If you are new to this blog, here is a little background – in December 2018 my husband died. In December 2017 my beloved mother in law died. In December 2017 my greatest dog love of all time, Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer died. My late husband’s birthday is in early December and our wedding anniversary is in late December.

So as you can imagine December is always a challenging month for me. Christmas was always my most favorite holiday (I enjoyed planning for Christmas starting in June or earlier); but my husband died 12 days before Christmas 2018. To add to the unfortunate event, I found him on the floor next to the Christmas tree.

I know this seems like a very morbid opening for a blog post but I just wanted to provide background/perspective for the rest of this post, not to scare you away from reading any further!

After making it through the 3rd anniversary of my late husband’s passing, I realized that I wanted to “take back Christmas” and I was tired of being unrelentingly sad during December. Christmas was my favorite holiday and I needed a way to enjoy it again and not associate it with one of the darkest times of my life.

So we got a Christmas tree and I decorated for the holidays more than I’ve done since my husband passed.

A got a little creative on how to make the TV more festive by adding holiday bunting…

My partner John and I decorated the tree with the collection of ornaments we kept from our previous lives and some new ones we’ve purchased together. Most of my ornaments are schnauzer themed…

Whole lot of schnauzers trimming the tree

John also hung Christmas lights on the front of the house and I placed a Christmas wreath on the front door for the first time together.

In addition to making the house holiday festive, I also did a bunch of holiday baking in anticipation of having John’s immediate family over for Christmas Eve (Originally we had planned to go to the East Coast of the US to spend Christmas with my family, but there is some virus raging…have you heard of it???).

I made Molasses Crinkle cookies, Crispy Chocolate Chip cookies, Lemon Squares, and a Pumpkin Roll.

Here is the messy kitchen during my baking fest:

Here are the cookies I made:

Here are the yummy lemon squares I made:

You’ll see one of the lemon squares above has a bite taken out of it. Well I had to make sure it was not poisonous!

I used my cookbooks for the cookies and lemon squares but for the Pumpkin Roll I used one of my blogging buddy’s (In Diane’s Kitchen) recipe which had awesome directions and worked out very well: Libby’s Pumpkin Roll

Here is the pumpkin roll in progress (this is the second time I’ve made it and I am getting better at the whole jelly roll process):

And the Pumpkin Roll ready to serve our holiday guests:

We also did the “Hot Chocolate Bombs” again this year (see post from last Christmas about these – December, Christmas and “Bombs”). This year for our “Hot Chocolate Bombs” we had awesome chocolate sprinkle like things to decorate them from my blogging buddy in the Netherlands, Emmely @Infectious Stitches (see post The Itty-Bitty Hat and Fun Surprises in the Mail).

Here is the whole Christmas Eve dessert spread which includes a bakery bought Lemon Meringue pie and store bought handmade marshmallows:

We did have an actual Christmas Eve meal before the dessert (smile). I set a festive table along with English style Christmas Crackers at each place setting. Of course I forgot to take a photo of the holiday table but use your imagination.

I’ll close this post with a picture of my partner John getting ready to make the gravy for the Prime Rib he made for Christmas Eve dinner, while wearing the paper crown he got from his Christmas Cracker:

Etsy shop, tierneycreates

Update on the Textiles and Smiles Etsy Shop

December 30, 2021December 30, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am glad to be regularly blogging and reading posts again, it is actually one of my 2022 New Years Resolutions I am putting in place now. I miss my blogging buddies when I am away!

This post is a follow up to the post – My Etsy Shop is Now Reopened – tierneycreates is now TextilesandSmiles which discusses how in late November 2021 I had to close my former “tierneycreates” Etsy shop instead of reopening it due to technical issues, and instead create a new Etsy shop – Textiles and Smiles (“textiles and smiles” is part of my tagline: “tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles”).

I started the shop with around 31 listings, added 2 more after opening and I’ve sold in a month’s time 11 items.

Most of my sales were from wonderful people I’ve connected with via social media platforms such as my blog, Instagram and Facebook. I also did a little e-mail marketing (just a one-time thing) to friends who are not on social media.

FROM THE WOODSHOP

My partner John made a couple items for my Etsy shop from his woodshop and we’ve sold two packages of them so far – Wooden Spools:

He even did a custom order when someone reached out and requested an inch longer set of spools. He’s going to make some other items for the Etsy shop someday and he has his own section – “From the Woodshop”:

CREATIVITY KITS

One of the fun things I came up for my shop was to sell “Creativity Kits” when I include the book (from my craft book collection) and the fabric (like a jelly roll or other pre-cut) to make something. I pulled “used” books from my crazy existing craft book collection and was able to package them with fabric at a reasonable price since it was a “used” book.

