New Studio

August 30, 2019June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As a follow up to my previous post Morning Walk in Black and White, where I mentioned that I am now living in a house and have a new quilting studio, in this post I am sharing photos of my new studio.

When I moved into my new housing situation earlier this summer, the first thing my new roommate did was build a design wall in the back bedroom he offered to me as my studio:

One of his hobbies is wood working and he also offered to build me a center cutting table. I said “let me use what I brought with me for now (fold up tables) and see how the rooms develops”.

The rest of this post is a photo tour of my new studio. You may notice the strong turquoise like color on the wall. The room came with that color and since someday my roommate is thinking of selling his home and us possibly moving to a new home together, I declined his offer to paint the room a neutral color at this time.

To embrace the turquoise color for now, I hung my Tula Pink All Stars fabric quilt (which has a LOT of turquoise and aqua in it) on the wall as you will see in the images below. If you are new to this blog, the saga of its quilt is in this series of posts – Tula Time!. By the way – my friends Judy and Dana have also finished their Tula Pink quilts and I will share images in a future post.

So here is the photo tour of my “temporary” new studio. If we end up moving to a new home together someday, I am going to design my new studio to be my dream studio this time (if I learned anything from the tragic and sudden loss of my husband in 2018, it is that life is short and you need to live your dreams, do not wait!). Since my roommate, who I should actually start referring to as “my partner”, loves to build things, I plan to take full advantage of his skills for my dream studio design!

As you can see in several of the photos above, I repurposed an old armoire into crafting and fat quarter storage. I also repurposed an old card table found in the basement’s storage room into a center table.

That table also serves as a Mike the Miniature Schnauzer nesting space!

You might also remember in the photos above (but I am posting it below also), a short long black bookcase looking thing. This was an old CD/DVD storage bookshelf I found in my partner’s basement storage room that I repurposed to hold my favorite fat quarters (I have an obscenely large collection of fat quarters as I confessed in the post Quilt Studio Archaeology and Purge, Part III (re-post))

Postscript

In my preceding photos, you might have noticed a work in progress on the design wall. I will discuss it in a future post as I continue my series of posts What’s on the Design Wall.

Here is an additional photo I took during my photo shoot for this post of some of the recycled home decor fabrics I am considering for this piece (actually a series of pieces):

If you’ve been following my blog for a long time and have a scary supernatural level of memory, you might remember these pieces from this post – What’s Simmering on the Design Wall.

Life in B&W, Sunflowers!

Morning Walk in Black and White

August 18, 2019August 19, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series of posts Life in B&W, I thought I was share some images from a recent morning walk near where I am now living in the Denver Greater Metropolitan area.

But first I thought I would share some news/update you on my life…

I’ve Moved – from Urban to Suburban

Those of you who followed my blog for a while know that earlier this year (April 2019) I moved from Central Oregon to the greater Denver Metropolitan area, after my husband Terry suddenly passed in December 2018.

I moved from a home in Central Oregon to a two-bedroom apartment in the Denver area. and tried to stay positive about a new “living on my own apartment adventure” (the first time I’ve lived on my own in my life). However, little did I know how much I would dislike apartment living after living in a home most of my life. As well as how much I would dislike living without another human in my residence.

Mike my miniature schnauzer disliked apartment living also – he missed having a backyard to play ball in. Early morning, during the day and late in the evening, I had to take him on either a quick or longer walk for him to “do his business” and this became tedious. Additionally there were sketchy areas and a large homeless population near where I was living. Mike and I had one scary experience where a homeless man from the park near my apartment followed us for several blocks in a stalking manner.

In May I met a friend at the new Spousal Loss Grief Support group I was attending in the Denver area who also loss his spouse and was interested in having a roommate for his large house. He had a nice backyard that backed up onto a green space and walking trail and he really liked Miniature Schnauzers (his favorite dog breed)!

So a couple months ago I left my apartment in an urban area and moved to the suburbs and I am very happy (and so is Mike).

Plus it is wonderful to have a roommate who understands the depth of the grief of losing their spouse/lifetime partner and we’ve been a great support to each other. It is not something I want anyone to experience in order to understand. As I’ve discussed with numerous other widows and widowers, unless you’ve personally experienced this unique and devastating loss, you absolutely do not have a clue (and you are not in any position to offer any life advice to someone who has lost their spouse, all you can do is support and respect them on their journey) or can even imagine what they are dealing with.

