Good Morning and here is part two of my story of the “Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat” I attended August 9 – 12, 2021 with my Washington based friends J and D. In Part I (A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part I) I shared that what began as a “bring your own project to work on quilting retreat” turned into a “let’s just make drawstring bags for 3 days obsession”!

We did do other things than make drawstring bags during our stay at the Riptide Retreat on the waterfront/beach in Shelton, Washington.

WE ENJOYED OUR COZY RETREAT CENTER

It was cluttered at times (this is what happens when you get a bunch of crafters together) but here are some scenes from the quilt retreat center (including while creativity was in progress):

In addition to the upstairs and its deck overlooking the water, the retreat center also had a downstairs with a cozy seating area, additional beds, and access to the downstairs deck.

There were only three of us at the retreat so we had plenty of space (the Riptide Retreat is set up for up to 10 attendees). J and D took the upstairs bedroom and I had the downstairs to myself – I had my own apartment! I would wake up each morning and look out on the water – it was pretty yummylicious (another fake English word like “bagalicious”, ha).

WE ENJOYED GORGEOUS VIEWS

One of the challenges of being at the Riptide Retreat (okay it was the only challenge) was not getting distracted by the gorgeous views. We keep being lured outside to sit on the upper deck and look at the water, instead of working on our drawstring bags.

I sat outside each morning with my tea and when I was not too distracted with the quiet peaceful views I worked on a blog post or two.

WE WENT SHOPPING!

The owners of the Riptide Retreat also own Annie’s Quilt Shoppe a very reasonably priced quilt shop in Shelton, Washington. We got a discount on some items because we were staying at their retreat center.

All I can say is we might have visited this shop more than once during the retreat!

During one of our visits to this quilt shop (oops I just gave our secret away) I discovered that there is actually a National Sew A Jelly Roll Day on Sept 18, 2021. So quilters get your jelly rolls ready to participate – ha!

WE HAD YUMMY FOOD

The three of us are pretty laid back when it comes to our food selections and when we eat, so we had whatever/foraging for breakfast each morning among what Judy and Dana brought (I didn’t have to bring any food since I flew to the retreat). For lunches and dinners we either ate out, ate leftovers, or J/D made a wonderful meal.

We discovered this wonderful sort of “hole in the wall” place in downtown Shelton which was actually an awesome (and super delicious) family run eatery – T’s Cafe. There I discovered the most scrumptious meatball sub on the planet:

We enjoyed dining “al fresco” on the upper deck of the retreat for several meals:

And yes, those are homemade frozen margaritas in our glasses (and I am happy to report all three of us are of legal drinking age, ha!).

WE WALKED ON THE BEACH

From the downstairs deck you can walk down another level to the beach along the water. I had a nice solo walk and with my friends on the beach.

WE DID A LOT OF RELAXING

I think some people consider a quilt retreat (or a drawstring bag retreat, ha) time to get all those projects done you could not get done at home. Well we consider a quilt retreat time to actually “retreat” from the busy world and do some relaxing.

We spent a lot of time on the upper deck reading, blogging, playing iPad games, walks around the neighborhood, catching up with each other, and watching boats go by on the canal.

Sometimes I forget just how beautiful the Pacific NW is (and I lived there for over 20 years between Washington and Oregon) until I visit it again.

Bags Bags Bags, Quilt Retreats

A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part I

September 6, 2021October 17, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Before I get into this post, I just want to clarify for anyone reading this in which English is not your primary language, that “bagalicious” is not a real word – ha!

“Drawstring-bagalicious” was the best way I can describe a small quilt retreat I attended at a beautiful location in Shelton Washington in August 2021 with my friends J and D where we ended up making drawstring bags for 3 days!

We stayed at The Riptide Retreat, a house/retreat center right on the waterfront:

I think for this post I will focus on our drawstring bag making obsession during our retreat and next post share the photos of the beautiful waterfront, the inside of the quilt retreat center, the awesome quilt shop we visited, and the yummy place we ate.

We each brought projects to work on at the retreat, and I brought some pre-cut and pre-fused fabric to make a couple drawstring bags.

Well you know how crafters are when we get together – before you knew it everyone wanted to make drawstring bags and put their planned projects aside.

J made several lovely bags (5 or 6 total) but the photo I took of them included some surprises/gifts for mutual friends, so I am not going to post the photo of her bags.

I will just share images of some of the bags D and I made.

Here are D’s first set of drawstring bags, including some fun photoshoots she did with her completed bags:

D started out making one extra large drawstring bag with the Ruby Star/Sarah Watts fabric – Purl (which I now own in several colorways the fabric is so yummy!) and then she became obsessed and made them in every size from on the pattern (we all got the pattern for the drawstring bags by Sotak Handmade)!

I plan to totally copy D’s interpretation of the pattern design and make the same drawstring bag. The photos do not do it justice – it was so freakin’ cute!

She went on and made more and along the way we worked out ways to make the drawstring bags faster and more efficiently. We basically had a Drawstring Bag Workshop! I can now make them in my sleep!

Here is an example of a trick to make sure the seams stay flat that J came up with and D used on one of her bags – press the seams open during early assembly:

D also got creative on her drawstring bag design and started added labels made from the fabric selvage:

Another idea I am totally stealing when I make more bags in the future.

Here are more of D’s completed bags and her fun photoshoots on the deck against the waterfront:

And here are some of the bags I made and some fun photoshoots I took with the waterfront in the background off the back deck:

If you haven’t figured this out from the photos, part of the fun of making the drawstring bags is not only selecting the external/outside bag fabric but also choosing a coordinating interior fabric. We had fun sharing fabrics and picking up more from the local quilt shop! We also had fun selecting the ribbon/cord for the drawstrings and went on shopping adventure one day just to buy more drawstring materials! Yes we were obsessed!

We even made the same bags when we’d seen another’s completed drawstring bag and want to make it also (any everyone was so generous with sharing their fabric and our dwindling supply of interfacing).

More to come on our retreat to including what we did when we weren’t sitting around making drawstring bags (and photographing them)!

tierneytravels

Wilmington, North Carolina in Color

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

This is sort of Part II of my post from yesterday, Wilmington, North Carolina in Black and White. We also took photos in color and I wanted to share a little more from our trip to Wilmington, NC for my partner John’s business meetings.

Let’s get started with THE BEACH!

In yesterday’s post I provided a little preview with this B&W photo I took after we parked our rental car and were headed to the beach:

Well here are some in color photos from our afternoon on the North Carolina coast:

There was something special about being on the East Coast of the US at the Atlantic Ocean again. It seems like I’ve spent a lot of my life (living in Seattle for 8 years and Oregon for 14 years) on the West Coast near or on the Pacific Ocean.

I grew up on the East Coast (Long Island and Upstate NY) and there was something so nostalgic about swimming in the Atlantic Ocean again! Now for me there was not much swimming as the waves were very active and even while standing on the shore I got knocked down by some forceful waves. John was braver and headed in deeper than I did.

A special treat of being on the Carolina coastline/Atlantic Ocean for the afternoon was all the SEASHELLS!

I spent part of the afternoon at the beach hunting for perfect seashells. I felt like I was a kid again wandering the seashore looking for shells!

Here is my haul:

And yes I have not been landlocked so long in Colorado that I thought the rock (with red arrow) was a seashell – ha! It was just a cool rock I found on the shore that wanted to come home with me!