These sold pretty well and here are some examples:

The photos above are “raw” photos, and I did some clean up and photo editing for then Etsy listings…trying to look as professional as possible (or imaginarily professional – ha!).

There is one Creativity Kit I am surprised has not sold yet, I even have it packed up for shipping as I thought it would “fly off then shelf” – one with then book Scrap Republic and 2 pounds of a rainbow of colors of scraps from my personal scrap pile. Perhaps no one trusts my scrap pile – ha!

This is not a book I would part with because I want to make everything in it, but I had accidentally bought a second copy so I was able to part with one. I had trouble putting up the listing for this creativity kit because I kept setting aside the yummy looking package of scraps I put together to use for my own project. Finally I made myself list it as I have so many more scraps to play with in my stash!

I am sure it will sell eventually when the person it is meant for sees it.

LITTLE PILLOWS

I’ve only made one set and it sold – I love little pillows!

I made the above set of 5 little pillows from recycled Pendleton Wool blanket scraps. I plan to make another set in the future. I don’t have anymore of the black and gray wool scraps but I do have some other Pendleton blanket wool scraps. It isn fun recycling!

When I had my first Etsy shop open, tierneycreates, I was selling a pillow I made from Pendleton Wool scraps and put the word “Pendleton” in the title of the listing. I was contacted by the legal department of the Pendleton Wool company for potential “copyright infringement”. I was totally freaked out as a new seller. The paralegal I dealt with at the company was very nice and provided me with education and of course allowed me to fix my error. I definitely remembered that lesson and when I listed these pillows I wrote for my Etsy listing:

Recycled Wool Little Pillow Set – Five (5) 5 1/2 inch x 5 1/2 inch x 2 inch decorative wool pillows

I love working with recycled materials. This set of 5 small pillows measuring 5 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches by 2 inches was made with recycled wool from a well known Oregon based wool manufacturing company. These little pillows would be perfect to decorate your bookshelf!

PROJECT BAGS/DRAWSTRING BAGS

My biggest seller was the project bags/drawstring bags I made.

I sold a couple sets of these:

As well as a couple other project/drawstring bags.

In addition to all the items shown above, I also sold a couple other items, including a set of fat quarters and one miniature kimono but I do not want to bore you with a complete listing of my sales.

I really appreciate all the customers who left reviews, and I’ve received 5 star reviews (huge smiles), which really helps since I am considered a “new seller” on Etsy with my new shop!

WHAT IS NEXT

I am pretty sure I am going to make some more project bags for the shop and I am working on a strategy of what to make and list next. One of my blogging buddies asked about messenger bags so I am thinking of those.

I noticed that many successful Etsy shops focus on like one thing but there are so many things I enjoy making, and I want to keep the shop a fun hobby, so I do not see myself narrowing to just one type of item.

I will share another update on my Textiles and Smiles Etsy shop if I come up with some fun new items in the future!

Postscript

This is a follow up to my post Adventures in Bag Making: Firefly Tote is done!.

I posted the Firefly Tote on Instagram, and as standard etiquette I tagged the pattern designer – Anna Graham of Noodlehead when I credited her patter on my IG post. She has like 90,000 Instagram followers and I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to pay any attention to my tag.

Well next thing I know, she comments on my post and then the next day (I think, or perhaps later the same day), she adds it to her Instagram story!

In addition to tagging me, she also tagged the fabric designer Sarah Golden of that amazing “Maker” fabric that I love so much!

I was blown away on having such exposure as I’ve loved (and purchased) Noodlehead patterns for years; and she is a very well known pattern maker.

What an honor when the pattern designer likes your bag!

A Crafter's Life, Bags Bags Bags

Follow-up on Commission – The Value of a “Thank You”

December 29, 2021December 29, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In the post Adventures in Bag Making: The Commission, I shared my experience working on and finishing a commissioned Tula Pink fabric scraps Range Backpack (pattern by Noodlehead).

For more photos of the finished backpack, check out the post Adventures in Bag Making: The Commission.

In the post I linked above, I sort of whined about the challenges of making the backpack with quilting weight fabric when it is supposed to be made with canvas as well as the hours it took me to complete it in time for their family Christmas celebration (a couple all nighters).

