Mount Laguna Ride

 This is a photo documentation of our cycle ride yesterday to the mountains....
We ate at Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant....we are glad to have them open again as this is ONE of our favorite destinations when we go for a ride to the country.....I didn't get a photo there but the food was good!

 The road through the park was silky smooth as it has been repaved....
Then we went through Guatay and Pine Valley....

 Then we headed up the Sunrise Highway..........
This was one of my favorite roads when I was riding my own cycle....

The area of the Al Bahr Shrine Camp that was destroyed in the fire last month...

 I wasn't sure if I got this shot as I pointed the camera to the side to get the fireplace chimney still standing...and there is new growth showing in the foreground...

 This is coming along Highland Valley Road....

Stopped at the stop light at Pomerado Road looking to Lake Hodges east of 15...
I remember when this was filled with water....
A very pleasant ride of 144.7 miles.....I can't wait until the next ride!!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Scrappy trips, zendoodle, recycled shirts and Traffic Jam quilt

 This post is about the projects I have been working on this past week............
I started quilting the scrappy trips with #4 stitch on my Bernina...

 This is the largest quilt I have ever quilted....
Roll the extra fabric....adjust the tiny area to sew....sew....readjust....over and over...
I am loving this quilt even more....and am getting used to the routine of machine quilting it...

 Page from my creative journal where I used some distress inks for the background...

 I just got this new book and am really enjoying it so far.....

 Our Tuesday bee group is gathering recycled shirts and making quilts...
These are some of my blocks I have done so far....

Pat Sloan's Traffic Jam pattern....
I am trying out the sashing in this photo....
I had the strips on the table using it for my Brambleberry Friends quilt and thought I would check it for a possibility for this quilt...
The sewing of the recycled shirts blocks and Traffic Jam were sewn previous weeks...
but this week I am cutting out more strips and blocks for them between the quilting scrappy trips.....
Never a dull moment.....I always have fun projects to do!!!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

The best homemade pizza!!

 This is a pizza that is sooooooo easy and sooooooo delicious....

 1 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 cup of self rising flour.......
 Mix and knead and press on a greased surface.....
I held my ruler up above the dough....it didn't touch it!.....

 I preheat the oven to 400 degrees and let the dough sit in the oven while I get the rest ready...
usually about 10-15 minutes while the oven is preheating....

Then I spread about 1/4 cup of Trader Joe basil marinara....
then sprinkle on chopped basil leaves....

 Broccoli, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms.....

 Sprinkle with LF Moz cheese over the top.............
Bake for 30 minutes............

This is low WW points....depending on ingredients you use....
We have made this very often in the past few months.....
since I read about this on pinterest using the Greek yogurt and self rising flour for the dough!
Let me know if you make this and what you think of it...

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Scrappy Trips quilt top

This past week I finally got all of the scrappy trips blocks together!!!
I used fabric lines by Sandy Gervais for all of the blocks.....

 This is the top left.....

 Here is the top right.....

 Here is the bottom left.....

 Here is the bottom right....

Here is a photo of the quilt more from the top of the quilt but the top rows are not in the photo...
It was hard getting the photo of the whole thing....
My hubby got the photo at the top of this post and it was actually the last photo we got...
He got it by standing on a ladder to get all of the quilt in the photo....

Pat Sloan got me going this month to sew every day.....
I will be posting another time about my other projects I am working on....

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Sew Every Day in July

Yesterday Pat Sloan put out a challenge on her blog to sew every day in July.  JUST WHAT I NEEDED to get me going!

I read her blog post late last evening and immediately headed to my machine and turned it on!!  I have been in a slump with my blog....my creative stuff...and my stitching/sewing/quilting!  I keep a log by my sewing machine to keep a record of my sewing projects and the last time I sewed anything was June 9th!  

SOOOO.....I grabbed some of my Traffic Jam squares and started sewing them together.  Oh it was such a great feeling to put the petal down and sew!!

I intend to stitch something every day in July.  How about YOU?

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

visiting out of state quilt shops and projects I am working on...