We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean (had one of my favs for lunch – fish tacos!):

Since we were in a touristy coastal town, we had to of course indulge in the obligatory visit to the handmade candy shop (though we stayed away from the standard “salt water taffy” and fudge) and buy a caramel apple – yum!

Although tasty, it was not the best caramel covered candy apple we’ve ever had, that honor belongs to a candy shop in Estes Park, Colorado at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park (see post Rocky Mountain National Park).

Here are a couple more photos, this time in color, from the wander about downtown Wilmington I mentioned in yesterday’s post:

There was beautiful foliage everywhere. Definitely different types of plants than I see in Colorado!

Here we are at the shopping center I mentioned in yesterday’s post, before having dinner with his colleagues at a restaurant called “Port Land” instead of “Portland”.

Did you notice I managed not to cut off anyone’s head in the selfie above? Well that is because I think John took the selfie for me!

I will close this post with some photos that John took of the beautiful sunset on the river as we spent the early evening wandering the Wilmington Riverwalk:

Life in B&W, tierneytravels

Wilmington, North Carolina in Black and White

September 1, 2021September 2, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A couple weeks ago my partner John had a 5 day business trip in Wilmington, North Carolina. Since I am not currently working (see post News) I accompanied him and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer stayed with the dog babysitter (Mike will do a post in the future about his adventures at “Dog Camp” for little dogs).

We stayed at the Embassy Suites on the Wilmington Riverfront, and each morning I went on a walk along the river to explore and take photos, many in Black & White. As some of you might remember I like to pretend I am a photographer and do B&W photoshoots (see my blog post category Life in B&W if you want to see more of my delusional photography…).

Here are some select B&W photos from my trip that I want to share with you (as usual I took a ridiculous amount of photos).

WANDERING ABOUT THE WILMINGTON RIVERWALK

The Wilmington Riverwalk is amazing and I was glad it was right outside our hotel!

Here is the photo that I would call “The Money Shot” (like they do in Hollywood) – it is my favorite photo I took along the Wilmington Riverwalk:

I love the reflection of the clouds on the water!

OLD BUILDINGS

I was fascinated by the old buildings I encountered while wandering around downtown Wilmington one day.

AROUND DOWNTOWN

Wandering around Downtown Wilmington…

THE RAILROAD MUSEUM

I thought I would get time to visit the Railroad Museum while I was there because I love railroads but time got away from me and I will have to save it for next time. I did take some photos though…

THE BEACH

Wilmington is on the North Carolina coast and we did spend an afternoon, when John was able to get out of meetings early, at the beach/ocean. Most of those photos were in color and I will share them on another post, but here is my one B&W photo at the on my way walk to the beach from where we parked.

BLOGGING CENTRAL

Our hotel room had a separate living room/kitchenette area from the bedroom area. Between the kitchenette and the living room was a desk set up. While on the trip I spent a bit of time catching up on reading blog posts as well as writing some posts. I took a photo of the desk I worked from in our hotel room:

I really enjoyed pretending I am a photographer! I also really enjoyed Wilmington, North Carolina!

John will be returning in the future for more business trips and there is a lot more to explore.

I also met some of his wonderful colleagues that live in North Carolina at a company dinner and look forward to spending time with them again. We dined at a place called the Port Land Grille (and yes after living in the Pacific NW I got a giggle over the name…) and I will close this post with a photo from the shopping center next to the restaurant.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part V

August 30, 2021August 31, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is my final installment on my series of blog posts about my first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop. Thanks to everyone that made it through the first four posts covering days one and two of my adventure to visit all 11 quilt shops so I could complete my “shop hop passport” and get my Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop commemorative pin:

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part IV (DAY TWO)

On day three of the shop hop my partner John and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer joined me and we traveled to the last three shops I need to complete my passport Ruth’s Stitchery, Sew-Ciety, and Sew in Tune:

RUTH’S STITCHERY

Our first stop was Ruth’s Stitchery in Colorado Springs, the shop we attempted to visit on day one of shop hopping but they closed at 3:00 pm. This is also the shop that is next door to a woodworking shop:

So while my woodworking partner John, with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer in a backpack on his back, wandered about Woodcraft, I wandered inside Ruth’s Stitchery.

The shop was much larger than it looked from the outside. I thought it would be a quick “in and out” to get my passport stamped, collect the mini panel for the shop, but instead I wandered for quite a while and bought a couple items. Here are a couple photos from inside the shop (in the first photo you will see their interpretation of the completed shop hop quilt using all the mini panels and one of the large panels:

SEW IN TUNE

The next shop on our third day shop hop adventure was Sew in Tune in Monument, Colorado. Not only was the shop absolutely darling with it’s camping theme, but the town of Monument was so beautiful! John and I plan to do a day trip back there just to wander around.

Here are a couple images for Monument, CO (from TripAdvisor and from HomesOnlineToday):

Yes it is actually that beautiful and looks like what you think Colorado should look like (at least in my mind). John and I were having a fantasy of retiring there someday!

Okay so back to quilt shop hopping – here are some photos from inside the adorable quilt shop in Monument – Sew in Tune (oh and the staff were super friendly):

As you see in the photos above, they had two versions/interpretations of the shop hop quilt using each of the large panels. I ended up buying the patterns as I really liked their designs (each shop that created an interpretation/design of how the shop hop quilt should look, also sold the pattern).

SEW-CIETY

The last shop I needed to visit to complete my shop hop passport was Sew-Ciety in Castle Rock, CO. We did not watch our time very well (my fault for too much wandering) and we discovered the shop was closing at 3:00 pm! We arrived to the shop at 2:55 pm and all I had time to do was get my passport stamped before they closed.

I did not get to take any photos in that quilt shop but it looked like a nice shop and I will return at a later time to actually look around.

I did however get to turn in my completed stamped quilt shop hop passport to them (to be entered into the shop hop drawing); and I got my commemorative pin for completing the shop hop!

Yes it was a lot of work for a free pin but it was so fun to be introduced to a lot of quilt shops in Colorado.

Adventures in Hand Quilting, tierneycreates

Seattle Scrappy is Done!

August 29, 2021April 22, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was going to give you the last post in the series of posts on my first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop but I thought I would just do a quick post and tell you all that “Seattle Scrappy” is done!

If you are just joining us – “Seattle Scrappy” is a quilt I pieced from my friend Dana’s scraps at a quilt retreat in early 2020 (pre-Covid pandemic) in a free form log cabin quilt style. Then I took over a year to hand quilt it. After I finished hand quilting it, I had the tierneycreates blog readers help me select the binding.

If you happen to be curious on the full story on this quilt and its journey to completion, here are all the posts:

Of course you might be thinking: “Tierney maybe you would have had the quilt completed sooner if you weren’t blogging about it so much!” – ha!

So here is quilt with the binding on, fresh out of the dryer. I like to wash and dry utility quilts after I put the binding on (I do not wash art quilts):

I gave it little pressing and now it hung in our bedroom so I can look at it each morning when I wake up!

I better get another hand quilting project started before winter starts! I was definitely fun to sit under the quilt while I was hand quilting it in the colder months.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part IV

August 23, 2021August 23, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am now on the 4th installment on my series of posts on the first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop that I attended.