Well this morning I received an e-mail from the woman who commissioned the backpack as a surprise for her sister, and any whininess I previously had about the commission evaporated!

Here it is:

I just looked at our correspondence and realized I had been sending email updates to my husband instead of you!! I had emailed immediately when the backpack was finished AND when it came because it was so perfect and beautiful!!!!! I knew it would be amazing but honestly, I was so impressed with the creativity and talent you poured into our special present for her. It literally could not have been more perfect. I kept going over the fabric choices you made for her and all the sweet details and I just feel so thankful for you – you really “got” the heart behind the gift. THANK YOU SO MUCH. This will be one of those gifts that I know she will always treasure. She was SHOCKED and so surprised once she figured out it was made specifically for her. She carried it around with her the rest of our Christmas celebration and then hung a special hook in her sewing room so she could look at it as she works. Thank you. Your craft is beautiful and clearly – you are a beautiful person!

Okay now I’d gladly do another all nighter after receiving that e-mail!

Just wanted to share this as a follow up to me being sort of whiny over late nights and that the time I put in to make the backpack way exceeded what I charged. A heartfelt thank you can be quite the currency!

I now feel well compensated for my time and effort (smile).

Bags Bags Bags

Adventures in Bag Making: Firefly Tote is done!

December 28, 2021December 28, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is a follow up to the post – Another Bag Making Class and Another Project.

Last night I finished the Noodlehead Firefly Tote that I started in early December at a bag making class as Treelotta Fabrics quilt shop.

I made it with the same fabric and gold zipper as the Noodlehead Range Backpack (see post Adventures in Bag Making: Range Backpack DONE! ) I made the month prior. I did add a bit more “pizazz” to the tote bag by adding in some sparkly gold handles.

Here are the photos of the completed Firefly Tote!

And here is it hanging out with it’s coordinating backpack:

If you purchase the pattern, the pattern designer, Noodlehead, allows you to make it to sell on Etsy, etc. (but no commercial production, just small handmade shops) as long as you credit her. I think the tote size and the smaller “project” size bag would sell in my shop but it took so long to make that bag I am not sure at this point.

Speaking of my Etsy shop, I am up to 11 sales since opening in November and I still plan to post about my shop in the future. We had a nice but busy holiday with my partner’s son visiting from out of town and I am rather behind in blogging!

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

From the Woodshop

From the Woodshop: No “Lazy” in the Making of a Lazy Susan

December 22, 2021December 22, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was going to post about my Etsy shop but I thought I would share what my woodworking partner has been up to instead.

Yesterday my partner John and I met up with our friends Michele and Blair for dinner and gave them a handmade Lazy Susan for Christmas!

Sometime earlier this year (2021 is a blur for me) they mentioned they’ve been struggling to find a Lazy Susan for their large round table for quite a while. They have 3 kids and passing things about the table at dinner can get quite tedious.

My partner John, whose hobby is woodworking, never made a Lazy Susan before, felt he should put himself up to the challenge of making his first Lazy Susan and gift it to them for Christmas!

The first one he made came out 26 inches in diameter and he was not completely pleased with it as there were tiny mistakes (ones I did not even notice), and we decided to keep it for our table:

The Lazy Susan is his own original design. So not only did he make his first Lazy Susan but he did not use a published pattern, he just created the design and his own pattern!

For his next Lazy Susan, he made it 29 inches in diameter which was a better size for our friends’ large round table.

Here are some images from the creation of the second Lazy Susan:

Here are photos of the completed Lazy Susan (it is so beautiful in person, he did an amazing job with sanding the piece and finishing it off with layers and layers of a bees wax protectant):

And here are our friends Blair and Michele when we met up for dinner yesterday with their new Lazy Susan (which later they reported fit perfectly on their table!):

(and Michele is wearing a hat I knitted her, see post The Ball of Yarn (which eventually became a hat))

Bags Bags Bags

Adventures in Bag Making: The Commission

December 16, 2021December 16, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello everyone, hope your December is going well. After I write this post I have to go catch up on all my blogging buddies’ posts as I was away from Blogtopia for a while.

A week ago I finished the Tula Pink fabric Range Backpack commission. I briefly talked about it in this post – Another Bag Making Class and Another Project.

Someone had reached out to me via the Inquiries page on my website in November and asked if I knew anyone who was selling a Tula Pink fabric quilt. They wanted to do a special Christmas gift for their sister who loves Tula Pink fabric. I reached out to a couple quilter connections who’ve also love Tula Pink fabric and have made Tula Pink fabric quilts, but none of them had a quilt to sell or time to take on a commission so close to Christmas.

