Author: tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles
Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".
It is a quilt top measures approximately 60″ x 72″ and made with traditional piecing but not a with a traditional vibe.
I tried to photograph it using the back of my shed discussed in the post ThePhotoshoot Shed: Please Give Me Your Ideas, but I had a shadow from the top of my gate due to the position of the sun:
So I moved it to the side of my house which was completely in shadow and got a better photo:
I decided not to put a border on it because I plan to put it into the rotation of quilts I rotate through my living room. A border would make it too large for the space I want to hang it. It coordinates well with the colors in my living room!
So I am working on piecing a backing together with various 1 -2 yard pieces of browns I have (trying to use my stash) and then send it to a long-arm quilter. I will likely bind it in the Stonehenge fabric I was going to use for the border.
I guess I need to work on the Medallion quilt in the photo below next as I have completed #1, #2, and #4!
Postscript
Around this time last year I was posting about the sunflowers in my garden. Well they did not return this year and I did not plant sunflower seeds – so I am sunflowerless!
Luckily my neighbors on the corner have several raised bed boxes of sunflowers in their front yard for me to enjoy:
I will be more diligent next Spring on planting sunflower seeds!
I am still working on piecing together Cozy Cobblestones that I discussed in my previous post. The “Picnic Setting” is no picnic, and has several “Y” seams and must be pieced in a methodical way (or you are screwed!) Hopefully the next post will be to share my completed quilt top (unless I decided to throw in a post about our visit to the Deschutes County Fair a couple weekends ago…)
This post I wanted to share an interesting experiment I have committed to doing for a year and wondered if any of you have ever tried something like this – I am tracking ALL my expenditures for 1 year. Everything, even if I buy a $2 ice cream cone, etc.
I created a spreadsheet at the end of 2016, broken into as many categories as I could think of (though I had to keep adding categories as the year progressed) and starting January 1, 2017, I began recording anything I spent money on – from food to utilities.
Here is a screenshot of a section of my spreadsheet to date:
One of the most enlightening (actually shocking) things, was how much we spend on food (and there are only two humans in the household)! Not to mention how many trips to the grocery store (and several different grocery stores) we make each month.
For example in July 2017, we went to one grocery store EIGHT (8) times! I am starting to wonder if my hobby is not quilting/crafting, but actually going to grocery stores! I wince at the $1.38 purchase listed above – whatever that was, why didn’t I get it during the grocery store visit in the $52.90 purchase above?
Well making a change can only come after gaining awareness that a change is needed. I thought I was a very thrifty “demi-minimalist” but my spreadsheet says I am an out of control food hoarder!
Besides the shocking amount of grocery store spending/visits I have made so far this year, I have learned a lot of valuable stuff about our spending habits and several positive changes have been made. Also it has become a game, where I will not buy something that I do not really need because I want to see if I can get the current month’s expenditures lower than the others.
One more cool thing about this (sometimes painful) spreadsheet, is I have a tool to use to discuss with Terry the Quilting Husband strategies to manages our expenses. We discussed the disaster that was July 2017 and made a conscious effort to keep the August grocery expenses under control!
I would love to hear if any of you have tried something like this.
Well that’s all for now, I got to go head out to the grocery store and pick something up 😉
Feature image photo credit: Sufi Nawaz, free images.com
Yesterday I worked to turn the “hot mess” and former unfinished object (UFO) into something resembling a quilt top. I’ve named the quilt “Cozy Cobblestones” as the fabric is the Northcott Stonehenge Cobblestones line.
I promised better photos, however I was unable to keep my promise. Still struggling with the narrowness of my hallway, I had to take entire layout photos at an angle. Alas, this is one of the “cons” of having a design wall in a narrow hallway!
From the right sideFrom the left side
Here is one “head on” photo taken by smooshing myself against the opposite wall:
“Smooshed” against the wall!
You are probably wincing at the lighting on the photos. Once I sew the blocks together, I am going to take the quilt outside for a proper photo!
I am likely going to “float” the quilt top in additional Stonehenge fabric (I think I have enough yardage to put a “float” border around it). Here is the fabric I might use (it is my only choice unless I go out and try to find some more):
Next to a section of the blocks layout:
Try and use your imagination of how cool this will look…
I might use the same fabric for the binding too as I am trying to use what I have in my stash. A contrasting binding might be nice but I would have to purchase it new (and I am taking a hiatus from buying fabric right now).
Speaking of my “stash”, I put the scraps and the two remaining fat quarters that I did not use up, in a future “Challenge Bag” (see post Basketof Challenges):
I’m gonna be a future “Challenge Bag” – yay!