In my three previous posts (Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I, Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II, and Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III) I was on the “Day One” road trip with my partner John and our Miniature Schnauzer Mike (who was working quilt shop staff for treats). For “Day Two”, over a week later (because I was out of town for a quilt retreat but that is another post) I continued the shop hop on my own.

I visited 4 shops, trying to knock out more on the 11 quilt shop visit requirement to complete my shop hop passport in order to be entered to win the grand prize (and get the lovely pin for completing the shop hop):

The 4 shops I visited on my own have red boxes around them in the graphic below:

Two of the shops really impressed me with their fabric selections, interiors and friendliness of staff. Those are the ones I took photos inside. I spent a very long time at Treelotta – the staff was wonderful, I chatted with other quilters and they had an AMAZING selection of fabrics!

The Creative Needle, Littleton, CO

Treelotta, Englewood, CO

I also have this photo but I am not sure which shop it is from! It might be from one of the other two I visited, but is it is a lovely interpretation of how to make a quilt from the mini panels you collect from each shop and one of the larger panels you can purchase during the shop hop:

So that was “Day Two” of the shop hop. I have one more post to share with you about the shop hop and John and Mike join me again for “Day Three”.

A Crafter's Life, Agriculture Report

Awesome Surprise Treats in the Mail!

August 21, 2021October 25, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Usually my blog post stories are running a couple weeks behind (at least) in what is currently going on in my life. My @tierneycreates Instagram is more up to date. Well this blog post is actually current with my life like my Instagram.

I returned home from nearly a week in Wilmington, North Carolina with my partner John (who was on a business trip) and guess what I had in the mail?

A YUMMY surprise all the way from South Africa!

My longtime blogging buddy Mariss (@fabrications) back in June sent me the goodies pictured above which included two of her handmade pin cushions, and 2 months later they arrived!

In addition to the pin cushions, I was surprised with some amazing Nelson Mandela fabric!

Bet you do not see this everyday!

Of course it is too precious to use, so maybe I will just frame it. Okay, okay, maybe I will use it in a project some day…maybe…

I’ve been blogging for nearly 8 years and I’ve met some pretty incredible and talented people from all over the world. Several of those people have been so generous in sending me treats in mail over the years. I’ve sent out treats also of course. You all know who you are and I so appreciate you!

And I am going to be putting together some special treats for Mariss in the near future (for their 2 months+ journey to South Africa)!

Postscripts

One of my blogging buddies @quiteayarnblog has an ongoing series called “Agriculture Report” whose title always cracks me up because it is an update of what is going on in her garden.

In the same vein, I thought I would share my own “Agriculture Report” and share what to me is some exciting news:

I was able to grow enough basil to make Pesto
I was able to grow enough tomatoes to make ONE dish

You might be wondering: “why is this exciting” or “why is this news”?!?!?

Well after living many years in places such as Seattle and Central Oregon where growing “crops” was not that challenging (especially not in Seattle where it seemed like you could just throw seeds on the ground in passing and you’d have a bumper crop of whatever), I’ve been living in Denver, Colorado where growing things is challenging. We have a short growing season.

Last year I tried my first patio garden on the upper deck with meager results. This year, and perhaps it was because we had an unseasonably large amount of rain, I had good (well for Denver) results!

Here is my “bumper crop” of basil (enough for ONE batch of Pesto):

And here is my “bumper crop” of Roma and Cherry tomatoes (enough to make ONE dish):

Now it could just be me because when I first moved to the Denver area I took Mike the Miniature Schnauzer to a groomer near Boulder, Colorado and she had an amazing garden. I might just need to learn how to garden here!

Then I can provide better “Agriculture Reports” in the future (smile).

A Crafter's Life

Thinking About Kindness

August 20, 2021August 20, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately and appreciate those moments of kindness I get to witness.

It seems I’ve been doing a ridiculous amount of travel lately within the U.S., and a couple weeks ago I witnessed kindness while sitting on an airplane.

Kindness on an Airplane

A man likely in his late 30s ended up sitting next to an elderly couple, perhaps in their 80s. The wife sat in the middle row and the husband sat on the aisle seat. The husband was VERY hard of hearing and his wife had to basically yell at him for him to hear anything that was said. The wife was very friendly and began engaging the man at the window seat in conversation. The husband wanted to be part of the conversation too so the wife had to yell into her husband’s ear any questions/responses/discussions so that her husband could feel part of the conversation.

I was sitting in the row behind these three thinking: “whew I am so glad I did not end up in that row”. All I could think is that I would have put my headphones on very quickly and stuck my nose in my book.

I thought the window seat man would grow weary from the convoluted conversation but instead he was warm and very engaged and when he asked the elderly man what he used to for a living before he retired, the husband lit up and began telling the younger man interesting stories from his previous work life. I could sense how much he appreciated being asked and being listened to even though he was so hard of hearing.

I was amazed at the kindness of the younger man in the window seat and the gift he gave the older man: the gift of respect, listening, and kindness.

Kindness in the Community

A week later I was walk my dog Mike through the park near my house and noticed a couple actively cleaning up the park with grabber devices and trash bags, which were very full. I walked over to them and thanked them for keeping our park clean. They responded: “We are retired and have the time, we feel the least we could do it keep our community clean”.

What kindness they showed to our community!

Kindness in the Neighborhood

That same day I returned home from my dog walk to find my partner John mowing the lawn of my next door neighbors who just had a baby. Usually the husband keeps his lawn looking lovely but he was very busy with working and the new baby.

John not only mowed their lawn and their curb lawn area, but he also edged and trimmed the neighbors’ property, leaving it looking spectacular. They of course were most appreciative.

It might have taken John and extra 30 minutes of lawn care time but I know he felt good after being so kind to the neighbors. Because kindness is rewarding to the receiver and the giver!

I keep looking out for opportunities to witness simple (or large) acts of kindness on a daily basis by my fellow humans; and I hope that no matter what I am going through in life I can demonstrate kindness on a daily basis.

Feel free in the comments below to share your musings on kindness or any recent acts of kindness you’ve witnessed.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III

August 19, 2021August 20, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am sitting my hotel room in Wilmington, North Carolina as I’ve joined my partner John for the week on his business trip. It’s been a surprisingly very busy summer of travel (and we’ve careful, safe and are vaccinated). I wonder if all this “make up” travel post 2020 pandemic is only a brief moment in time as things may return to 2020 lockdown levels. I am thinking of/sending good thoughts to my blogging buddies in NZ and AU and anywhere in our world else facing 2020ish lockdowns again. I do know how fortunate I am right now to be able to travel.

This post I am continuing my series of posts on my partner John, my Miniature Schnauzer Mike, and I attending our first Rocky Mountain Shop Hop (which included quilt shops from Englewood Colorado to Pueblo Colorado). If you are just joining us, here are the links to the two previous posts:

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II

So in the previous post we had traveled to the wrong quilt shop (First Stitches in Canon City) which was not part of the Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop and returned to Pueblo, CO to stop at the correct shop:

Here was their version of the completed 2021 shop hop quilt using one of the large panels I mentioned in the first post on this series:

I do not remember if I mentioned it or not, but I did buy both the large panels from the 2021 shop hop – the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” one; and the Colorado Map one.

