As part of the 4th year Blog Anniversary Celebration for tierneycreates, I am re-posting the blog posts over the past 4 years that either had the most views or the most comments throughout the month of October 2017. 

Interestingly, this one – What’s on My Lap – from March 30, 2017 is the top viewed post for 2017, and yesterday I just posted an update on the related art quilt (The Recycled Road) in the Improvisational Textiles blog – Pathways Exhibit. This piece just finished a month long show at Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty Gallery in Bend, Oregon and now moves onto another month long exhibit at Twig’s Gallery in Sisters, Oregon. 

I sure miss the piece and I am thinking about making another one for the series in the near future that requires hand stitching on my lap again. I did go ahead and start another hat to work on in the evening while watching, but I would rather be slow stitching in front of the TV. 

Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer is also celebrating her 4th year Blog Anniversary and she has a post It’s My Blog Anniversary Too in honor of this occasion.

Oh – one more thing to share – I have decided to move the closing date of comments for a chance to win a Little Wallet (or a “Little Wallette” as a friend called it) from 10/15/17 to 10/22/17 and move the random drawing to 10/23/17. Not everyone reads blog posts right away and I want to give any of my regular readers time to enter if they want. I have updated the related blog post (Blog Anniversary Celebration & Giveaway) with the new date.

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Re-Post: What’s on My Lap (March 30, 2017)

This is a follow up to my post Slow Stitching and a part of my continuing series: What’s on the Design Wall, featuring my latest projects in progress. 

I titled this post “What’s on My Lap” for two reasons: 1) The obvious: I am hand stitching the quilt,  so it is on my lap of course; and 2) As a follow up to the hilarious comment from Sandy (or Cindy?) of Gray Barn Designs, (one of my favorite quilting blogs to follow) on my 03/21/17 Slow Stitching post:

Oh yes, I might do a future post titled “What’s in My Head” if Gray Barn Designs does not beat me to it! Of course that would be a very long post. Way too many design ideas going on in my head.

Update on ‘Recycled Road’

I decided to name to piece Recycled Road, even though I have not written the Artist Statement for it yet. I am having so much fun slow stitching it! (Notice in the photo below I included my shoe so you could see it really is on my lap!)

I am not looking to win any “hand quilting technique competitions” but I have fallen in love with the whole experience of hand quilting. All the fabrics in this art quilt, for our local SAQA group annual themed show, are recycled (jeans, corduroy pants, corduroy shirt, tweed jumper, curtains, home decor fabric sample, and sweat pants!) and they have a wonderful texture.

I especially love stitching through the sweat pants material. It is so soft and supple and I like to brush my hands along the fabric after stitching a section (ok Tierney are you getting weird now with your hand quilting?!?!?). Was that “oversharing”?

Interestingly, Terry the Quilting Husband’s two sisters and mother are quilters and one of his sisters is really into hand quilting. My sister-in-law Sue is a serious quilter. Like a paper piecing and hand quilting quilter. She is an expert hand quilter. I remember years ago watching her hand quilt while she was visiting us and thinking “yikes, why would anyone want to do that?”

Now I get it. I was teasing Terry the other evening as we sat in front of the TV and I hand stitched: “Terry, I have become your sister!” (In reality, the only thing I have in common with Terry’s very talented quilter sister, is that we both hand quilt now. My skills are light years from hers!)

I feel like I am on this cool ongoing journey related to my quilting, even after 17+ years of being a quilter.

(I will unveil a photo of the entire piece once I have it completed. I have to keep up the suspense…or at least the imaginary suspense…)

Postscript

I do plan to return to more Farm Girl Vintage blocks in the future. Hopefully!