Inside the scrap bag you will see the blue scraps that I loved (from another Stonehenge line that a quilting friend donated) but could not work into the piece. We’ll see what I make in the future with this small bag of scraps.
The remaining scraps are fairly small as I worked hard to harvest any piece I could turn into a 2.5″ x 2.5″ block:
Little squares, cutting so many little squares! (42 x 9 = 378)
Quilters reading this may wince, but I did not have enough length of any of the scraps from piecing the original 12″ blocks to make the 6′ nine-patch blocks using the quick “strip-piecing” method. Instead I had to cut out individual 2.5″ x 2.5″ pieces and sew them together to make 42 6-inch nine-patch blocks! I did “chain-piece” the heck out the pieces after a while became a nine-patch block factory!
It was definitely an old school traditional piecing!
I am feeling pleased with my progress on the “UFOs” in this photo, this quilt top is the #4 in the photo below:
Once I get it all sewn together, I guess I need to work on the only remaining “UFO” – #3 (Medallion quilt) – but I am not feeling inspiration on that one yet!
Postscript
In addition to a push to complete my unfinished projects, I’ve recently experimented with a couple paper-crafting/card making projects in the paper-crafting/beading area I set up in my sunroom:
Here are the two cards I made:
I am not sure if the recipients of these cards actually liked them, but I had fun making them. I listened to a classical radio station on my new(ish) thrift shop radio and found card making very meditative.
Card making was actually my first official crafting hobby that I did with others.
My work colleague got me started in the late 1990s. I think it opened my mind to starting quilting, which I learned shortly after. I still have many of my card making supplies from the late 1990s and early 2000s. I donated about 1/2 of those supplies to charity organizations but I still have some wonderful supplies to make more handmade cards (whether people want them or not – ha!)
On the large design wall in my hallway is something that resembles a “hot mess“.
The hallway is narrow – it works great as a design wall, but is challenging for photography.
This “hot mess” actually represents quite a bit of progress. I struggled with what to do with the 20 blocks I made during a “traditional piecing” binge I went on October to November 2016 and discussed in the following series of posts:
Prior to working these blocks, it seems like the last couple of years I was primarily focused on improvisational quilting. I was craving structure (and a break from designing my own quilts) and pulled out my old Ladies’ Art Company Block Tool by Connie Chunn (2007) and started making blocks using a jelly roll I found in my stash of Northcott Cobblestone Stonehenge; and some Stonehenge scraps another quilter gave me.
Unfortunately, I did not have enough of the blue Stonehenge scraps to use them in more than just one block so I had to return those to the fabric scrap basket.
(Now I could have titled this post “Revisiting Traditional Piecing…Part IV” but this binge of working on “traditional pieced blocks” has intermittently continued while I sporadically work on Farm Girl Vintageblocks.)
The dilemma – designing the final quilt layout
The reason why the 20 blocks pictured below got put aside after my “piecing binge” was that I could not find a pleasing way to lay them out. I auditioned many different ways of setting the blocks to include traditional ways such as lattice, putting them on pointing, floating them, and various ideas suggested by my readers (much appreciated!)
(Martha and met through this quilt: She bought the green ombre setting fabric for this exquisite sampler quilt through my tierneycreates Etsy shop…glad I met her before I closed the shop!)
Alas, none of the numerous options I explored appealed to me.
Farm Girl Vintage Strikes!
My next venture into traditional-block-piecing-binging was with Lori Holt’s Farm Girl Vintage. In this book I discovered the perfect setting for my blocks! It is called the “Picnic Setting”
For copyright reasons I did not want to photograph the page in Farm Girl Vintage showing the setting, but I did find this photo on Pinterest, pinned by Deborah Thomas, of a quilt in the Picnic Setting:
Photo credit: Deborah Thomas, Pinterest
The setting is a mixture of 12″ (finished) and 6″ (finished) blocks. The 6″ blocks are the setting for the 12″ blocks!
At first I thought of returning to the Ladies’ Art Company Block Tool and creating a bunch of different 6 inch pieced blocks. Thinking through this idea, I realized the quilt top would NEVER get done if headed down this path. How daunting to make 36 different 6″ blocks to set my 12″ blocks! I needed at least 36 of them to make the block setting work, and it would be 2020 before I posted about this quilt in progress again!.
Nine-Patch, an old stand-by
Finally I settled on making “old school” 6″ (finished) nine-patch blocks using up the scraps from the original jelly roll from piecing the 12″ blocks.
Here is the beginning of playing with the layout as I make the nine-patch blocks:
There will not be a lot of contrast, and that is intentional. I want the quilt top to have the feel of looking at a stone floor and the patterns and the colors of the stones flowing into one another.