Then it was off to lunch on the Pueblo Riverwalk, which according to puebloriverwalk.org:

The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo (HARP) is a 32-acre urban waterfront experience open to the Public daily. The Riverwalk returned the Arkansas River to its historic location at the heart of downtown Pueblo, after being diverted in the 1920s due to a devastating flood that destroyed much of Pueblo. The Riverwalk’s current location serves the community by revitalizing a segment of the downtown area that was previously unsightly and unusable. This urban development transforms the community and has been vital in attracting new businesses, thereby helping to stabilize the economic base of the city. The Arkansas River has been the lifeblood of Pueblo for over 300 years. Native Americans followed the river for hunting and trapping. Early settlers came as sheepherders and cattlemen. Agriculture blossomed in Pueblo’s warmer climate and the steel industry used the bountiful water resources to build a massive manufacturing center.

Before eating lunch on the patio (so Mike the Miniature Schnauzer could join us) the Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, we went for a walk along the Riverwalk in Pueblo and were surprised how cool it was (I love the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas and I did not think it would be as cool as that one).

Here are some photos from our stroll on the Riverwalk in Pueblo:

We wander the Riverwalk while waiting for our table to become available at the Brewery and were sort of disappointed when we got the text that the table was ready sooner than they originally said. We wanted to explore the area a little longer.

We had a delicious lunch at Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, I had the vegan tacos with fried avocados and John had a local speciality called a “Slopper” which is an open faced hamburger smothered in green chili.

Mike had some doggy snacks were brought and glared at his imaginary nemesis – another dog dining outside on the patio (Mike I guess wanted to be the only dog on the patio).

It was a little warm in the shade of the patio so we put an ice cube on Mike’s head to help him cool down from walking the Riverwalk:

Here we are enjoying our craft beer at the brewery:

I know, I know, another masterfully snapped selfie by me (should find an online selfie snapping training program!)

After lunch we headed to Colorado Spring, CO to continue the shop hop and arrived at High Country Quilts, one of the friendliest quilt shops I’ve ever been to!

I had fun chatting with the staff at the shop as well as other quilters/shop hoppers. I spent much longer in this shop than I had anticipated (and bought more than I had anticipated, ha!)

Little did I know that the second shop in Colorado Springs, CO closed at 3 pm and I was about to miss out crossing it off my shop hop list because I spent too long at the first shop I went to in Colorado Springs!

When we arrived (too late but did not know it yet) to Ruth’s Stitchery in Colorado Springs, my partner John (whose hobby is woodworking) was greeted with a wonderful surprise: the quilt shop is next to Woodcraft a woodworking shop!

He and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (in his backpack) headed into Woodcraft for a wander and I headed over to the quilt shop to discover it was closed. I was so disappointed as it meant we would have to drive 70+ minutes back to Colorado Springs before the shop hop ended on August 21; but I was able to entertain myself while John and Mike were wandering the woodworking shop – there was a large charity thrift shop in the same shopping center!

After Colorado Springs we headed home from day one of the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop – we were tired and I had reached my limit (too many quilt shops in one day makes going into quilt shops less special).

However there are more quilt shops to come in the next post in the series as I was determined to visit all 11 and complete the shop hop!

Here are summary of Day One – 4 shops total (red stars):

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Now it’s time for Part II on my 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop Adventures, which started with the post Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I.

Our first Colorado Quilt Shop Hop adventure began in Fountain, CO and in this post we have made it to Pueblo, Colorado for the second leg of our adventure.

But first let’s talk about this:

This is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer working a quilt shop staff member at Stitcher’s Garden in Pueblo, CO for treats! Curiously they happen to have a bag of doggy treats in the back stockroom and Mike was fed many of them!

It was very warm during the shop hop and we wanted to bring Mike the Mini Schnauzer on the road trip but not leave him the car, so it was backpacking into the quilt shops for him!

All the shops were “dog-in-a-backpack-friendly” and I think he gained a couple pounds from treats during the shop hop!

Luckily there we some nice local town parks or scenic walks that my partner John could take him on if I needed some extended time in any quilt shop. Mike enjoyed riding around in the backseat of the car with this cozy blanket and the cooler filled with our sparkling waters, soda, and snacks for roadtripping. (He just wished he had opposable thumbs so he could open the cooler when he wanted and grab his own snack!)

The first quilt shop we visited in Pueblo was Stitcher’s Garden and here are some photos from that shop so you can have a virtual shop hop experience:

Did you see the Batik fabric cowboy boots in one of the above photos? Those made me laugh! They were not wearable but they would be a funny decorative/storage item for your quilting room! And did you notice the giant bag of treats the quilt shop staff member had in her hand while she was petting her new friend Mike?!?!?!

So far our quilt shop hop was going well until….

After our visit to that first quilt shop in Pueblo, CO, my understanding was that we had one more quilt shop in Pueblo on the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop but when my partner John put the shop’s name “First Stitches” into his Google Maps the directions said the shop was in Canon City, CO. So we listened to Google Maps instead of our COMMON SENSE and headed out 41 miles to Canon City (do you see where this is headed…not in the right direction…).

The staff at the First Stitches quilt shop were warm and friendly and when I asked for them to punch my Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop ticket (which gives you credit for visiting each shop) they said: “Oh we are not participating in the shop hop, our ORIGINAL SHOP in PUEBLO is participating”.

Oh my.

So we drove back to Pueblo, tried Google Maps again and found the correct shop.

But, I had a lovely time at the wrong shop and here are photos from the First Stitches quilt shop in Canon City, CO:

I even bought some beautiful Ruby Star Society butterfly fabric at the unnecessary-stop-quilt-shop. John felt bad about the accidental side trip but it was just as much my fault as his for not using that thing called COMMON SENSE and double checking the Rocky Mountain Shop Hop quilt shop list!

After going to the correct shop which I quickly ran into, go my shop hop “passport” stamped and ran out because at this point we were so hungry, we went to the Riverwalk in Pueblo lunch, which was more beautiful than I anticipated.

I’ll save that and our next quilt shop adventure along the shop hop for my next post.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve lived in Colorado for over 2 years now but I’ve never been to a “Quilt Store Shop Hop” like those I used to attend when I lived in Seattle, WA (where I began quilting) and Bend, Oregon.

On August 6th my partner John, my Miniature Schnauzer Mike, and I attended our first Rocky Mountain Shop Hop which included quilt shops from Englewood Colorado to Pueblo Colorado.

To enter the big drawing you had to visit all 11 shops but they give you 17 days to do it (August 5th through August 21st). You also get a special Rocky Mountain Shop Hop completion pin unique for 2021.

The coolest thing is that each participating shop has a unique Colorado themed mini panel that you can collect (for $5) to create along with the major panels, a Colorado themed quilt.

Here are all the mini panels:

And here are the two larger panels which can be configured into many different quilt designs (each shop had their own sampler quilt, pattern and kit for a Colorado themed quilt.

This is the Colorado map large panel:

Here it is shown in a Colorado themed quilt at the first quilt shop we visited on the hop, Na-La’s Quilt Shop in Fountain, Colorado. (sorry that the photo is a little blurry)

The other large panel focused on the famous/iconic “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign located near the Utah and Colorado border:

Here are a couple quilts from different shops on the Rocky Mountain Shop Hop featuring that panel:

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the first shop we visited on the shop hop was ed quilt at the first quilt shop we visited on the hop, Na-La’s Quilt Shop in Fountain, Colorado.