I did suggest Etsy but the only nice (in my opinion) Tula Pink quilt I saw for sale was like $1000. I am not surprised as it was gorgeous and several of you in the past have shared posts about how much time and money it takes to make a quilt (and have it professionally long arm quilted); and I’ve had the same experience of course.

So (perhaps like an idiot), I offered an alternative – I could make the sister a Range Backpack out of my Tula Pink fabric scraps…how hard could that be I (foolishly) thought?

I was quite ambitious in my design at first trying to use as many small scraps as possible and here is a photo of my design wall that I shared in that previous post I linked above, showing the piecing for the backpack:

Quickly (but not quickly enough), I discovered that if I was to make the backpack this way, I would not have it finished until January.

Why?

Because the backpack was designed to be made with canvas, waxed canvas, canvas-linen blend, etc. fabric. If you want to use quilter cotton weight fabric (which my Tula Pink scraps were) then you had to QUILT with batting and canvas backing the fabric,

Gasp!

Why didn’t I read that part of the pattern before I offered to make the backpack?!?!?

Ahhh sarcasm. Sweet sweet sarcasm. What would we do without you funny memes of the day Noelito Flow www.f… | Stupid people funny, Witty memes, Funny memes sarcastic

So piecing the fabric and then quilting it, was going to take forever. Plus is was getting into December and I was facing of course a challenging anniversary, as well as my own last minute projects for December (and holiday shopping, etc.). Also I was in the process of opening my Textiles & Smiles Etsy shop (and will update you on that in a future post).

So I decided I was going to have to break into my Tula Pink yardage (frown) instead of just using scraps. So with that move the backpack became more expensive to make. Then with all the time I spent quilting each section (I still made it scrappy as the person requested that I use a lot of Tula Pink fabrics in the quilt) I am pretty sure if you minus the cost of supplies from what I charged for the commission, I made about 75 cents to 1 dollar an hour for my time – ha!

But it was a lesson and I will rethink commissions in the future. I did finally decide to look at it more as a “labor of love” and feel gratitude that I get to be part of a special gift for a special person. (And I got reimbursed for the cost of the supplies and for a tiny bit of time…).

Hope that does not sound too whiny. I was overjoyed when I finished the piece and could wrap it up nicely for shipping. They were going to celebrate Christmas as a family on 12/21 so with the magic of priority shipping, I was able to get it to them on time.

So here are photos from the creation of to the completion of the backpack (it feels like I lived and breathed this backpack and did a couple all nighters on it):

You can see in the photo above that although I had to quilt larger pieces of fabric to make the sections, I tried to make it more “scrappy” by creating and sewing on “patches” of Tula Pink fabrics.

One thing that I did enjoy while making the backpack was getting to use a bunch of my Aurifil threads I rarely use – very fun colors:

Well it’s all shipped off and per the postal tracking it was delivered. I’ve not heard back from the person who requested the commission and I am not sure I will get feedback on how it went when the sister opened her gift on 12/21, but we will see.

After I shipped it off, I came across this awesome quote by the author Barbara Kingsolver, and I took her advice:

Now I am working on a couple of my personal projects and relaxing and enjoying the holiday season. I am not even working on more stuff for my Etsy shop yet.

Studio, tierneycreates, What's on the Design Wall

Another Bag Making Class and Another Project

December 3, 2021December 5, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Last evening I took another bag making class like I did a month ago (see posts Did something awesome – took an in person crafting class! and Adventures in Bag Making: Range Backpack DONE!) at a Denver quilt shop.

This time we worked on the Firefly Tote by Noodlehead. A month ago I shared photos of the quilt shop’s class sample of the tote:

The pattern has instructions for two sizes – a smaller “project” size; and a larger “tote” size. I figured I would make the tote size.

I decided to make it in the same fabrics as the Range backpack also by Noodlehead that I made in the previous class and here are photos in progress during the class last night:

That was as far as I got (photo above) during class and I still need to make the lining and the drawstring topper. I found the “blingy” gold handles at the quilt shop and they go with the shiny gold zipper I used also in my coordinating backpack, also found at the quilt shop.

