Are you familiar with the phrase “throwing pottery”? This phrase relates to creating some type of clay vessel/bowl on a pottery wheel.

Recently I made a fabric bowl by “throwing” it on my sewing machine!

This bowl is made from batik fabric strips wrapped around clothesline using the instructions from the Bali Boxes pattern by Aunties Two.

It measures approximately 11.5″ in diameter and is 4″ deep.

Several years ago I was really into making batik fabric bowls and boxes and had a stash of cotton clothesline and 2.5″ pre-cut batik fabric strips (like Hoffman Bali Pops). Here are a couple of my baskets from that period:

Bali Basket

Bali basket

Bali Basket – lots of work

Bali Basket

I burned out on making these baskets, however I had enough wrapped clothesline to make one more small basket and set it aside for the day I wanted to make another basket (into my “abandoned project stash”).

Well that day arrived a week ago – I was ready to “throw” a new basket!

Here is the wrapped clotheslines and the fabric for the center:

Making the basket begins with making a coiled foundation around a Timtex (heavy interfacing) filled center fabric pouch:

Once the base is created, it is time to “throw” the basket and angle it around the sewing machine as you add rows of covered clothesline using a zig-zag stitch:

The piece is finished off with a binding on top to cover the ends of the wrapped clothesline:

And now a couple images of the completed bowl (I added a little tierneycreates tag to the top under the binding):

I am pleased with my “thrown” fabric bowl and glad I pulled the remaining wrapped clothesline out of my abandoned project stash!

Studio, What's on the Design Wall

Follow up on “Recycled Windows of Conversation”

December 16, 2017January 6, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Update 01/14/18 – this piece is now named “Recycled Windows” and the Artist Statement and photos are posted on the Improvisational Textiles website on the Tierney Davis Hogan page. It was added to the Recycled Denim Stories series.

This post is a follow up to my December 10th post What’s on the Design Wall where I shared my piece Recycled Windows of Conversation in progress.

I completed the machine quilting this art quilt made from all recycled materials (clothing, home decor, see previous post for more details). I took several quick photos for his post and later on plan to take higher quality photos:

Here is a close up of the machine quilting. I used three different threads: orange, blue and variegated gold.

This piece will join the Recycled Denim Stories series shown on the Improvisational Textiles website once I write the Artist Statement.

Postscript

Update 1/6/19 – moving images from the no longer active Improvisational Textiles blog. Here are additional images of the piece:

What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall

December 10, 2017September 15, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is a continuation of my ongoing series “What’s on the Design Wall”, featuring my latest project up on either the small design wall in my studio or the large design wall my hallway.

I am working on my fourth improvisational piece from a group of recycled clothing and home decor titled: Recycled Windows of Conversation. This piece will become part of my improvisational art quilt series: Recycled Denim Stories.

Here is Recycled Windows of Conversation in progress on my small design wall in my studio:

2017-11-27_16-04-10_717 — Recycled Windows of Conversation (2017) – in progress

This art quilt will measure approximately 18″ x 40″, the same size as these two other quilts in the Recycled Denim Stories series, The Recycled Road and Recycled Door:

2017-04-15_20-13-34_629 — The Recycled Road (2017) by Tierney Davis Hogan

hogan_tierney_davis-recycled_door-3040 — Recycled Door (2017) by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Guadalupe Designs, photographed by Marion Shimoda

You might ask why did I name the piece in progress, Recycled Windows of Conversation?

The “Recycled” part of the name is to tie it to the two other 18″ x 40″ pieces from the same recycled materials shown above; and the “Conversations” part of the name is to tie to Additional Conversations, a piece I recently finished the quilt top (but have not quilted yet):

Recycled Windows of Conversation is made from the leftover blocks (and additional blocks) from Additional Conversations (which is still laying on my larger hallway design wall awaiting quilting).

In case you are new to my blog and have not followed the development of these previous art quilts, here’s a list of the recycled materials used in these pieces:

Old jeans
Curtain (valence scarf)
Tweed jumper
Old sweat pants
Corduroy Shirt
Gold home decorating fabric scraps (given to me by an interior decorator from her sample collection)
The world’s ugliest orange corduroy pants
Denim duvet cover (used in Additional Conversations only)

I plan to quilt Recycled Windows of Conversation by machine and I have selected my thread colors – gold, blue and orange:

Here is the piecing hanging out on the iron board, awaiting quilting:

In case you are wondering, I have only a tiny pile of scraps left over from these four quilts. I might challenge myself and try to eek out a small piece to make it five total.

I continue to work on having a cohesive body of work when it comes to my delusional journey towards becoming an art quilter!

Postscript

A quilting friend recently remodeled her studio area in her vintage home (circa early 1900s) and asked for help organizing her fabric in the reconfigured back room (that used to be where meat was stored in the early 1900s.

Here is a photo of an alcove with newly added shelves that I found especially pleasing during my time over her house yesterday helping her organize fabric:

Her fabric used to be crammed into a dark back storage room – now it is easier to access!

