we did have to educate those Americans that they are scones and NOT biscuits.........and the only way to eat them is with jam and cream on top...........

the whole group........just two missing I think from this photo.........

such a diverse amazing group of women that I am privileged to call friends..........even Tracy who I had not met (virtually or in real life) prior to her arriving with Deana.........she slotted right into the group...........

they are a friendly welcoming bunch and it ia wonderful to see everyone just mixing with everyone.......enjoying seeing what each person is making..........the cheers when someone has a finish........and the photos also required at that time.......

the beautiful comments I get from everyone esp from those new to the group saying how lovely the group is..........

(I don't even have to tell them to mix each meal time now - it just happens)

Above if you join the Chookshed Stitchers these girls have all joined in at times and most are bloggers still..........

(Tracy USA, Me, Lou NZ, Gail USA, Raewyn NZ, Deana USA, sitting Sylvia Germany and Chris Canada)

I am always so excited about SS each year..........I can't wait to catch up with everyone coming.............this year was a little more special and we had a few more make the journey from overseas...............

Raewyn was finally able to join us again.......finally all the "C" travel restrictions have been removed and she was able to cross the ditch............Lou was finally able to use tickets she had to Oz that she had postponed during "C"...........

SOOOOOO exciting to meet all the girls............most friends with for so many years..........never thinking we would be able to meet.............

Tracy although you maybe have "been told" lucky you "made the right choice" lol........

Back to the goody bags............

once Scrub Stitchin is done I am working on the next one.........thinking of ideas.....With the scrub and the local area always in mind..........

This year I found gorgeous Australian native flower mugs.......I ended up with Sturt's Desert Pea, But there was also waratahs, banksias, gum blossoms, wattle and bottlebrush......

I popped in chocolates and the kit............

this year the designer was Anni Downs from Hatched and Patched..............

out of kitty as an extra this year I got some bags printed............this is the front........the other side has all the girls names etc who attended this year........

Very kindly a couple of the girls made a gift for everyone........

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie fabric pin cushions/clip holder and the heart and the star have magnets in them and will hold things onto the fridge.........

they fit into the theme perfectly........thankyou to the girls who made them..........

the saying is "No matter where they are......friends are never far" (Lea's finished bag)..........this is so perfect for this group...........lets take out the international girls cause that's a given it's a long way to get here BUT the Aussie girls travel long distances to get here too.......we come from NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.......thousands of KM's travelled to get here......

I even had an extra couple of trips this year to get all the gear over.........wasn't just me in the car this year.......

A few hiccups in the setup and over the weekend but we all just made it work...........

thanks also to everyone who helped set up and pack up.....

I just want to say thankyou to everyone for making the long trip to join in Scrub Stitchin'

you are what makes it great.....

I feel blessed......

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue......

PS this is just post one from Friday........

Scrub Stitchin' day 2............

 Oh goodness where do I continue................

so much has happened since I was here last.......

Thursday started bright and early.............love the light coming thru the pine trees......

the grounds always feel so calm to me...........

Mum and her friend made scones a couple of days.............We had to educate the Americans on "biscuits"

as usual the scones were amazing.........with jam and cream on top heaven......

the mugs were all native flowers...........and this year the flowers were natives sticking with the Australiana theme and also the scrub bush name............

Morning tea time..........

I did a tiny bit of sewing............the project..........more on that later............

Deana and her first finish............

lots of happy faces from dinner...............

OK best go sort some more pics...........

Catch you later........

Chookyblue........

PS still pinching myself that this actually happened