Hurry hurry..........

Come on girls......

.......where are some more Tis the Season's finished......

........how are those Gardener's Journals going.......

.......need to see some more finishes/progress.............

whip being CRACKED...........lets go..........

trust me I will annoy you until you're done............that's part of the SAL...

.....getting everyone over the finish line...........that's why you joined...........

Chookyblue..........

doing the happy dance.........

you girls are making me so happy............so many finished quilts.............keep it going........

just got a message from Dale to say she has 2 quilts finished............finished the second one last night.........her computer is out of action and she is going away for a few days so we will try and get some pics organised once she is home..............

Peg is busy finishing her quilt today..........Kris thinks she should be finished by Sept 32nd (aka Oct 2nd)

It's a long weekend here in Australia for New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT...........

Lots of posts so make sure you look back thru the earlier posts.............

Keep Stitching Chookyblue.............

countdown timer

There's a countdown timer at the top of the blog...............will you make it...........

Or better still will I make it?????

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

PS very impressed with the posting this week.........keep it up.......thanks Maree

SAL Updated..........

My partner in crime behind the scenes assistant - the beautiful Maree Farmyard Crafts will be updating the blog for me this week..........I have an extra busy week so will be back here next week hoping to see LOTS of Progress..........lots of posts....keep Maree busy.........lol.............

Have fun Stitching.............Chookyblue

woohoo......

Hey girls I am so proud of you all............great progress.......

Alison super to see some progress...........gold star to you.........bit of whip cracking worked..........lol.......and your still talking to me..........lol..........maybe I should get into some of those Gardener's Journal girls.......we had some progress from Dzintra but NO ONE ELSE.......come on girls I know you can do it.......... we need to get them finished...........

2 more Tis the Season quilts finished........well done Khris and Suzitee.......and I saw a few more tops together..........

....16 days til the end of the month.....

.....LETS SEE HOW MANY WE CAN GET FINISHED.............

Keep up the wonderful stitching....

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

cracking the whip...........

Ok it's the end of August............cracking the whip..........we have one month to all be finished................FINISHED.............that means bound and quilted so lets get moving...............

I only have the label left to stitch which I hope to get done on Friday while at the cows............

Thanks heaps to Maree Farmyard Crafts for updating the blog for me..............she has permission to do anything here if needed, since it is a group blog with so many members I thought I needed someone else with admin permissions if it was needed any time..............

And cheeky Jo thanks for the birthday post and all the wishes you girls left for me............seems so long ago since the last few weeks have been so busy but thanks to the girls who commented..........I did have a lovely day..............

&&&&

Martine emailed me some pics of her Tis the Season quilt..........

You can find her post about it here..........

 the thing I hate about seeing another quilt is that I get another favourite...........so many colour combinations I love............

Martine has tied her quilt which is a great idea..............might steal that idea Martine as I could do it easy down the road............ 

Ok better rush........

Wonderful to see so many finished quilts in my update............another 3 finished.........congrats Sue, Vickie and Dawn.....

Oh and about time Cardygirl posted some progress...........after chatting on the phone and telling me she will get it finished next year she pops up a post showing some progress so she will be stitching and she will get this quilt finished VERY soon.........I know she is a person who HAS TO STITCH SOMETHING DAILY.....I will be cracking the whip at her for sure...........no more gentle gentle after that post...........wonder how much she has got done since this post on the 20th Aug.............she had better show us don't you think...

....we are all in this together so the FINAL COUNTDOWN is on......

....end of September is the DEADLINE.............

Oh and GJ girls...........hope we can see some progress very soon...........been a bit quiet on that front..............

Happy Stitching Chookyblue................

gold stars all round...........

Finally I got some time to sit and update the SAL blog................

you girls get a gold star for effort...........

I had to update from Jo's post on the 20th July - 30 posts and comments later I hope you have seen the 4 finished quilts in that time.....and lots of stitching........well done girls............you all get a gold star for effort

keep up the great work...........hopefully I can share mine soon.......life is out of control here at the moment.....basically I come home to eat, wash and sleep and out again........it's not even organise chaos

...I've got the June blocks done a few weeks ago and the July blocks are stitched with one border to add.........and I have started hand stitching August blocks...........both are traced...........