You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.― Anne Lamott

With that background, I can now share with you some images in B&W I took with my smartphone on a morning walk near my new residence (by the way, I thought I was going to live an edgier urban life but I am a suburban girl at heart.)

Morning Walk in Black & White

As part of my walk I had to go through a tunnel under the road to cross from one side of a busy street to the other. I was absolutely fascinated with the tunnel in B&W:

The tunnel was lined with bird nests, which also looked quite interesting in B&W:

Pretty cool, eh?

Postscript

Now that I live in a house, I also have a yard in order to plant things. One of the early thing I planted was sunflower seeds. If you are a longtime follower of my blog you might remember my obsession with sunflowers (see series of posts – Sunflowers!)

Recently the first sunflower from three large pots of sunflowers I planted has begun to bloom:

I suspect I might have a future post about sunflowers when all three pots of sunflowers are in bloom!

And speaking of future posts – I have a new studio in my new residence.

If you remember my posts from May 2019 (“Oh Scrap”, Part II and New “Studio” Tour and New Studio Tour, Part II) I shared images from my new apartment “Studio/Guest Bedroom”:

I now have a dedicated Studio – a room for creating that I do not have to share with any guest – ha! So I will do a future post about my Studio, but here is a sneak peak with an image of the design wall my roommate built me and a work in progress:

Quilt Shop Tours

Fancy Tiger Crafts, Denver CO

August 9, 2019June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As promised in my previous post, this post will be about TEXTILES!

A couple of months ago, my dear quilting sister Dana was visiting the Denver, Colorado area (see post Greetings from Colorado) and we got together with her and her daughter Kaite (and darling grandchild) and went to a magical crafting shop in downtown Denver – Fancy Tiger Crafts.

This was my first visit to this shop as I am new to the Denver Metropolitan area.

Upon entering the shop, I quickly realized that if your needs are related to the textile arts – they have it: spinning, knitting, needlework, other needle arts, dressmaking, quilting, bag making, etc.

Here detailed look inside their shop (which we suspect is outside the normal space-time continuum because we spent a lot longer in the shop that we thought we did…).

Knitting, Spinning, Crocheting, Felting, Wool Craft

And don’t forget the spinning wheel!

Dressmaking & Garment Sewing

Quilting

Other Fun Stuff in the Shop

The shop also had all sort of fun things – like cool tote bags:

And Crafter Merit Badges!

I bought this one:

I loved the decor – here are a couple images of the fun and funky decorations in the shop:

Photos of Friends Shopping

Here are a couple photos of my friend Dana delightfully shopping at Fancy Tiger Crafts for the first time:

Her talented crafter daughter Kaite and Kaite’s delightful 4 year old daughter selected this fabric during our shopping adventure for matching outfits:

We tried to leave the shop after we made our initial purchases several times. Something kept drawing us back as we tried to leave the shop. I think we revisited the counter/register at least twice!

A Return Visit

After my initial visit, which I did post some photos from on my @tierneycreates Instagram account, my Central Oregon friends Wendy and Pat sent me gift cards for Fancy Tiger Crafts!

So a couple of weeks ago I returned on my own and bought some goodies:

All pieces are canvas weight and I am thinking about some cool pouches or tote bags with these remnants.

Postscript

If you’ve following my blog for a while and Dana’s name sounds familiar, she has been featured in several other posts include the series of posts – Tula Time! (someday I need to post her completed Tula Pink All Stars quilt as well as my friend Judy’s completed quilt); and more recently Fabric Fangirl Frenzy.

A Crafter's Life

Salt of the Earth

August 4, 2019August 4, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I began drafting this post prior to the recent series of deadly mass shootings across the United States. I am eager to return to blogging, however I thought this was too an upbeat a post to make in light of the recent somber events.

Then I thought – perhaps during these dark times it is good to post a reminder about the good people in the world we meet in our daily lives…

Dictionary.com defines the term “salt of the earth” as follows:

“An individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.”

