WiP Wednesday...It's been a while

Lately I have been working on a wedding quilt for my cousin. Her wedding was about three weeks ago, and I am still not finished. I would love to show pictures of it, but Robin is nosy and would read this and see photos and then she would start hounding me more than she already has been. "Where is my quilt? When are you going to finish it? What's going on with that quilt you were supposed to give me at my bridal shower?" It just doesn't stop. ;)

This week I have been doing some sewing in the evenings and hand sewing at work, but my allergies are starting to do their thing, and I haven't been as productive as I would like to be.
I am happy to say that Sunday I will home and sewing all day. I don't have a single thing scheduled, I don't even plan to get out of my pajamas. So I will put most of my focus that day on working on Robin's wedding quilt (and getting caught up on ironing my laundry) and hopefully finishing a few other projects too.

The Austin Modern Quilt Guild is participating in a pincushion swap with some other guilds. In my closet the other day I found two blocks that were pieced using this tutorial from Completely Cauchy. I sewed the blocks together to make a pincushion and I like it. I'm not sure it will be my final pincushion to turn in for the swap, we'll see. This just needs pressing, stuffing and the bottom sewn shut.

pincushion

Last Christmas my sister gave this hook rug project to my brother. She had the hook rug about half way done and told him that she would finish it and return it to him. He had the choice of having her (by which I mean me, the sibling that owns a sewing machine and knows how to sew) finish it into a wall hanging or a pillow. He chose pillow and so I helped her sew some fabric on to it this weekend while we were visiting family in Fort Worth.

hook rug skull pillow

When I reorganized my studio a few months ago, I bought this basket and decided that I can keep as many scraps that can fit in this basket but not more than that. It is starting to overflow, so I plan to make more blocks like the scrappy pincushion blocks shown above. I really like the scrappy style of those blocks, I'm planning to try to make a few monochromatic blocks to see if I like that more than the "close your eyes and grab some fabric from the basket" method I used before.

basket of scraps

When Robin and I made this quilt for our grandma, I ended up with three string pieced blocks left over. I'll decide this weekend whether to make a fourth block and sew them together into a wall hanging, table topper or pillow, or if I should make these into three potholders. I may just keep this project for myself. I hardly even finish anything that I plan to keep for me and I love these colors.

extra blocks from Grandma's quilt

I am selling at a holiday show at the end of this month, so yesterday I pulled this mess out of my closet. Some of these need binding and a partner to be pinned to, and some of them may need to be photographed for my Etsy shop. I'd like to get binding on them this weekend so that I'll have plenty of hand sewing to keep me busy at work next week.

pot holder pile

And because a person can never have enough pot holder sets to sell, I have this great vegetable fabric basted and ready to be quilted for new pot holder sets. I'll be selling these in a three piece set with a decorative kitchen towel. I bought some fruit fabric too and will get it basted after this one is quilted and cut.

new pot holder fabric ready for quilting

There are so many more projects in my studio that are half way done or almost done or waiting to be started, but these are my main focus for now.

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced today, you can visit her site to see what other people are working on this week.

Vacation update

My grandpa's birthday party yesterday was lots of fun, I will write more about it in my blog post about his quilt.

This morning I bought a coffee from Starbucks and then got to work cleaning my kitchen. It would be more fun to be sewing all week, but I really do need to do some Spring cleaning...and by Spring, I mean mid-July. :)

Today I got my new table for my studio. The saw horse legs are from Ikea and Robin's fiance, Pete, put those together and made the table top for me. He put laminate on the top, rounded the corners and edges, and it looks great! I had to rearrange some canvases on the walls because the table is taller than the one I had there before. I wish that I had taken some before pictures of my studio before these changes took place, but I didn't think about it until I started moving lots of things around.

new table for my fabric cutting mat

easel and painting table

mini bolts of fabric

my new table, all moved in!

I have to go get ready for my cousin's wedding now, it should be a fun night, but I am running late! I hope to post more vacation news tomorrow after I get back from the gym. We'll see how much I can Deadlift these days, wish me luck!

Let the vacation begin!

Today is the first day of my week long vacation. I originally had plans to tell no one about my vacation and stay inside my house for nine days and do nothing but sew and listen to podcasts. But that is unrealistic, isn't it?

Last night I spent some time doing some cleaning that has been on my list for months. I organized my pantry.

I can see everything that is in my pantry and get to it without knocking other things over!