It was a wonderful place to start our shop hop as the staff was so inviting and friendly and they provided yummy snacks!

So you can have a virtual shop hop experience, here are some photos of the shop I took as I wandered about.

The shop had a fabulous collection of antique sewing machines all around the shop, here are a few:

An interesting thing about the shop is that you did not enter via the front door. Instead you entered through this really cool side door. The shop was located in downtown Fountain, CO and the building where the shop was located was obviously historic.

I overheard while in the shop, when another customer asked, the reason for the side door entry was a leftover from having to control entry during COVID pandemic restrictions.

More to come on my first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop adventure but I thought I would get started sharing with this post.

tierneytravels

Weekend at The Broadmoor

August 7, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Back in May my partner John took me for a weekend at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It was absolutely amazing! Here is the image from the front page of the resort website:

And from their website:

We began welcoming guests in Colorado Springs in 1918 and have remained one of the most recognizable and celebrated hotels in the world. Our distinctive blend of history, luxury and genuine hospitality has made us the longest-running consecutive winner of both the AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Five-Star awards. We continue that legacy with an unmatched selection of accommodations, activities, and experiences that invite guests to immerse themselves in the beauty and traditions of the American West.

I’ve never stayed at a place so luxurious!

Our hotel room had it’s own doorbell:

John got us a room overlooking the lake and I forgot to take photos inside the room but here is a YouTube video of some video footage I took:

Our hotel room was basically an apartment with a walk-in closet and a bathroom bigger than the room I rented when I was first in college! And we were in a “middle level” room as there were many more luxurious suites and cottages you could reserve (for high level prices!).

The hotel/resort is so beautiful and although it was overcast and a little rainy the weekend we visited I still got some lovely images to give you a feel for the place:

Throughout the hotel there was a historic and European vibe as well as endless places to sit and relax.

I brought my English Paper Piecing with me and we had a lovely time in the evenings sitting around crafting (me) and reading/playing on iPad (John). Although there were a lot of guests, there were lots of cozy nooks you could find to nest in at the hotel.

There was also a LIBRARY! The resort had an amazing library nook/room with delicious cozy places to nest and read their huge collection of books (which you could borrow and take to your room):

As you can imagine, I spent a bit of time in the library. John and I hung out there for quite a while and I snuck back on my own, ha!

We noticed people walking around the grounds in long bathrobes and wondered what was going on.

Well they were coming from the spa area. In our room we had a set of long bathrobes and decided “when in Rome…”, put them on and headed to the spa/pool area ourselves.

It was so fun to walk around the grounds in our robes – here is John walking about in his robe:

Notice in his hand is his poker themed tote bag that I made him (see post Ready for the Poker Tournament ), he takes it everywhere with him!

We enjoyed the indoor pool as well as the amazing outdoor jacuzzi which overlooked the golf course:

I did not want to leave the jacuzzi but I was getting waterlogged after a while!

And speaking the golf course, The Broadmoor has an amazing golf course. John and I both play golf (he is way better than I am) and next time we visit we plan to book a tee time.

Many celebrities, politicians, heads of state, authors, etc. have stayed at The Broadmoor over the years. The resort has a whole section in one of its hallways dedicated to photos of famous people who have stayed there:

I took of course a ridiculous amount of photos (there were endless photographic moments), but I will just share one more group of photos – The Broadmoor has an amazing “Prohibition” collection of “fine spirits” from the early 20th Century:

It was a memorable birthday celebration weekend and I look forward to returning someday (like when it is sunny!)

Studio

Are You a Peeker?

August 5, 2021August 6, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I know that sounds like a really personal question doesn’t it? (I am a proud “peeker” but we’ll get into that in a moment…)

I’m about to ask those of you who quilt/put bindings on projects some really deeply personal questions, are you ready?

Working on sewing on the quilt binding that won the votes (see posts Help Me Pick the Binding for Seattle Scrappy! and And the Winner of the Binding Fabric Poll is…) yesterday got me wondering what other crafters’ practices are related to sewing on a binding.

First a couple questions related to the initial sewing on of the binding to the quilt:

Are You a Peeker?

When you first sew the binding onto to the quilt (before you hand stitch or machine stitch it down), do you peek after your first couple inches or so to see how the binding is going to look finished?

I do! I am a proud peeker! As soon as I have enough binding sewn on to the quilt I flip the edge it over to the backside so I can see how it is going to look:

It is just so pleasing to me and like instant gratification to see a preview of how the finishing quilt binding will look!

Do You Measure or Eyeball?

When it comes to turning a corner on a quilt when initially sewing on the binding, do you eyeball the quarter inch (or whatever measurement you use), or do you whip out the ruler and measure?

I am an “eyeballer” and so far it has served me well (but I have screwed up a couple times). Occasionally, as you can see in the image above, I do also pin it in place before sewing down the next section after turning the corner.

Now a couple questions related to hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt after you’ve initially sewn it on:

How Do You Do Your Corners?

After you finish initially sewing on the binding, do you sew all the corners of the binding first and then sew down the rest along the quilt; or do you just start at one section and work your way around the quilt?

What I do is preview the corners, that they are sitting correctly and sometimes leave some pins or some clips in the corner, and then I randomly select a place to start to sew down the binding and work my way around the quilt.

And the most private and personal question of all (smile):

How Do You Select Thread Color to Sew Down to Back?

I’ve always struggled with this – do you go with trying to match the color of the binding or the color of the backing/back of the quilt?

I went with what was in my sewing machine – a medium-ish gray and I hope it works between the medium-dark binding color and the light gray backing!

I think that is enough probing questions.

Okay, so in the comments below feel free to share your most personal binding related secrets – it’s OK you’re among friends (smile)!

Postscript

I was also going to ask how do you initially measure how much binding you need to bind a quilt? I eyeball it by holding up my fabrics strips, that will be made into the binding, up to the quilt. But many times I end up with this situation: too much leftover binding…

Studio

And the Winner of the Binding Fabric Poll is…

August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Okay we are doing this in sort of “real time” as I have not looked at the final poll results yet, and I am going to do it while I type this post!

Wait to back up in case you are just joining us – in my July 30, 2021 post Help Me Pick the Binding for Seattle Scrappy! I asked for my blogging buddies to vote on which binding fabric I should use for the quilt Seattle Scrappy which I recently finished hand quilting.

Thanks so much to those of you who voted, and the winner is (drumroll as I am about to peek at the results myself)…

A TIE BETWEEN FABRIC B AND FABRIC D!

Okay it is up to me to break the tie.

As much as I love fabric D, I have thought about several of the comments that were left on the post about framing the quilt in a darker fabric and I am going to go with Fabric B for the binding.

So I will start assembling the Fabric B binding and share photos when I get the quilt binded…bound…when I finish attaching the binding (smile).

Feature image Photo by Case Hubbart on Unsplash

What's on the Design Wall

Creating a back for a “Legendary” quilt

August 1, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been doing a lot of “tierneycreate-ing” since returning from a visit with my brother and his family on the East Coast. As you saw in my previous post Help Me Pick the Binding for Seattle Scrappy!, I recently finished hand quilting a quilt (see Postscript section for an update on the poll/vote on which binding I should select); and yesterday I finished making a backing for my Sasquatch/Yeti quilt (the pattern by Elizabeth Hartman is called Legendary) that I most recently discussed in the post What’s On the Design Wall: Sasquatch Quilt Top Completed .

