sOcIaLiSiNg & EaTiNg.........

The reason I went back this year to the quilt show is because friends in an online group Friends in Stitching were meeting up............we had about 2/3rds of the group together over the extended weekend.........we joined together for breaky and dinner and sometimes inbetween too............it was great to see each other lots..........

Dinner Thursday night was the goal to meet to start with...........

just a gorgeous bunch of girls.........

Teresa, Jenny, Me, Helen, Dawnie, Vix, Peg, Kerry, De, Sarah, Christine

Yvonne and me........

Peg, Dale, Suzie, Kayly

the blog group again with one more in the pic..........

Dinner Friday night was great........Olivo Harbourside was beautiful..............

Thanks Anita for booking us is.........not sure home many times we added people..........

the bigger the better........

this little table had to leave early to go to a show...........

so many happy faces.........

Saturday.........

starting with breakfast.........

Maree, Peg, Jenny, Teresa, Helen, Lynda, Dale, Joy, Sarah, De

This guy gave us a great bargain breaky every morning............

back Rhonda (no blog), Pam, Peg, Cheryl, Dale

Leanne, me Lynda, Sue

Saturday night dinner.............

love this pic with the cameras.............lol.........

Bloggers I caught up with in Sydney so the others girls can find them..............

Peg Happy in Quilting,    Dale Day Day's Blog,     Kerry Swains Cottage,     De Re-De-Zine,     Christine Aunties Quaint Quilts,     Sarah Prim Treasures,     Vix Crystal Ball,     Teresa All Things Vintage,     Helen Helbel's World of Craft,     Jenny Jen's Stitching,     Lynda In Wonderland,     Dawnie Itching for Stitchin,     Suzie Sew Suzie Sew,     Sue Quilting in Stitches,     Patricia Too Many Eggs,     Kayly Bliss in the Burbs,     Pam Pam's Little Place,     Dzintra Queen of the Arm Chair,     Sylvia Time To Stitch,     Fiona Peaceful Threads,     SandyN Sandy's Patchwork Angel ,     Anita Rileys Rambles,     Susan Thimble Stitch,     Deb Frog Cottage Designs,     Kate Show and Tell,     Maree On My Verendah,     Joy Joy's Patch,     Sue Sue's Place in the Sun,     Alison Cardygirl,     Yvonne Yvonne W Designs,     Sonia {Me} and My Thoughts,     Salley writes the NSW Quilters Guild Blog,     Kate Empty Field,     SuziQ Love to Sew,     Cheryl Gone Stitchin,     Kylie Country Wishes,     Brenda Bits and Pieces,     Jean Linen and Raspberry,     Marg Marg Low Designs,     Natalie The Birdhouse,     Anni Hatched and Patched,     Sue Sue Daley,     Carolyn Carolyn's Quilting Room ,     SueAnne Buddy and Me,     Kathy Material Obsessions,     Kristen Kristen Doran Designs,     Elissa Kelani  I wished Fairy Floss Stitches would start blogging..........

I hope I haven't missed anyone..........

woops missed Janet Quiltsalott

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

PS yes this took ages to include all the links...........

OmG eXhAuStEd.............

Home safe and sound and exhausted BUT I have had the BeSt time in Sydney..................

chatting, late nights, eating out, tears, lots of LOL, shopping, 

I am so tired...........

thanks to "MY FRIENDS" my luggage was HeAvY.....lucky I had space in my suitcase............

I am to tired to get a decent post organised so will share these group pics that others who were there may want to use.........

Thursday after closing waiting for girls to gather to leave together we had a quick catch up with SueAnne a surprise bonus as I didn't know she was there and I have been following her blog for quite a few years

the blog meet on Friday was wonderful..........

yep they are all bloggers there chatting............

does anyone have a better group photo......trying to get 33? bloggers organised for a group shot I think is impossible..............this one is missing a few girls on the edges.........

Saturday we hadn't planned a blog meet but were in desperate need for a cuppa and more food after a workshop and between a few phone calls and a quick email thank goodness for SMART phones we had another smaller gathering of girls.........

i'll come back with heaps more pics of the quilt show, shopping, catch ups, workshops etc........but for now i'm going to eat some tea and head to bed.............

bloggers are the best......all you girls are just so friendly and so much fun..........

wished I could rewind to Thursday morning and do it all again........(maybe I am to tired for that though)

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

An exhausted Chookyblue........
PS I'll try and go again in a couple of years...............might take that long for me and the bank account to recover lol............

Bon voyage.....

Well i'm not going to get back here in the next few days so i'll be reporting back in after my little trip to the big smoke............Peg, Dale and I are heading off very soon to go to the quilt show..........we'll meet Kerry there and book into our accommodation and enjoy a few days at the quilt show............