I cleared off my patio and threw away the old, dried out firewood that has been sitting out there for way too long. I still need to clean my chairs and pillows and hang my bird feeders. I may get a rug to put out there, and I also thought about hanging a large screen to block some of the afternoon sunlight. I feel like the big sliding glass doors let so much heat in to the apartment, and a screen could cut back on that somewhat.

boring, empty patio

I squared up the big, heavy T-shirt quilt that I am working on for a client and cut binding strips, but have not sewn them together yet.

This morning I planned to go to the gym for their bootcamp class, but my wrist is hurting a lot. I have an old sprain that bothers me sometimes and on the Fourth of July my cousins and I played tetherball. Sometimes I get so involved in something that is a lot of fun, and I forget to be careful not to aggravate these kinds of injuries. So I have decided to wrap my wrist, skip the class, make some tea and sit down to write a short post.

I do have some fun things planned for this week:
Saturday - I am getting a manicure, then going to my grandpa's 90th birthday party in Rockne. My family is expecting over 400 people to be there for his celebration and Robin and I made a quilt to give him, we each pieced one side, similar to my grandma's birthday quilt.

sneak peak of Grandpa's quilt, blog post coming soon

Sunday - I have the morning and afternoon to sew and to work on Robin's wedding paper system (it is almost time to mail invitations out!), I need to get a few things from Ikea, and then I am headed to Texas Old Town for my cousin Judith's wedding. I am making these place mats for the wedding gift and will have them ready by the time they get back from their honeymoon.

Judith's citrus place mats

Monday - first personal training session at the nearby powerlifting and bodybuilding gym, Big Tex Gym. (did you know that I was a powerlifter in high school?) Then bootcamp at Austin Self Defense if the morning workout hasn't taken me out completely.

Tuesday - physical and donation at the plasma bank, lunch with friends, and an afternoon with my stepson Xavier. I am planning to go visit fellow local art vendors, Ian and Megan of Plaid Pigeon. They sell adorable potted plants, and they are going to put some succulents in to some pots that I have on my fireplace hearth. I also have a handyman coming over to hang some shelves in my sewing studio and try to fix my washing machine.

image by Plaid Pigeon

Wednesday - sewing! Lots of sewing planned for today, including sewing some pillow cover samples for a class that I will be teaching in August at the amazing fabric store, Remnants:fiber[culture], and then bootcamp in the evening.

I have plenty of sewing projects to keep me busy

Thursday - another plasma donation. Plasma saves lives and I am using the money that I make donating to save for a new car. More sewing, I also have things to do around the house like cleaning, organizing, sanding and staining my antique chair, updating my Etsy sites and editing photos for this blog. And there is an Austin Modern Quilt Guild meeting in the evening, we will be voting on new officers and announcing committee members.
Friday - I'd like to spend some time painting, I have so many blank canvases on the walls of my studio and it would be great to take some new work to First Thursday next month. More sewing and cleaning up around the house, in the evening I will drive up to Fort Worth to spend the weekend with my dad's side of the family.
Saturday - My aunt says we are going to the Peach Festival in Weatherford. I don't know anything more about that. Hopefully I will feel like getting some sewing done when we get back to the house.
Sunday - Sewing and visiting with the family, then driving back home in the evening to get ready for the work week.

I already know that I probably won't accomplish as much as I hope to, but I'm going to do my best. I work such long hours during the week and my commute to work is about an hour each way, so I have gotten behind in sewing projects, household tasks and my online commitments like blogging and keeping my Etsy shop updated. I'm using this vacation time to work on all of this and try to get back to a place where I feel like I am no longer drowning in my to do list.

Have a great week at work!

Donation quilt for silent auction

Recently, Robin and I spent an afternoon with one of our cousins and we all worked on this quilt. It came together pretty quickly with three of us sewing, pinning and ironing seams while listening to one of my favorite weekly podcasts, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!
We decided to make this University of Texas quilt and donate it to the silent auction that is a part of this year's Relay for Life.

We sewed the top together using a disappearing nine patch method in three fabrics, burnt orange UT fabric, a solid white and a solid black fabric. We backed it with a marbled black fabric.

Robin quilted this on the long arm machine using a free hand meandering stitch with burnt orange thread.

The silent auction will be held this Sunday, April 1st from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event will be at Playland Skate Center at 8822 McCann Dr. There will be food and drinks for sale, roller skating, and lots of great items to bid on in the silent auction.
One of my teammates, Debra King-Isaacs has donated a stretched canvas painting, titled Clara.
The Austin Modern Quilt Guild also donated a quilt, I helped to organize that project and quilted it on the long arm last Saturday.

My team, Goertz Family Ties, will be there selling water bottles. The proceeds from our water sales and the sale of our donated items goes toward our team fundraising total. Grab your roller skates and come out to support our team and the American Cancer Society!