This term wonderfully describes the kind of people I’ve met and keep meeting since moving to Colorado.

iStock-1063332628-1 — Colorado State Flag, zumper.com

If you are new to my blog, I moved to the greater Denver metropolitan area in April 2019 to start a new life after the sudden death of my husband (Terry the Quilting Husband) and over the past several months I’ve been settling into my new life and exploring the region (see post Greetings from Colorado and the series of posts Colorado Bound).

I knew Colorado was an awesome state with lots to do, little did I know just how warm, friendly and helpful many of its residents are!

Let me share an example (actually multiple examples).

Schnauzerfest!

Moving to Colorado meant leaving my beloved veterinary office and finding a new vet for my Miniature Schnauzer, Mike. I selected a vet based on Google reviews and comments and I was not disappointed.

During Mike’s first visit to his new vet. she connected me with a group of local Miniature Schnauzer aficionados which included one of her best friends. Mike and I got invited to the annual Miniature Schnauzer Club picnic which was like attending “Miniature Schnauzer Fest”!

The photos below will illustrate this better than I could describe and Mike enjoyed hanging out with his new friends, after he recovered from the shock of so many furry people that looked like him in one place!

We met so many wonderful, warm and friendly people at the Miniature Schnauzer Club picnic including a new dog groomer for Mike.

A Proper Grooming

I’ve struggled with finding a good dog groomer for my dog Mike. If you want a Miniature Schnauzer to look like a traditional Miniature Schnauzer, you need groom your dog regularly.

A couple months ago, I tried out a mobile groomer and unfortunately Mike was groomed more like a Bichon Frise instead of a Miniature Schnauzer:

Bichon Frise:

viktor-talashuk--gxRa1vV0KA-unsplash — Photo by Viktor Talashuk on Unsplash

Miniature Schnauzer:

I tried to fix the disappointing grooming myself but Mike ended up looking like a blindfolded, highly sedated dog groomer did the grooming!

Luckily at the Miniature Schnauzer Picnic, I met Carol, a highly seasoned dog groomer with extensive experience in grooming Miniature Schnauzers including competitive show dogs. She even showed a couple dogs herself at the Westminster Dog Show years ago.

We tried to schedule an appointment but had one challenge – she only had spots open in the middle of the week and she lives 32 miles away from me. I telecommute for my work in the health care industry and my middle of the week is peppered with conference calls.

She has a dog grooming station inside her home and she suggested that I come telecommute at her house for the morning/day while she groomed Mike!

And so I did! Not only did she let me telecommute from her house while she lovingly and meticulously groomed Mike, but she even gave me beverages and snacks – homemade lemon poppyseed cake!

I had so much fun telecommuting from her kitchen table while we discussed life and miniature schnauzers! Here are some photos of Mike transforming into a properly groomed Miniature Schnauzer!

In addition to great conversation, exceptional dog grooming, and wonderful snacks – she also gave me a tour of her lovely garden and gave me a bag of fresh garlic from her garden to take home!

She hand washed Mike’s collar before she began grooming him and had me hang it on the clothesline in the garden to dry!

Finally, as an added bonus, she has 4 or so of her own Miniature Schnauzers, so there was lots of Miniature Schnauzer cuteness going on at her home!

I got three of them to stand still for a photo:

Of course every proper Miniature Schnauzer Aficionado has lots of Schnauzer related decorations in their home and she was no exception:

I know this post was likely “Schnauzer Overload” and hopefully you will quickly recover (smile).

My telecommuting visit with my new dog groomer and the opportunity to hang out with other Miniature Schnauzer Aficionados (or perhaps “Obsessives” in a more accurate term) has only increased my feeling of being so “welcomed” to Colorado.

Every day I continue to meet warm, friendly, kind, generous, and welcoming, “salt of the earth” people in this state.

But these few are the salt of the earth; without them, human life would become a stagnant pool. Not only is it they who introduce good things which did not before exist, it is they who keep the life in those which already existed. – John Stuart Mill

Postscript

I promise my next post will be crafting/quilting related!

The tagline of my blog for tierneycreates is “a fusion of textiles and smiles“. I hope this post induced a little smile across your face. The “textiles” part will return next post!

Feature Photo by Jason Tuinstra on Unsplash