One class attendee got way farther than I did, and she was making the “project” size tote bag. Here is her nearly finished adorable project size bag being held up by our wonderful instructor:

Another student’s nearly finished project size Firefly Tote

Another student in the class brought her finished Range backpack to class and it was so cool I had to photograph it – she has it lined with a custom Yellowstone map fabric she found on Spoonflower:

If you are just joining us, here is the Range backpack I finished a couple weeks ago from the class I took a month ago. As you can see my Firefly Tote will coordinate with it:

And speaking of backpacks, I am currently working on a commission project of a scrappy Tula Pink Range backpack for a gift for someone who is a Tula Pink aficionado. The family member who commissioned it as a surprise gift asked me to include lots of Tula Pink fabrics. I am trying my best but I have a limited range of her fabric lines (but lots of scraps!)

Lots of Tula Pink All Stars line fabric scraps in my stash

Here is my design wall in progress as I work on piecing together/creating my own “fabric” to start cutting the sections for the backpack:

This is just a little bit of the fabrics I am using, it will be super scrappy. I am going to first make “fabric” from the scraps and do some simple quilting on it to reinforce it before I start cutting sections for the backpack pieces. I will share a photo when it is done!

I have to set finishing my Firefly Tote from last night’s class aside for now as I need to get the backpack done and shipped so they can surprise their sister for Christmas!

Are you working on any last minute December projects?

A Crafter's Life

Remember Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH)

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Today would have been the 61st birthday of Terry the Quilting Husband (1960 – 2018), and I want to celebrate him on his birthday with this post.

In 2019 I began doing a remembrance post on this birthday but it was not until earlier this year, after a discussion with a friend who had lost her sibling, that I made the decision not to officially celebrate his life any longer on the date of his passing but instead on the date he came into this world.

His life was more than his sudden death at 58, he had 58 years of life, and over 30 of those with me before he left this earth and moved onto his next plane of existence.

I do not want you to be sorry for my loss, I just want you to celebrate with me this awesome man who I grew up with and became who I am as a person with during the 30+ years we were together.

Here is an excerpt from his obituary (writing his obituary was one of the most difficult things I had to do in my life – how do you summarize the life of the person who was your integral to life for 30+ years?):

Terry was a quiet and gentle soul who always treated people with respect and great kindness; a very patient person; and a loyal friend. He was an awesome husband, best friend and life-partner to his wife and made marriage a rewarding union. He was brilliant on many topics such as Military History and Military Strategy, his favorite hobbies. Terry was also a quilter and his quilts were part of the “Man Made” exhibit at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. In addition to sharing a love of quilts, he also shared with his wife a passion for dogs, and adopted numerous rescue dogs throughout his life.

Terry was a “Quilting Husband” and a “Crafting Husband” here is a photo below of him helping me on a crafting project (making the covered rope for fabric baskets that I would eventual give to his sisters and keep one for myself after his passing – see post The Last Baskets)

To my blogging friends who’ve been with me for a while – thanks for all your support and encouragement over the past couple of years as I’ve navigated my new reality of widowhood and dealing with a level of grief I did not know existed prior (and it is a terrible hobby, I do not recommend it!).

Here are the links to some posts on Terry’s creativity during his years as “TTQH”, if you’d like to take a trip down memory lane:

Update: Terry the Quilting Husband

Terry the Quilting Husband – Update

Terry the Quilting Husband Update

Terry the Quilting Husband Hard at Work

He was an amazing life partner, best friend and partner in crafting/quilting. He always believed in me and encouraged me in everything I did (or tried to do). Now that I am gaining distance from the day that he passed, I can focus more on just how lucky I was to have him in my life for so long.

I like to think that he and Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer (who passed in 2017), his amazing Mom (who passed in 2017), my Father (who loved him), and all our other rescued Miniature Schnauzers (Fritz, Snickers and Kerie), his Father, as well as his Grandfather that he loved so much, are all hanging out in the afterlife together or that their souls have all been reincarnated and they meet again somehow in their next life.

I know that I will carry TTQH always in my heart and he lives on in my memories.

Postscript

I wanted to follow up on my “oversharing” post My Etsy Shop is Now Reopened – tierneycreates is now TextilesandSmiles from Saturday. A friend reached out via email after that post and shared an AMAZING story of how she had to reinvent herself and her life after a major life change. It was one of those emails that you hold on to the rest of your life and refer to as needed.

One of the profound things she shared/reminded me of is that when the titles that we assign ourselves (“wife”, “employee of _____”, “owner of ____”, etc.) change this does not alter the CORE of who we are. We are still that CORE and it does not change by the loss of any “title”. It helped remind me that I am more than those “titles” and although I may need to reinvent myself into new titles because of life losses or changes, I am not losing my CORE.