We were in the Phoenix area and we visited 2 shops...
The first one is In Stitches and their website is here
My SIL found a pattern that a lot of people in her area are making....

 So I got the pattern but they didn't have the ruler there...
But I found the ruler at the 3 Dudes Quilting...
Their website is here

They had a really neat display with the Glamping fabric by Moda....

There is a photo on their website under What's New...
They served coffee and cookies...very friendly people...

My SIL has made 3 of the spiral table runners...
Now...I will wait on making my spiral table runner....as I have a lot of other projects to do!!

Some of the projects I am working on this week are:

• scrappy trips layout....got the block placement decided and ready to sew together...

• traffic jam...I have been cutting out squares.....Pat Sloan pattern...
• Brambleberry Friends BOM by Pat Sloan...
• Rancher's Daughter Quilt Along blocks....
• recycled men's dress shirts project with my Tuesday group...
• Craftsy reversible tote.....

 

I will link up with Pat Sloan's Show and Tell

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Pink & Zebra Mug Rug with a Stamped Flower

 I really like little mug rugs but I haven't made one in a long time until this week....
I used some scraps from a quilt I made and a flower (CL375) I had stamped on fabric and stitched with batting behind it...

 I started with the left top side and the bottom right first...
I liked the larger zebra stripe under the flower and decided to balance it with a square on the bottom left corner......

I did a small #4 stitch around the flower outside and around the inside circle...
To put this together I layed down the back fabric wrong side up...
then I used fleece and then the mug rug top....
I brought the backing fabric to the front for a self binding and used #332 stitch....
I had used that stitch in a mug rug Dec 2010 and it worked for that one...
But for this one I think it would have looked better if I had chosen a stitch that stayed on top of the binding....
I used Smooch sassy pink for the flower but it is not waterproof....
Soooo next time I make one I will probably use paintstix after stitching the design....

There are a lot of mug rugs on the internet on pinterest, flickr, etc....
I just joined a group on flickr called Scrappy Mug Rug Gallery...
they have 859 members and over 5,000 photos...
Be sure and check it out for a LOT of inspiration!

I finally have a finish to link to finish it Friday and Link a Finish Friday...
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Brambleberry Friends Sew Along and creative journal play

Here is a photo of what I ordered from Pat Sloan.....
I decided to join in the Sew Along and the Brambleberry Friends BOM is in this book....
to find out about the May BOM check her blog post  here

I am also sharing a page from my creative journal that I started last Sunday....
Inspiration from Jessica Sporn pinned on my creative journal pinterest board....

Happy Nurses Week to all my nurse friends......and a happy Mother's Day to all....
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

some projects today and one with stamped fabric

 I haven't been able to do anything creative since the weekend...
I usually do something creative every day......
Sooooo today I wanted to do some sewing...
I decided to make a mug rug and started cutting and sewing fabric...
not finished yet....photos are pieces layed out.....

 I stitched a flower I had stamped on fabric...it is Hero Arts CL375...

 I used a sharpie marker for the black parts and I am using Smooch sassy pink on the petals.....

ALSO.....today I was cutting some squares for making a Traffic Jam quilt....
Pat Sloan has a free pattern on her blog and I have been wanting to make it...

I will use gray for the 4.5" squares and the 2.5" squares will be scrappy....
For some of the blocks I will use Pat's Nikki fabrics that I purchased many years ago...
I am going to stop saving my fabrics and USE them.....

Life is short....get busy and do the things now you have been planning for someday....
That is just what I am doing....

I am linking to Pat Sloan Show and Tell....

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

64 blocks for scrappy trips quilt

 I have posted a photo of each block I have made for my scrappy trips quilt.....

 I started these blocks in January and have certainly enjoyed putting all of them together....

 I used Sandy Gervais fabrics for all of the blocks.....

Here is the last block.....sad in a way as it has been so fun...........
Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville has the directions for the scrappy trip around the world...

Here are some of the blocks on my LR floor.....
Taking photos is a good way to see what blocks look best together....
I just layed blocks down to see what happens...
I have a lot of major changing blocks around to find the best placement....
Such great fun!!!!.......

Smiles and hugs....Caryl