The Library Stack

Library Stack Catch Up

December 4, 2017June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Currently I am working on a small art quilt from recycled clothing but I am not ready to share it on my blog yet, so instead I am catching up on my ongoing series, The Library Stack, sharing my latest* stack of borrowed books from my beloved local public library.

*This photo is actually from a couple weeks ago and I confess, this is not my current library stack. Currently I have NO LIBRARY STACK!

I am taking a break from stacks of crafting and home decorating books and I am actually reading ONE fiction book from the library – a classic science fiction book – Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear.

I am “stack-less”!

Postscript

Although I am not ready to share my latest art quilt, I can share another of my latest creations: a new knitted hat!

Yes, it is the same pattern as the other knitted hats I have shared in other posts. I am a one trick pony when it comes to knitting hats. I have other patterns but I love this pattern – it is so comfortable to me!

I love to always have a knitted project going for knitting while watching TV or if I am attending an event and I need to keep my hands busy.

I have another skein of the same yarn for my hat and I am thinking of making a coordinating ribbed scarf.

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s latest post on her Schnauzer Snips blog, (just in case you do not already follow her) Illuminated Schnauzers.

A Crafter's Life, Independent bookstores

Independent Bookstores: Wonderful & Magical Places (repost)

December 2, 2017January 30, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Terry the Quilting Husband and I were scheduled to meet friends in downtown Bend, OR for lunch today at 11:30 am, however the Bend Christmas parade was scheduled to begin at 12 noon downtown today.

So to avoid the impending parking challenges, we headed to downtown an hour early and wandered around until it was time to meet friends for lunch. Most of our wandering time was spent in the wonderful downtown indie bookstore – Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

Armed with steaming mug of cocoa I browsed Dudley’s well curated collection; ran into a fellow art quilter from my SAQA group and had a lovely chat; and remembered a post I wrote about Dudley’s in December 2016.

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES (WONDERFUL & MAGICAL PLACES)

December 23, 2016

I won’t pretend I do not shop on Amazon.com for book deals or that I do not go to our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, but today I was reminded just how wonderful and magical Independent Bookstoresare to have in one’s community. I plan to spend more time at indie bookshops!

Today we went for a wander around and hot beverage at downtown Bend’s Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

As the sign upstairs at Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe reads:

Independent Bookstores are wonderful & magical places because each book will have been hand selected, you know all of them are jewels just waiting to be discovered…

After the friendly shopkeepers filled darling ceramic mugs with our hot cocoa (for me) and mocha (for Terry the Quilting Husband), we had a leisurely and delicious wander about the shop browsing and their well curated selections.

Come wander the shop with us for a moment…

Downstairs, where you enter Dudley’s bookshop and immediately think – “well this would be a fine place to nest for awhile”:

People were nesting – they have WiFi and some were on their laptops and some were sipping their hot beverages and reading a book (or previewing a book!).

Among the shelves of books are fun things and objects to look at, including this wickedly funny sign:

Now head upstairs (carefully carry your mug of hot beverage with you!) and check out the painted stairs celebrating books:

(I love the step that reads: “Fifty Shades of Dudley’s)

At the top of the landing you will find a shelf of books (in case it was too long a journey to go without being able to browse any books from the bottom of the stairs to the top).

Now, turn the corner…and…WOW: Here is the cozy reading nook you might have searched for while browsing any bookstore (and maybe dreamed about in your own home):

The secret OCD person inside of me wanted to go and fix the left side of the curtain, but I was here to browse books, not adjust decor so I left it alone – ha!

After walking by the cozy reading nook, you come upon the upstairs room with more books to browse – how about a Art/Film/Music book to add to your collection?

Even the bathroom was delightful and had this great poster called A Plotting of Fiction Genres:

If you would like to know more about this poster, I did find it online at Pop Chart Lab. I did not want to spend too long in the bathroom reading it, but I was very impressed with it in my brief time with it! Here is a better overall photo from the seller’s website.

Screen Shot 2016-12-23 at 3.57.32 PM.png

I could not leave Dudley’s Bookshop without a little something. If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I love our local public library and lately I get most of my reading through borrowing from the library (as I have been very naughty at bookshops in the past and have a huge book collection). I am trying not to add more books permanently to my home but I did want a little something from the indie bookstore, so I bought a cool set of greeting cards that you color yourself!

Two of my many favorite authors, Neil Gaiman and Ann Patchett are huge advocated for preserving independent bookstores (Ann Patchett even owns her own indie bookstore, Parnassus Books) and have lauded the value of preserving these shops in their writing.

I will close this post with a Neil Gaiman quote, which is also on the Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe website, from his wonderful and magical book American Gods:

What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore it knows it’s not fooling a soul. – Neil Gaiman

Dudley’s has a wonderful addition to the front of their shop – an antique typewriter! I had to take a photo to share!