The sidebar is updated and if Jeanette, KateS and Teresa could check their totals as I am not sure i am right.........

If your behind schedule hope you can give it a bit of a push and catch up..........would be great if we could get all the blocks finished in August..........

AND..............

GJ girls..............get stitching............need to see some movement on the sidebar there..............some of you are so close it would be great to get some more finishes...........crack that whip...............LOL.........

Take Care and Happy Stitching...........Chookyblue

sorry no pics...........

I've been playing around sorting out the blog.............updating the sidebar etc........emailed a few people to see if they are making any progress..............finding my way around in the new look blogger dashboard.......sent a few feedbacks re the new style....(any issues send feedback - from the dashboard click on the wheel/cog in the top right corner)

.....for people who manage a group blog it isn't so good on that page as in telling you how many people are members now and to add people it doesn't look like you can get into your email contacts from there either.............

Just discovered that the SAL blog was changed to only people who were members or something like that to view so I have changed it back to "anyone"..........sorry if you haven't been able to look.............

Hope to get some more blocks traced today..........

cloudy and drab here so will stay chilly again...........

Great to see all the fantastic progress.......

.....a few of the other projects from the book popping up and they look great.......

aNd if your a bit behind..............get moving i'm cracking the whip....I want to see progress on the TTS and for those on the GJ bust a move..........not long til the end now...........

off to crack the whip on my own SAL.......

Happy stitching............Chookyblue

cruising........

Hi girls

you're all going so well for May.................if you haven't posted your blocks (or stitched them yet) there is still time..........get moving.........

just updated the sidebar from Lynn's post on the 20th until now and that was 20+ posts.............so much motivation...........keep up the great work............

I hear of a few projects from the book are in the pipeline  and I have one happening too so hope to see some soon..........

&&&&

Jennifer had her GJ quilt top together.............how are you other GJ girls going............would love to see some more progress.....

.....Jo do you have your top together yet??...

....finally Dzintra is able to slowly stitch again from her shoulder injury..........

Teresa and Tess do you have another block done yet............

Dawn is NEARLY finished another block.........

Holly is just starting a GJ in memory of her parents...........

Shauna (a new GJ girl) have you got a block done yet???..........

Anita i'll see you soon hope you have some more GJ stitched........

Keep up the great work girls..............you know I wouldn't have my GJ quilt done without you all so now I want to repay the favour and make sure you all get yours finished...............

Chookyblue

SAL girls on fire...........

you girls are on fire..............you're doing so well..........look at that sidebar I just updated from the last 14 posts......................lots of progress.......

.......and I even had some GJ blocks to mark off........woohoo.....

how is everyone going with their stitching...........TTS and GJ.....

Keep up the great stitching............

Chookyblue.......

someone missed out...........

Since one of the girls didn't contact me about the prizes I have redrawn the last prize which is the Ashby Attic pattern and the winner is Jeanette.................just send me your PO address Jeanette and I can get this in the mail to you.

Keep up the great stitching girls...............

Chookyblue

SAL blog updates.......

Hi Girls..........

with a pile of visitors coming and going over the next few weeks (school holidays) not sure if/how I will keep up to date with the SAL blog...................worst case I will update everything late in the month...................

For your info..............

what usually happens is as I comment on your post if you have finished blocks I update them on the sidebar so if I have not commented on your post I have not updated the sidebar - just so you know.

I still need to hear from some girls regarding this post................please check it out if you missed it.........otherwise I will redraw..............

If you have school holidays now enjoy

Keep Stitching............Chookyblue

Surprise...............

Many months ago when we started the Tis the Season SAL Sharon @ Daisy Cottage Quilting helped me out as a spot in the USA for the US girls to get there books............later on Sharon contacted me to say she would send some goodies for the SAL and this is the parcel she sent me..................unfortunately I can't keep any (they all look great) they are all goodies for you SAL girls......

......so as a reward I have decided to pick some of the girls who have finished blocks or projects for the month as shown on the sidebar.............(thats a bit over 1/2 the girls on the sidebar)

I have split them into 5 parcels...............and the winners are

Treann, Isabella, and Joy
(2 girls didn't contact me so extras given out in May.)

leave a comment on this post girls and in the order of leaving a comment choose what prize.............