 

W.i.P Wednesday 12, making slow progress

I have so many things going on in my life right now that I find it difficult to work on my many quilting and sewing projects. I did manage to get a few things done this week, so I'll show you what I have been working on.

I joined a Color Wheel Swap within the Austin Modern Quilt Guild, and I chose to contribute the green and blue-green colorway. These are my two fabrics, I cut 56 five inch squares out of the green fabric, now I just need to cut out my blue-green squares and I will be ready to trade these for 112 squares of different fabrics that represent the entire color wheel. I am thinking about cutting the squares even smaller and making a postage stamp quilt, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

Color Wheel Swap

Some progress has been made on this secret quilt for a family member. I still don't have any blocks sewn together, but I put some more of these strips together and I should be ready to cut them soon.

gift for a family member

My family is participating in The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event on April 27th. Our team name is Goertz Family Ties, so I am appliqueing ties to t-shirts and they will say Goertz on the back. I added a button to my blog; if you want to make a donation to our team to help the American Cancer Society beat cancer and create more birthdays, click the button on the top right of this page and donate to our team. Thanks for your support!

Goertz Family Ties, team t-shirts for Relay for Life

There is a new fabric store open in Austin and I agreed to make a sample quilt to hang in the shop. These are my fabrics and the pattern, now I just have to get started on it. 

Sample quilt for Remnants: Fiber [Culture]

The Kickstarter widget on the right side of my blog provides you with an opportunity to support this new fabric store in the Austin area. Click on the widget to learn more about Jessica and her plans for the store. She needs more help reaching her fundraising goal!

This is the quilt that Robin and I are working on together. This is for a family member who is on tour in Afghanistan with the Navy right now. These are three and a half inch half square triangles, I am really excited to see it progress and start becoming an actual quilt top rather than a bunch of pieces of fabric.
Can you see my Alexander Henry Regent Skull there in the middle? Oh, how I wish we had more of this for the quilt, I pulled every little piece that I had in my stash, and I hope that it will be enough for the quilt. We searched all over the internet and in stores around town, but haven't been able to find any of this popular fabric for sale.

another gift for a family member

Part of Relay for Life is a Silent Auction. It is being held on Sunday, April 1st at Playland Skate Center in Austin from 5:30-8:30 p.m. There will be many great items to bid on in the auction, including this University of Texas at Austin quilt that Robin and I made with our cousin Sarah. It is 64 by 50 inches and has a dense, all over meander quilting pattern in burnt orange thread.

UT donation quilt

I am also working with the Austin Modern Quilt Guild to finish up a quilt that our members made for the silent auction. I am sewing the binding down this week, and I will post pictures of that soon.

I am linking up with Freshly Pieced and Lily's Quilts today.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to follow my blog and check back soon to see what I am working on!

W.i.P Wednesday 11, A Little Relief

I am so happy to be finished with this T-shirt quilt! I sewed it together two Fridays ago from 9 pm to 6:30 am Saturday morning. I slept for two hours and then got up to go rent time on the long arm machine so I could quilt it. It turned out really nice and my client likes it a lot. She gave it to her husband as a late birthday and Valentine's Day gift. I have two more T-shirt quilts to start soon. I am giving myself a week or two off from this type of quilt first. I need a break!

My cousin and I are working on a quilt for her brother. I have more half square triangles sewn and cut, but I need to square them up. There are so many that I am not looking forward to it, and I have less than half the HSTs that will make up the entire quilt top! Robin has the rest of them, I wish we were a bit further along on this project.

Here is another block for the Austin Modern Quilt Guild Block Swap. I am hoping to make a donation block this weekend.
The quilt guild is having our March meeting in a brand new Austin fabric shop, remnants:fiber[culture], owned by fellow guild member Jessica Sloan. On the right side of my page I posted a widget for her Kickstarter fund, please consider donating a few dollars to help her with some special plans she has for decorating the shop.

My family is participating in Relay for Life this year in south Austin. Robin, our cousin Sarah, and I are making this University of Texas Quilt for the Relay Silent Auction.This is half of the top, there will be two more rows of five blocks. I have a black Moda marble for the backing, and solid black for the binding.
You can donate to our team by clicking here. The money helps the American Cancer Society in their quest to create less cancer and more birthdays.

Here is the beginning of a quilt for a family member. I am using Kona solids, Lagoon and Robin's Egg. I don't want to say much more than that, except that I need to cut these strips apart but I have to buy the right ruler first.

I wish I had gotten more accomplished over the last week, but the only thing on my calender for Sunday is a family lunch and then I hope to sew all afternoon! It has been nice to take a little break after finishing the T-shirt quilt and I have so many meetings and events scheduled that it is hard to get much finished during the week.