More to come as I progress on the quilt top (perhaps even better photos, but do not get your hopes up!)
Postscript
Decorating with Pillows
A quick follow up to my previous post – PetitePillow Power!– here is a little vignette in my living room with one of the new pillow, a batik basket I made (the top one), a lidded store bought basket, and a Longaberger basket someone gave me as a gift 20 years ago:
Quilting Meets Couture
In case you’d like to learn more about the project that got me started on my art quilting journey, check out this post on , Improvisational Textiles:
Last post I shared this photo of semi-simultaneous unfinished crafting project work:
I recently finished #2 (see postIhurried); and this weekend I finished up #1 – little pillows made from scrap shot cottons, previously discussed in these posts:
Originally I had planned to hand quilt all the little pillows tops:
In reality, I only ended up hand quilting the paper pieced one (I finished this up a couple weeks ago while watching TV in the evening):
Hand quilted (basic, basic, basic hand quilting!)
The rest of the little pillows I machine quilted this weekend:
Petite Pillow Power Photoshoot!
When I remembered, I added in a tierneycreates label which I shared in post Embracing Orange. My tierneycreates Etsy shop is closed but I still have all these labels I might as well use them!
Except for the paper pieced pillow which has a solid light tan back, here is the fabric I used on the back of the pillows:
This petite pillow for some reason is my favorite – I stuck it in my bookcase:
It has been very warm in Central Oregon, and once it drops below skin-searing temperatures, I am going to fiddle around the back of the shed and decide which idea to implement.
I have a bunch of these from a failed small curtain hanging experiment and I am thinking of using these with some type of rod or heavy tension wire:
Photo credit – Home Depot
Additionally, I appreciate the great photo tips provided in the comments!
I actually finished (quilted, binding done and hung on the wall) the wallhanging I started in an appliqué class in May 2016, inspired by Lao Tzu’s quote:
“NATURE DOES NOT HURRY, YET EVERYTHING IS ACCOMPLISHED.” ~LAO TZU
Finished, quilted, hanging on the wall!
I am not sure what came over me, as I really was going to continue following Nature’s example and not hurry – ha! I figured in another year or so I would get it finished. Instead I finished it under a week.
Shocking.
Postscript
A couple of days ago I snapped this photo in my studio. I was laughing to myself at how many projects I had in progress, at the same time, in the same area.
I assigned numbers and below is a link to the most recent blog posts on each ongoing project. I am on a push to complete open projects!
Yesterday I completed the quilt top for a wallhanging based on the following quote:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~Lao Tzu
And like Nature, I did not hurry on completing this piece! It was started in May 2016 during a class at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, Oregon with the lovely Janet Shorten (see post Adventures in Appliqué ). I picked the piece back up again in June 2017 (see post Quilt Retreat Inspiration and Projects). I wrangled tangled floss and learned to backstitch (see post The Backstitch and the End of Tangled Floss) and finally completed the quilt top yesterday…July 2017!
At first I was only going to stitch the Lao Tzu quote going around the tree. However the right side did not seem balanced, with the left side having the acorn. Also I thought at first glance it might not be apparent what the odd thing on the left was (my loose interpretation of an acorn), so I decided to risk becoming “Captain Obvious” and stated that “The tiny acorn becomes the mighty oak tree”.
I am not going to win any “stitching words on quilts” awards, but I really enjoyed slow stitching the backstitching of the words on the piece and learned a lot as I progressed. I wimped out at the end and did not do the letter “i”s french knot top dots (or whatever the official word is for the dot/period on the top of the letter “i”), but maybe next time.
You may be curious about my fabric choices but let’s just say the whole piece is “multicultural”:
The saying/quote is from an ancient Chinese philosopher.
The piece was inspired by an African Bible Verses quilt and the original fabric for the acorn and the tree were from the teacher’s stash of African themed fabrics.
The border fabric is an Aboriginal style print.
Here is the fabric I have planned for the binding – it reminded me of a tree branch:
I plan to do a combination of machine and hand quilting on the piece, so by 2018 I should have it done (smile).
But then I am only following Nature’s example…and eventually the piece will be accomplished!
Postscript
My blogging buddy Melanie at Catbird Studios, asked her readers in a recent post how they choose their next quilting project to work on. I responded that for me it is random, which is usually true, however I realize that lately I appear to be focused on working on unfinished projects (which is a very good thing) instead of starting something new when it catches my attention.
Looking at the feature photo for this post you are likely thinking: “Wow Tierney, you have truly run out of things to talk about on your blog. You are now talking about backyard sheds?!?!?”
