Pumpkin Party Runner

 Finished Halloween runner...this photo without flash..
For the squares I used a charm pack by Deb Strain called Pumpkin Party.

 I used the 4-patch tutorial here     ....the tutorial I did was for a square table topper....
After sewing them into 4-patches I squared them to 4 1/2" each....

 For this project I wanted a rectangle runner so I used 18 charm squares...9 light and 9 dark...
I figured out a desirable placement....taking a photo and checking it before sewing helps to decide...

Here is a photo with flash....

 Closeup of the bottom area...

 For the back I used an old Debbie Mumm fabric....

Closeup of the bottom....
This is a reversible runner for fall..... and Halloween.
It is very easy and very fun to make!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

I will link to Linky Party Tuesday, finish it up Friday, Link a Finish Friday

Halloween and patriotic

 Projects I worked on this weekend.............
 cutting and sewing pieces for a patriotic wallhanging....

Top done for a simple Halloween runner....
need to decide on the quilting?.....got a fall fabric backing for it.....binding?

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

ticker tape quilt is finished

Here is the little ticker tape quilt I finished this week....
I got the idea from crazymomquilts and it has been been on my bucket list for awhile....
It is just pieces of fabric scraps that I fit together like a puzzle....
Some pieces I cut to fit but a lot of them I left just as I found them in my scrap jar...
This is a totally fun quilt to make.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

I will link to Linky Party Tuesday, finish it up Friday, Link a Finish Friday

Scrappy Trips quilt is finished

 I have blogged many times about this quilt....
And added many photos along the way....
I started it in January with just one jelly roll....
I had quite a collection of jelly rolls....
In fact I had a lot of Sandy Gervais fabric jelly rolls..
So this quilt started small and became large enough for our king bed....
AND this quilt is ALL different fabrics of Sandy Gervais...
I even found a SG fabric for the binding....
The size is 64 blocks (8 x 8) and each block is 36 squares...
For a total of 2,304 squares........

I really was not in a rush to finish this quilt....
I loved every blissful step along the way....
I put a photo of every block as I finished it on my blog....

So many thanks to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville for her Scrappy Trips free pattern....
Many thanks to Sandy Gervais for all her wonderful fabrics she has designed....
Many thanks to the flickr group with all their inspiration.....
AND many thanks for all who have commented online and in person...

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

I will link to Linky Party Tuesday, finish it up Friday, Link a Finish Friday

52nd anniversary celebration

 Yesterday was our 52nd wedding anniversary and we had a really nice day.....
The curvy road from Hemet to Ildyllwild is one of our favorites.........

 We have been riding to Idyllwild since in the 1970s and always fun......

 We had lunch at the Red Kettle....it used to be Jan's Red Kettle....we have eaten there many times...

Yummy grilled chicken salad with a dash of oil and vinegar.......

 We parked next to the monument sculpted by chain saw....

This ride was 199.2 miles and we hope there are many more rides in our future.

For those checking my blog for quilting and projects...sorry none with this post.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

ticker tape quilt + more

 I have been wanting to make a ticker tape quilt for awhile....
I have a lot of small scraps that I save and this is a perfect way to use them....
This past week I was cutting strips and squares from my stash for projects I am working on....
SOOOOOOOO when I ran into a bag of these little pieces....I had to start a little quilt!!!!

 Here is my scrappy trips quilt.....
in August I finished the wavy line quilting across the squares....

Also in August I put on the binding....

using Sandy Gervais fabric of course....

all of the pieces of this quilt are from her lines of fabrics....

I have blogged many times about this...

Here is the binding in the large glass container on the floor......
A really easy way to keep the binding out of the way and ready to clip to the edge of the quilt...

I am now working slowly on hand stitching the binding to the back and doing this in between other projects.....

I am linking to Pat Sloan's Show and Tell........
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Picnic at the lake

 There is a small lake about 5 miles from our house.....
We picked up some El Pollo Loco and headed over there late yesterday afternoon....

 There was a nice reflection of the sky and hills in the water.....

 We enjoy going to this lake...it is so relaxing there...
but we don't take the time to go there very often....why I don't know!!

Photo as we were leaving about 15 minutes before sunset....
We will be going back soon and next time walk the path by the lake.
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

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