For the backing I wanted to use some scraps of the fabrics used to make the trees, but not go crazy on making a scrappy back. I also wanted to use a pieced tree that my friend Kathy gave to me when she gave me most of the fabric/scraps to make this quilt (which she had also inherited from our friend Dana when she made hers).

So I pieced around the tree block I had from Kathy and used larger scraps to frame it:

I am pretty pleased with the pieced quilting backing – it provides some visual interest to the back of the quilt and it honors the gift that Kathy gave me.

Recently I was talking to Dana and discovered she wants to. make another one (you can see her first one in this post Sasquatch Sightings), and so I am going to give her all the remaining scraps (which I am sure include scraps/fabric she originally gave to Kathy) from making this quilt.

Talk about “circle of life”, well I should say “circle of quilt“!

Oh and here is Dana’s completed quilt which started it all (I’ve seen it in person and wanted to take a nap under it when visiting her home…my understanding is her husband takes naps under it all the time during the colder seasons):

“Legendary” pieced by Dana and quilted by Krista

Now I am deciding whether to machine quilt it myself on my sewing machine or send it to a long-arm quilter. Krista Moser, longarm quilter extraordinaire, in the Seattle area did the quilting on Dana’s quilt. I am thinking about sending it to her as I’ve used her before on several quilts and she does an amazing job. The only challenge is she is super backlogged because she is so good!

Postscript

Thanks so much to so many of you that weighed in with your suggestion of which binding I should use for my Seattle Scrappy quilt that I discussed most recently on my previous post Help Me Pick the Binding for Seattle Scrappy!.

I tried inserting a poll into my post for the first time in the new WordPress Editor (that many of us have groaned about) and it seemed to be working. I had to navigate within My Sites > Feedback to locate the link Crowdsignal, which appears to power the polls, in order to look at the results, but here are the results so far if you are curious:

So far it looks like Fabric D is the winner but Fabric B is close behind. I am going to wait until Monday evening to see which fabric wins and gets to be making into the binding. Again – thanks for everyone’s input – its been fun to “crowdsource” my binding decision (smile)!

There still is time to vote and it appears you can only vote on my actual webpage, not the WP Reader.

Adventures in Hand Quilting, Fabric Scraps Obsession

Help Me Pick the Binding for Seattle Scrappy!

July 30, 2021April 22, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Okay time to take a break from “tierneytravels” and get back to “tierneycreates” (smile).

It only took like a year+ but I’ve finally finished hand quilting a lap sized free form log cabin quilt I started back in January 2020 at a quilting retreat which I named “Seattle Scrappy”. Now I need your help to decide which fabric to use for the quilt binding.

I know crafters are opinionated and like helping other crafters with their design, so I am looking for your opinions.

But first here is a little quick background on the piece and some additional photos.

In January 2020 (before the pandemic was a reality) I attended a mini quilt retreat with a couple quilting friends in Poulsbo, Washington. I brought a couple hand work projects and had EVERY INTENTION of only working on my hand work projects. But, my dear quilting friend Dana brought an extra sewing machine (one her her Berninas, and I love Berninas) and a BAG OF GRAY FABRIC SCRAPS for me to play with – oh no!
Out of that bag of scraps came a whole lots of free form pieces log cabin blocks and you can read about those in this post – What’s on the…Design Carpet.
Since February 2020 I’ve had a series of posts on the evolution of this quilt:
I’ve had an update or two on my @tierneycreates Instagram feed since these posts but basically I’ve just been plugging along (when I remember to work on it) hand stitching it with perle/pearl cotton thread.
Last night I finally finished stitching it; and this morning I trimmed off the extra batting on the edges!

I didn’t have the best light when I quickly took these photos this morning, but they give you a general idea of the hand quilted quilt.

Now it’s time to choose the binding (this is where you come in) and here are the four options I am considering:

As you can see they are all some shade of gray. You might be thinking: “Well Tierney, what about the turquoise, aqua, or the burnt orange in the piece?” I did think about those for a moment but first of all I do not have enough of any of those fabrics to create a binding; and second I do not want to frame it in a strong color. I want to frame it in a gray.

So here are the four gray fabrics up close up against the quilt for you to select from when you share your thoughts:

A – fabric with faux stitching pattern

B – medium-dark gray fabric

C – medium gray fabric

D – variegated gray fabric (the tone/shade of gray will change along the binding

Here is a poll below for you to vote and I will report back on the result of the poll and my final decision (which will likely be heavily influenced by your votes):

****If you’d like to participate in voting/respond to the poll, you have to go to my actual website. It will not show in the WordPress Reader, sorry (thanks @tammiepainter for making me aware). If you are in the WP Reader, click on “Visit Site”.****

I’d appreciate any additional thoughts you have in addition to your vote in the Comments section of this post.

Please note however, I will only tally votes through the poll above just to make sure I do not duplicate votes, thanks!

Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part IV

July 27, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am sitting in the Philadelphia airport and I figure this is a great time to complete this series of posts about the trip my visiting sister and I took in June 2021 from Denver to Glenwood Springs, Colorado via Amtrak train.

See these posts for Parts I – III if you are just joining us:

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part III

After an amazing weekend, it was time to take the train back to Denver.

This time we decided to sit on the opposite side of the train (right instead of left) that we did going to Glenwood Springs to try and get different views. Now you could argue we sat on the same side of the train on the way back as we did the way there, as we were on the left side going there and the right side going back…but I think you know what I mean…

Oh and I forgot to mention in the post Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II, we did have to wear a mask the entire time on the train.

So here are some of my favorite photos (we both took a ridiculous amount of photos out the train window) on the train ride back to Denver which include the sunset (we traveled to Glenwood Springs on a morning train; the return train is an afternoon train ride):

And of course the photos do not do justice to the actual beauty of the scenery but it was the best we could do looking out a UV protected film window on the train!

It was pretty late when we got into Denver as the train got delayed on the ride home.

The next day we laid low, relaxed around the house and played with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer. I will close this post (and this series of posts on our adventure) with some darling photos we took of my sister and Mike.

Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part III

July 25, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am visiting my brother and his family on the Eastern Coast of the U.S. right now and spent yesterday in New York City, but that is subject material for a future blog post (it seems like instead of “tierneycreates”, lately I am “tierneytravels”). For now I will continue my series of posts about the adventure I had with my sister in June 2021 traveling to Glenwood Spring, Colorado via Amtrak train.

If you are just joining us, here are Parts I and II (there will be a total of 4 parts when this series is complete):

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II

In Glenwood Springs

Arriving in Glenwood Springs via train, we first took in the beautiful scenery around the train station:

After checking into the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at, The Floradora House, we headed out to explore the downtown area and visit the brewery that I enjoyed on my first visit to Glenwood Springs – Casey’s Brewing.

Here we are hanging out at Casey’s Brewing:

Yes, look it is another selfie where I am not looking at the camera – ha!

Downtown Glenwood Springs is lovely and we had fun wandering about the shops and restaurants.

Glenwood Springs has two historic hotels: The Hotel Denver and The Hotel Colorado. They are on opposite sides of the bridge connecting one section of Glenwood Springs to the other.

