Books, Music, Podcasts, Fabric Scraps Obsession, What's on the Design Wall

Pillow Popping with the Untethered Soul

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I know, I know, this is the craziest tierneycreates post title ever, eh?

This post is actually a continuation of two ongoing tierneycreates series: 1) What’s on the Design Wall, and 2) Audiobooks and Podcasts.

Bear with me as I tie “Pillow Popping with the Untethered Soul” together!

Pillow Popping (What’s on the Design Wall)

I am working on my next art quilt for a future Women of Color Quilting Network (WCQN) exhibit but I cannot share photos on social media at this time. Unfortunately I am stalled in the progression of the piece but I want to keep myself sewing so I’ve decided to make a pillow with my collection of scraps 2.5″ x 2.5″ fabric squares.

I made a zillion (it actually seemed like a “zillion”) half-square triangles (HSTs) and Terry the Quilting Husband was nice enough to cut them apart, press and trim them (now that is true love!).

I pulled out this book from my craft book collection: Pillow Pop: 25 Quick-Sew Projects to Brighten Your Space by Heather Bostic and began laying out the pillow design per one of the patterns – Crystallized (on page 82 if you have the book).

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Image credit: Amazon.com

If you remember from my post Central Oregon Quilt Shop Hop Day 1 , QuiltWorks quilt shop had a wonderful Pillow Pop display with several completed pillows:

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This display made me want to eventually make all the pillows in the book!

Here it is on my small design wall (the larger design wall in the hallway has the art quilt in progress I mentioned earlier):

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The beauty of a truly “scrappy” piece is you can have all sort of crazy fabrics together and somehow it works (at least in my deluded mind)!

The Untethered Soul (Audiobooks)

I’ve been listening to a wonderful audiobook I borrowed from the library, The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations by Oprah Winfrey. The audiobook is read by the author and features curated sections of the actual interviews with inspirational thought leaders from Oprah’s TV series Super Soul Sunday.

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Image credit: Amazon.com

I listened to this book while I laid out the pieced half-square triangles for the Crystallized pillow patter and it was very meditative. 

To lay out this specific pattern where you get the effect of concentric diamonds of light and dark, I really had to quiet my mind and focus. Listening to this book was the perfect medium to do just that.

In the middle of my pillow-piecing-meditation, Oprah’s interview with Michael Singer, author of The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, played.

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Image credit: Amazon.com

I’ve read this book twice a couple years ago and I’ve listened to the audiobook. I’ve also given it as a gift. I was surprised to learn that it is one of Oprah’s favorite books and that she has also given as a gift (to many more people than I have).

I would say it is one of those MUST READS, especially if you are on a path of self-insight and growth with how you interact with the world.

It was amazing to listen to the author Michael Singer discuss the book with Oprah as I continued my pillow-piecing-meditation.

I will close out this post with a couple quotes from this amazing book by Michael Singer:

“You have to understand that it is your attempt to get special experiences from life that makes you miss the actual experience of life.”

“The only permanent solution to your problems is to go inside and let go of the part of you that seems to have so many problems with reality.”

“Your inner growth is completely dependent upon the realization that the only way to find peace and contentment is to stop thinking about yourself.”

“Billions of things are going on in this world. You can think about it all you want, but life is still going to keep on happening.”

“Do not let anything that happens in life be important enough that you’re willing to close your heart over it.”

“It is truly a great cosmic paradox that one of the best teachers in all of life turns out to be death. No person or situation could ever teach you as much as death has to teach you. While someone could tell you that you are not your body, death shows you. While someone could remind you of the insignificance of the things that you cling to, death takes them all away in a second. While people can teach you that men and women of all races are equal and that there is no difference between the rich and the poor, death instantly makes us all the same.”

“That which is holding you down can become a powerful force that raises you up.”

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Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

40 thoughts on “Pillow Popping with the Untethered Soul”

  1. Way to go TTQH for helping a worthy cause. I did see the pillow at the shop. It caught my attention right away! Looks like you are on the way to creating awesome projects. 😊

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  3. Heehee! Your opening line exactly reflects what I thought when I saw the title… Of course, now it makes perfect sense! I LOVE this pillow design, Tierney, and you’re right – despite the mix of different colours and patterns, it really does work. It was so sweet of TTQH to help with putting together the triangles, too – that’s no mean feat! Enjoy putting them all together!

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    1. Thanks so much! I was suspicious at first of the design but the more scrappy pieces I got up there, the more it worked. Yes TTQH is a very nice guy – it was very tedious work! 🙂

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  4. Another great post! I will check out those books. I have the pillow book already. I made two different designs. These pillows were two of my first projects after I retired. I need to pull it out and make some more pillows.

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    1. It is a great book on pillows and I’ve neglected it letting it gather dust on my book shelf. My future fantasy series of posts (and it would be a very long series) is to work through all my craft books on my shelves and make at least one project from each book! I could take up years of posts doing that – ha! 🙂

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      1. Good plan! My friend just gave me a book on modern blocks and she wants to work together on these.

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  5. Love all the quotes, but this one really speaks to the latest generations’ FOMO…Ya know?

    “You have to understand that it is your attempt to get special experiences from life that makes you miss the actual experience of life.”

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  6. Beautiful reflections and pillow-planning, here! I’m sending good thoughts on your art quilt project, and it’s great that, in the meantime, you’re keeping the sewing flowing with a truly space-brightening pillow. The design totally works – I can see the concentric diamonds clearly, and it’s neat that the effect comes from colour/print choice. Glad to hear that it was relaxing to make it. And, thanks for sharing the quotes. I’ll have to check this book out. I like the last quote, on being lifted up by the things that hold us down. Lots to think about there!

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    1. Thanks so much I appreciate those good thoughts – I am starting to feel un-stalled! I was surprise the diamonds worked as I was suspicious at first (until I fully relaxed into my pillow-piecing-meditation!) Glad you like the quotes!

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  8. Love your pillow layout – it will be beautiful! You’re lucky to have a helper 🙂 Love the quotes such beautiful reflection — I will have to add that to my list on audible! Good luck with your art quilt project I’m sure it will be amazing!

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    1. That is awesome! I found most of the patterns look easy and well written and there are numerous contributors to the book’s patterns and it is fun to read the story of each crafter who contributed a pattern!

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  17. HSTs are bits of magic fairy dust, aren’t they? Combined in the right way, you can make anything from them. Love the direction yours are going. And as a way to procrastinate on a confusing project, I think they suit just right.

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