I am linking up with Freshly Pieced, head that way and check out some other great blogs!

Also linking up with Manic Monday on the blog Sew Happy Geek.

Christmas Day 2011

On Christmas Day my mom, sister and brother came over to my house for breakfast and gifts. I made my own Christmas tree this year, thanks to an inspiring photo on Pinterest.

one tomato cage + four strands of garland + five strands of lights + tablecloth = Christmas tree!

I got up early and made breakfast for the family. French bread has to soak in an egg mixture overnight, so Christmas morning I only had to add a few more ingredients and put the casserole in the oven. 

melted butter, brown sugar, pecans for french toast bake

I put together a tray of hot chocolate goodies. I didn't know until recently that you can buy around a small number of marshmallows in a tiny package, it was the perfect amount to add to the top of a few hot chocolate cups.

mint and dark chocolate flavored hot chocolate with marshmallow

I had a little time after cooking before the family arrived, so I logged on to Pinterest again to find an interesting way to fold my napkins. I bought these napkins at Target; maybe eventually I will make my own. I love this napkin fold, it creates a little pocket to put your utensils in.

Over breakfast (which included mimosas, yum!) we talked about a possible zombie apocalypse and all the things we would need to do in order to survive. My sister asked lots of thought provoking questions about what each of us would contribute to a new society of humans that was surrounded by zombies. I would sew everyone's clothes and other necessary textile items, of course.

recipe at the end of this post

We took a few family photos; it is hard to look good from this angle, but our silly photos are fun to create. Our 2009 Christmas photo is still my favorite. I printed it on to a pillow that I made for my mom.

Four corner photo

Head Stack 2011

Head Stack 2011 has become our new catch phrase, every time we mention our Christmas Day events.

After that we sat by the tree and opened gifts. I received lots of great things, but the funniest thing was the little surprise I found when I opened a gift from my brother. He is in his first year of college and did a great job shopping for the family and helping my mom to wrap his gifts. (Except for two bags of gifts that he handed to me on Christmas Eve and asked me to wrap for my mom and a few other people. I finished those up at 2:30 in the morning.) But he is still young, and a boy, and so he didn't notice that he added some trash to my gift.

I found a gum wrapper inside a gift from my brother

After gifts we made hot chocolate and egg nog lattes, prepared a snack  and sat down to watch Malibu's Most Wanted.

In the early afternoon my sister left to visit her boyfriend's family, my mom went home to take a nap, and my brother went home to play a new video game. I had a great Christmas with my family, our time together was a lot of fun.
I had the rest of the day to myself to sew, get caught up on some ironing, and plan out some new quilt projects. I made a fire, opened a beer, and appliqued these outfits for a sweet little boy that I know and his sister, she will be born in February.

airplane shirt for Q

butterfly onesie for baby Davis

Side note: When I gave the shirt to Q. a couple of weeks later, he said, "This isn't a Christmas gift. These are just clothes!" He was not impressed with my sewing ability or his one of a kind gift.

Two years in a row I have managed to set off the smoke detectors when I try to light my first fire of the winter season in my fire place. Somehow the flue gets closed during the year, but I don't realize it and the next thing I know my apartment is full of smoke. This year though, I made a successful fire without setting off any alarms...

...and then I tried to iron some laundry. I have a new blouse that is made of some rayon or polyester; I don't know exactly because I removed the tag. It has an undershirt and a sheer top over that, and for some reason the manufacturers put the tag on the inside of the sheer top so it is visible when I wear it. That makes no sense to me and so I cut it out. I thought to myself that the tag probably says Use a Cool Iron, but that never gets any wrinkles out, so I thought I would iron it just a bit. Just for a second or two.

big hole in my new shirt from the iron

the piece of my shirt that was burned off

This set off the smoke alarm nearest to me, which in turn set off all the others ones in the apartment. It didn't take very long to get those quiet again and then I set to work cleaning my iron. And I threw my shirt in the trash. I have decided to make an effort not to buy clothing made of that material anymore.

my poor Rowenta

my hero

looking like new and ready to get back to work

I had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then a week long holiday from work. I went to Fort Worth to visit my dad's family, which was fun and filled with more adventures. Including this:

my uncle and I attempt to work on my Honda's oil leak in his garage

 
French Toast Bake

12 day-old French bread

5 eggs

2 ½ c milk

1 c packed brown sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 c chopped pecans

¼ c butter or margarine, melted

2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Arrange bread in a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, ¾ c brown sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Sprinkle pecans over egg mixture. Combine butter and remaining sugar; drizzle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake 10 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Yield: 6 servings