Bridge over review connecting sections of Glenwood Springs

Our Bed & Breakfast accommodations were within walking distance of downtown and here is the wonderful room we shared:

Even better than the beautiful room was the fun we had at the included breakfast each morning, visiting with other guests visiting from around the U.S. and Canada. Here is the wonderful main floor guest dining area and a sampling of the breakfasts.

We had two mornings of incredible conversations as we chatted with different guests each morning. We even met someone who had grown up in New York like we did.

Our second day in town we headed to the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs (what they are famous for – natural mineral hot springs), which in my post Weekend in Glenwood Springs (my first visit to Glenwood Springs with my partner John), I referred to as “taking a bath with a hundred or so other people”.

We spent the morning there and then returned in the evening (you buy a day pass). Here is my sister enjoying some “community bathing”!

It is pretty warm in the hot springs mineral pools and you can only stay in 5 – 15 minutes before you have to get out or just sit on the side of the pool and take a break, otherwise (as I discovered) you get pretty dizzy!

Our third day in town we went on a little adventure and walked a couple miles to the closest thrift shop (my sister loves “thrifting” like I do, actually she was the one who got me into it):

On our trek to the thrift shop we saw some people paragliding off one of the many hills in Glenwood Springs:

After thrifting we stopped at a delicious donut shop, Sweet Coloradough for a treat and relaxed on their patio with our sugary delights:

We had several yummy meals while in town. Here I am at one of the delicious restaurants after a relaxing session at the hot springs:

We wished we had one more day planned in Glenwood Springs, but before we knew it, it was time to head home.

The final post in this series will be photos from our train ride home, which had different views than the trip to Glenwood Springs (time of day was different and we sat on the opposite site on the way home).

Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part II

July 21, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Okay continuing the story I started on July 17, 2021 about my sister’s visit and our train ride to Glenwood Springs, Colorado in June 2021 – Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I.

Waiting for the Train

Our trip started early in the morning at Denver’s Union Station. Union Station is the prettiest train station I’ve ever been in (including several I’ve been at in Europe):

Here are several of my images as we waited for the train in lovely surroundings:

And if you’d like to see some images I took in the “Silvertone” setting on my camera:

Our train was arriving in the station around 8:00 am but we got there an hour early and had coffee/tea and pastries while lounging on one of the comfortable sofas in the station.

The station is so beautiful you’d want to just grab your laptop and go work on a blog post with a cup of tea or coffee, even if you were not catching a train!

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, Colorado

6 hours sounds like a long time to be on a train, but not if you get to spend the time having delicious snacks, catching up with your sister, and seeing amazing scenery as we traveled this route:

Driving to Glenwood Springs is a 4 hour trip but I think the additional 2+ hours (the train ride was over 6+ hours due to having to slow down while going over the Continental Divide) is worth it because you are not driving I-70 at steep inclines as you climb up the mountains (not only steep inclines and sharp curves but also some crazy drivers who all seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere…).

From the article Prepare to be Blown Away on the Best Train Ride in Colorado:

After departing Denver’s Union Station westbound, the train begins the section of railway that made the Zephyr famous—a 300-mile journey over the Colorado Rocky Mountains, along the Colorado River and through Glenwood Canyon. Because roadways take a different route, much of the landscape through which the train travels is viewable only to rail passengers.

As the train leaves the Eastern Slope behind, it travels through 31 tunnels before entering the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel and crosses the Continental Divide. Passengers are plunged into darkness for nearly 10 minutes before emerging back into daylight at the west portal, near Winter Park Ski Area.

The route continues on the Western Slope of Colorado through remote Fraser Canyon, Granby—the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park and rugged Gore Canyon. The final 12.5 miles through Glenwood Canyon are among the most spectacular, with unimpeded views of the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River, the historic Shoshone Hydroelectric Plant, the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Path, and of course, the soaring 1,300-foot cliffs.

The seats in coach were very comfortable and were modified recliners with leg lifts so you could put your feet up. Here we are enjoying one of the many snacks we packed for the train ride in our cooler:

Relaxing train ride, visiting with sister, snacks and a magazine = happiness

Now comes the difficult part of writing this post: deciding which of the zillion photos we took during the train ride to Glenwood Springs to share with you, without blowing out my blog’s media allotment (and I have an upgraded WordPress plan!). Every time we thought we’d seen the most amazing sight out of our train window another amazing sight appeared! And as you can guess, the pictures do not do justice to what it was like to actually be looking out the window.

So I will use the rest of this post to share those images I selected. For the most part the images are in the order that we saw them on the train ride. You will see at times we are traveling along the Colorado River. Oh and one of the photos is of the observation car which has large windows/glass dome – passengers can take turns sitting in the car to get a more 360 degree view.

And here are a couple short video clips I uploaded to YouTube to provide more visuals (the first one was a “jaw-dropping” experience):

Part III of this series of posts will talk about our time in Glenwood Spring, CO.

A Crafter's Life

News

July 19, 2021July 20, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In my July 4, 2021 post Okay so here is a tote bag (or two)…, I wrote:

I have lots of stories to share, things I’ve been making, and news even about a major life change (even if possibly temporary)

Here is the news:

I quit my job and I am taking some time off to focus on my crafting, sewing, quilting, textile art, etc. Before I return to employment in the healthcare industry, I plan to re-open my tierneycreates Etsy shop. I am spending the next several months focused on my creativity.

My last day at work was July 1, 2021 and I’d been with my former employer for 16 years. Back in November 2019 I transferred within the company from an important and useful position to what turned out to be an awful situation where I felt like I had no value in the company.

A little background: In 2019 I was in the midst of my first year as a new widow and I thought maybe a different job would help me re-focus as I was losing passion and focus for the position I was in when my husband passed. Of course I did not fully realize that when you lose your life partner all the things you thought were important (like your job) become meaningless (except to provide a paycheck).

I won’t bore you all the details of why the new position I transferred to in November 2019 did not work out. Let’s just say it wasn’t just a case of “the grass is not always greener on the other side” mistake, it was more like “the grass was rotting and putrid on the other side“!

Sales motivation quote: Sometimes the grass looks greener on the other side ... - YouTube

I did meet some wonderful people in the position and had some great colleagues. But unfortunately that was not enough as there were nasty corporate “political” issues going on; and as I discovered, someone in leadership was trying to see me fail in my position. Actually my whole position was set up to fail from the beginning with the reporting structure they set up for the position.

It was a remote position and I enjoyed working from home but I was miserable and hated logging into work each morning.

I Hate My Job: Image Gallery (List View) | Know Your Meme

So if there is anything I learned from my husband’s sudden passing in December 2018 it was that life is short/your time on earth is not guaranteed to be long, so make the best what time you have.

My partner John has a wonderful health insurance plan and I could go on it, so I did. So now I am taking time off, not sure for how long (colleagues at my former employee have already been contacting me with job opportunities but I have declined them for now), but I’ve set a goal not to consider returning to the healthcare industry full-time (or part-time) until I make progress on some of my creative dreams.

I am fortunate to be able to do this; and I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote from the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin:

“Money is something you trade your life energy for. You sell your time for money. It doesn’t matter that Ned over there sells his time for a hundred dollars and you sell yours for twenty dollars an hour. Ned’s money is irrelevant to you. The only real asset you have is your time. The hours of your life.”
― Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life

Postscript

So you might be thinking: “Well Tierney, since you’ve been off work since July2, 2021, where is all the stuff you could have been creating since then?” The answer is that I’ve been traveling, catching up with friends and family. I was out of town most of last week and will be headed off to visit my brother and his family later this week.