Gifts from my heart - Rene Plains (Isabella)

Garden Song - Nancy Halvorsen (Joy)

Buttermilk Basin Potten Flower Woolen Quilt pattern set (giveaway May)

Hoopla Charm Pack (Treann)

Embroidery hoop (giveaway May)

One of the parcels will also include a gift voucher for shopping at Daisy Cottage Quilting

Thanks for your help and prizes Sharon......

......it's great to see a USA shop stocking our Aussie girls patterns......

Now off you go and stitch up a storm................we haven't seen blocks from lots of girls and you ARE going to have this quilt finished by August/September so I am CRACKING THE WHIP..............lol..............get stitching......Chookyblue..........

SAL Update.........

Hi Girls......catching up on 24 posts....I just updated the sidebar and in the week we have had 59 blocks from 13 girls finished..............super...........the end of the month is less then a week away so you had better get moving...........no time to waste everyone needs their March blocks finished by the end of the month.........

....the blog is full so everyone needs to be Stitching-a-long together................there are now 90 TTS Sal girls and I think I have a few more to add.............just need to email the girls.......

there are stacks of you with no blocks done beside your name so get stitching............

I better get mine moving too..........started but been busy with other stuff..............aaarrrhhhhh

have to crack the whip on myself this week............

Also if you post some blocks and then again altogether can you just remind me how many you have finished..........so I don't get mixed up on the number of blocks you have done on the sidebar.............

Keep Stitching................Chookyblue

to save confusion..............

I had a email from a SAL follower today.................all your eagerness has rubbed off and they have got fabrics and started stitching...............but I have them a little confused..........
.....so I thought maybe I have some of your girls confused too.............

YES GIRLS I have 3 stitcheries for March and 2 each month after that.

Natalie has designed 13 stitcheries but you only use 12 for the quilt..................so work out what you want to leave out so you have an equal number of light and dark blocks..............

what do you do with the 13th block................

well you could leave one out all together but that is the slack option...............

a better idea is..........

use it to make a project from the book..............

OR

you could modify one of the blocks to make a label for your quilt.............the wreath block would be perfect for this..............take the gloves out and write something in the wreath................

Happy Stitching...............Chookyblue..............

new blogger..............

Go welcome Suzie............she is VERY new to blogging...................

Oh and I sorted the sidebar..............all good now.............I see some of you have finished blocks and I need to update the sidebar............

Chookyblue

joining us........

I know lots of girls are itching to get started on the Stitch-a-long (SAL) for 2011..........

........Tis The Season (TTS) by Natalie Bird.....

......but if you're joining the group the start is March.......

........the current SAL girls are doing so well we have lots of Gardener's Journals (GJ) in the top stage and quite a few of those will be finished by the end of the month.

Some of the girls who are behind will be continuing on with the SAL in 2011 working on the GJ to get it finished and others working on finishing the GJ and starting the TTS

The plan is to stitch from March thru to August with all projects finished by Sept.

Stitching 2 blocks / month...........(3 March)

Another idea is if you want to stitch more then that as these are pretty quick stitcheries then stitch extra of that block and make it into a gift..........you could have a few extra goodies in the present box by the end of the SAL..............

&&&

So if you would like to join us blogger has a max of 100 people on a group blog.
I have about 40 spots left at the moment with the current girls.

I had the offer from a friend to run 2 if we got to many and she would assist as administrator but I think I will just leave it as one blog. If I get swamped I might add another administrator but will try and manage it myself.

So approx 40 new SAL girls it is.

&&&

You MUST be a blogger to be part of this group. If you want to join and don't have a blog well start one it is heaps of fun and a great motivation to get things done.

&&&

If you are a  "No Reply" blogger PLEASE change it as it is just more work for me. If your not sure check out the link on those words anyway. 

&&&

Most importantly try to post regularly to the group it is what makes the group fun and makes you part of the group...........

SO to join in

Leave a comment here with your name, email and blog address.

EG.         
Joe 
 joebloggs@gmail.com
www.joebloggs quilts.blogspot.com

In the next few weeks I will send an invite for you to join the group blog.

I will also make a list on the sidebar.

You may notice a list there of the current blog members who are continuing on to do the SAL 2011.

Keep Stitching............

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

PS If you need to know where to find the book read this post.