I can't wait to meet some blog girls I have been emailing with for years now, catch up with friends, look at all the stands/quilts, go to the blog meet on Friday, do a work shop or 2, eat some nice food, chat lots.............

If I don't see you there i'll see you when I return.............

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

Queens birthday long weekend.......

We have a long weekend to celebrate the Queens Birthday..........and I must say it has been wonderful to see all the highlights of the Jubilee celebrations in the UK this week.

She constantly amazes me how gorgeous she looks in her outfits.........

Also how much she does at her age............

How many people turned out regardless of the weather............

image from here

Hope you have a wonderful weekend with family/friends.......

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

Fairy girls little project...........

Even Fariy Girl got into the sewing on the weekend.....

She made this for her "special friend" Fairy Floss who just got an Ipod nano for her birthday..............
These nano's are tiny............
Just a little bit of help and lots of directing...........

Catch you later

Chookyblue............

spoilt............

Late last week I got a parcel in the mail from one of my gorgeous bloggy friends...............

to "Chooky love Peg"

Hasn't she done so well thinking about this present.........so spoilt.............and precious it is the first thing to hang in my new sewing space which has been nice named the "chook shed" 

the tea-towels will be prefect for the new spot too...........

And for the girls who commented on Peg's blog yes I do LOVE it..........you were correct.....

(borrowed this pic from Peg)

Anyway back to the weekend........I was spoilt on the weekend.......... christening of the Chook Shed (no pics)............friends were supposed to be coming but for various life reasons some couldn't come............Lea rang late Friday so ask if was too late to come - absolutely not..........she was here bright and early Saturday morning and stayed Saturday night..........another friend had come and stayed Friday night...........then it rained on Saturday and some others who were coming couldn't come.........so it was a little disappointing missing time with them but we had a great time anyway............

enjoyed some glasses of champagne..........nibbles..........lots of cuppas

I felt so spoilt........I just played with bits and pieces............I haven't sat at my machine and sewed like this probably since before the cattle went out on the road last year...........but I felt so inspired and just played.........I worked on several things.............even got inspired to work on the sashing for a FQS BOM from way back..........If you recognise it do you have the directions for block 5...........

onto something completely different.........

Pumpkin Soup in the Slow Cooker

1/2 a pumpkin - peeled and cut into chunks

medium sweet potato

1 litre chicken stock

2 small/medium onions

salt/pepper

sprinkle of nutmeg

teaspoon coriander (dried) (couldn't get fresh)

Into the slow cooker for 3hrs on high (because I was little late getting it on)

Then I took out about 1/2 the chicken stock.

Mashed the pumpkin roughly in the slow cooker and then pureed it with the hand blender.

Pour in a tin of coconut milk 400grams.

Warm through and it is ready to serve.

A cold wet weekend perfect for champagne, soup and late night sewing with friends........

Hope your weekend was wonderful too............

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

Chookyblue

Quilt Show blog meet...........

I've emailed everyone who commented or emailed me on the last post I did about this. Also added a couple more girls I know will be there...........

If you want to join us just leave a comment here or email me 

(feel free to use the pic)

I've only organised one day as that was the majority but if you want to meet up with me on another day i'll just do it one on one sort of thing and we can wander the shops or quilts etc as we chatter away.......

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

Chookyblue
PS back to the "Chook Shed" sewing.........

fast but slow............

Time is flying by...........this time in 2 weeks i'll be in Sydney at the Quilt show.................catching up with lots of friends...meeting some online friends......checking out the amazing quilts.........shopping supporting the shops who make the effort to go to the quilt show............I know it is a huge effort and I was disappointed to find out this last week that a shop I loved visiting last year isn't going this year  :(

Anyway the blog meet is going to be on the Friday and i'll put some details up when and what time etc in the next few days...........

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The slow bit is the slow cooker marathon I was on.............4 days in a row I cooked in mine and this in another recipe we used...........I wasn't in town so couldn't try some of your recipes........

heard a couple of girls have tried Lisa's whole chicken and said it was beautiful............

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Butter Chicken........

sort of followed the recipe...........I had a couple of trays of chicken legs and put them all in the slow cooker and added the packed mix and onion, 1/2 cup tomato paste and a large tin of crushed tomatoes (my addition to cover the chicken a bit better)..........it worked out fine and I served it on a bed of rice..........

Thanks to all the girls who put up posts and/or a tip/recipe in the comments............I added that post to the left sidebar and added more links to the girls posts as they have put them up..........i'll still add more as I find them............need to go shopping for a few ingredients for some.........

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Supposed to have some friends coming to sew this weekend but rain is forecast so who knows what may happen.............

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