So I might need to be off work for a while as first I need to reconnect with family and friends I could not see during the pandemic, before I can get into a creative flow!

And maybe for a while I just won’t have a specific plan and see what that is like for a change…

Outside Adventures!, tierneytravels

Train Ride to Glenwood Springs, CO and More – Part I

July 17, 2021June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In early May 2021 I went on a road trip to see Glenwood Springs, CO for the first time (see post Weekend in Glenwood Springs). I love it so much that I decided it was the perfect trip to take my sister on when she visited in mid June. But this time instead of driving there, we took the Amtrak train!

Before the Train Ride

Before heading out on our 6 hour train ride from downtown Denver’s Amtrak station (Union Station) to Glenwood Springs, the day before our train trip I took my sister to the South Pearl District/South Pearl Street of Denver to wander about and then go thrift shopping.

Above is another terrible attempt at a selfie (I am the “World’s Worst Selfie Taker”) and I am not sure why I am staring off in the wrong direction, ha!

We wandered to various little shops boutiques and had lunch at a very delicious restaurant (where I took our selfie).

After the South Pearl Street wander about and lunch, we went to the huge Goodwill downtown (my sister loves thrift/charity shops also) and we had a wonderful browse there as well as several other thrift shops we stopped at on the way back to my house.

My sister toted about the new Wonder Woman tote bag I had made her (which I first shared in the post Okay so here is a tote bag (or two)…), during our shopping adventure:

In the next post I will continue with further stories of our adventures during our trip, starting with the train ride to Glenwood Springs, which was breathtaking in its scenery!

Trying to catch up on blog posts, I’ve realized that it might be easier for busy readers if my posts are a little shorter; and it is less work for me to get a post out there 🙂

Guest Blogger, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Guest Blogger: Happy in My Box

July 11, 2021August 9, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hi this is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney of tierneycreates and her partner John.

I saw that the tierneycreates Beastie did a guest blog post, so I wanted to do one too.

Since you last heard from me (see February 2021 post Guest Blogger: Obsession with Making Crocheted Dishcloths), I’ve been busy overseeing remodeling projects by my human John, just like in the post from 2020 Guest Blog Post: A Whole Lot of Remodeling Going On.

I spend a lot of time in home improvement stores (Lowe’s and Home Depot) and I love riding in John’s truck as his co-pilot:

He always has my box ready to go behind the seats, which I ride in whenever I am in a home improvement store helping him select the next round of home remodeling supplies:

(Note, I’ve gotten a summer haircut recently and look less shaggy)

I’ve met a lot of staff and customers while riding around in my box in home improvement stores, and the other day John wheeled me in via the shopping cart into Home Depot and heard “Hi Mike!”

It was one of the cashiers greeting me as I went by! They remember my name.

Same thing happened that day when he had to go to a different home improvement store.

I am sort of a local celebrity!

John and I have been working on sprucing up the backyard. I oversaw his installation of pavers under a bench that Tierney found on clearance to place under the large Aspen trees in the backyard; his installation of pavers under their new backyard swing; and his building of a privacy screen for the backyard patio area.

I was pretty exhausted after all that work!

Beastie Adventures, Special Events

Guest Blogger: Denver Quilt Craft and Sewing Festival

July 10, 2021July 10, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Tierneycreates Beastie here to report on my adventures at the Denver Quilt Craft and Sewing Festival. going on this weekend!

Here I am writing this post from my laptop on a make-shift desk

Oh in case you are new to this blog here is my standard blurb/background:

My name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. I was made by Helen of CrawCrafts Beasties in Dublin, Ireland. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (i.e. when the human Tierney falls off the blogging-wagon and I have to help) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.

A couple of weeks ago, Tierney (the human version of me) discovered that Denver is having it’s first Quilt/Craft/Sewing Festival since the pandemic. She immediately got us tickets:

It’s very warm here (we’ve been having a mini-heatwave past couple of days with temperatures up to 100F/38C) and I changed out of my standard T-shirt to my light summer dress for the festival:

I know, I know, I look extremely adorable. Can’t help it, I was made that way…

I did not wear my shoes as Tierney has a history of leaving one of my shoes behind somewhere when she helps me do my photo shoots.

I even took off my standard messenger bag where I keep my laptop (and library card) and put on my backpack in case Tierney needed help getting any fun finds at the festival home:

Ready to carry as much fabric as my backpack will hold!

The first thing we came across at the festival was a “make and take” table featuring a little felt coffee themed coaster you could make. We were tempted but we had so much to see.

After so many months of social distancing, it was strange to see all these crafters crammed into the festival (and they were all happy and very eager to wander around the booths!). The festival did require masks if you were unvaccinated and we did see some people with masks on (Tierney is fully vaccinated and I am…well I am made from yarn so I am immune in general…).

I could not help myself, there was so much fabric around, I had to play in it:

You think with all those fabric selections, Tierney could find some fabric to make me a new dress or two (I only have one dress, made by Helen @ CrawCrafts Beasties).

In addition to wandering around the many vendor booths at the festival, we also watched some cool demos:

Me watching a demo (I just noticed I have some lint in my hair, probably from laying in fabric)

We also chatted with a vendor that had a very unusual and cool woven shirt:

We had fun watching demos of Bernina sewing machines (and a long-arm quilting machine) we could not afford:

Tierney told the Bernina representative about my Beastinia and he was impressed!

Here are more images from the festival including several of me just being very cute:

We were exhausted after a couple hours at the festival but had fun chatting with other crafters and vendors as well as seeing some amazing things (most of which luckily we did not try to bring home).

Tierney could not help herself on her way to the car and had to take a photo in Black & White of some industrial spools in the parking lot (but she forgot to put me in the photo to make it interesting):

Tierney likes to pretend she is a photographer…

When we got back home, Tierney’s tote bag she took to the festival (one of her handmade tote bags) was full of goodies:

My backpack however only contained my laptop. I am not sure why she did not use my backpack for overflow. Well at least I offered.

I had a great time at my first festival (I know you are shocked that she never took me to one before). I can’t wait until my next one!

Oh and if you live in the U.S. and you are itching to go to one of these festivals, this website had a listing of upcoming (in person!) Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festivals:

https://quiltcraftsew.com/denver.html

But be safe – there are still “cooties” out there and the pandemic is not over yet (especially in many parts of the world).

Bags Bags Bags

Two More Drawstring Bags

July 8, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is a quick update to my July 6, 2021 post Adventures in Bag Making: Drawstring Bag.

The s.o.t.a.k. handmade drawstring bag patterns gives you directions to make the bags in 4 different sizes. Last night I finished two more bags – another large bag, and a mini bag (and look how gorgeous the fabrics are, provided by my friend Kathy).

Here are some individual photos of the bags and the interior of the bags:

I want to make like 50 more bags in all sort of fabric and color combinations but I need to start working on an art quilt for a show that I’ve been invited.

When I return to drawstring bag making someday, I’ve decided I want to make my own drawstring cord out of braided fabric strings. I’ve been saving strings for years thinking I was going to make a string quilt, but more on that after I experiment.