No, this is actually crafting/quilting related post. Quilt photography related as a matter of fact.
I would love your thoughts/ideas on the best way to make the rear of my new 8′ x 10′ backyard shed work for photographing textile art.
But first, let me share some background.
I am a recovering terrible photographer. My photography skills only approved over the past couple of years because they had to – if I ever wanted to have a sale on my tierneycreates Etsy shop I had to learn to take clear and alluring photos.
My Etsy shop is now closed but it was a great way to force me to become a better photographer.
In order to become a better…well okay, to become a less-terrible photographer, I had to learn some basic photography techniques. One of the first things I learned was the power of using natural light and the concept of “The Golden Hour”.
The Golden Hour and Soft Diffused Light
Here is a wonderful description of “The Golden Hour” from photographymad.com:
The golden hour, sometimes called the “magic hour”, is roughly the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset, although the exact duration varies between seasons. During these times the sun is low in the sky, producing a soft, diffused light which is much more flattering than the harsh midday sun that so many of us are used to shooting in.
This type of light produces less contrast, reducing the chances of losing parts of your subject in strong shadows or blown-out highlights. The warm glow adds a pleasing feel to the scene, and the long shadows help to pick out details, adding texture and depth to the image.
As an added benefit, there are generally fewer people around at dawn and dusk than there are at other times of the day, giving you a chance to capture your images in relative peace.
The Golden Hour was wonderful for photographing the handmade miniature kimonos I used to sell on my tierneycreates Etsy shop. I also discovered it was wonderful for photographing quilts. The mid-day sun occasionally works for some large quilts but for art quilts, they seem to photograph better in diffuse light.
APQS, long-arm quilt machine manufacturer, has an article on their website, apqs.com, on How to Photograph Your Quilt which states:
If you are taking your quilts photo outside, keep in mind that stark daylight isn’t a great idea as it creates strong shadows and it is just too harsh. Filtered light, like dappled light through a tree’s leaves or even the light found during a cloudy day is softer. This type of light will help you capture your quilt’s beauty more easily.
Whether it is “The Golden Hour” or mid-day with dappled light, my handmade items always appear to photograph better in natural light instead of indoor artificial light.
So when our backyard Costco resin/Rubbermaid Shed’s roof caved in from all the intense Central Oregon snowfall this past Winter and was recently replaced with a real wood built-on-site shed, I knew this was an opportunity to have a standard place outdoor place to photograph quilts.
Whether photographing quilts and quilted wallhanging for my former tierneycreates Etsy shop or photographing art quilts for show entires, I have discovered that I get better images if the quilt is hung/mounted vertically and I can photograph it from a standing position. Although I have relentlessly tried, I just cannot get a good quality photograph of a quilt when it is on the ground and I am standing over it.
I just have to figure out how to set up the back of the shed as a quilt photography area that allows me the flexibility to hang/mount quilts of different dimension for their photo shoot.
I would appreciate your ideas!
Postscript
Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s latest Schnauzer Snips blog post – Schnauzer Quilton a quilt I do not think I have shared before on my blog.
Oh, and in case you are curious, here is a photo of the front of the new backyard shed:
One of my quilting mentors, Jean Wells Keenan, once said in a class (paraphrased): When you are really stuck on a piece and you want to give up, don’t give up. Just push through your discomfort or unhappiness with the piece; keep going and you will be surprised how it evolves.
So what does this have to do with my featured image for this post – a pile of sweet potatoes?
Well, at lunch today (I am a telecommuter), I pulled out the remains of a bag of several weeks old sweet potatoes. I forgot about them in the veggie drawer in my fridge and I hoped I could possibly use them (I hate wasting food) in a salad or veggie bowl if I boiled them.
As I washed the sweet potatoes, a first glance, they looked kind of icky and their only future was compost. However on closer inspection, I realized there were good viable parts to each sweet potato – all I had to do was cut out the bad parts.
While trimming each sweet potato to remove the “bad parts”, I thought how this relates to creating a piece of art. I have worked on several art quilting project when I wanted to just give up, crumple the piece into a ball (and burn it) and discard it.
Occasionally I did just this, throw away the piece and try to forgot the time I spent on expending my creativity on the piece. This was until I took a series of art quilting classes with Jean Wells Keenan and heard her statement about not giving up – it resonated with me.
I learned to work or rework what I have created already, cut the bad parts out, and keep going with creating the piece.
An example of an art quilt that I wanted to throw into the trash pile (or burn as an effigy of what-not-to-do-when-creating-an-art-quilt) was my piece Abandoned Water Structure. This piece, which was eventually sold to the City of Seattle/Seattle Public Utilities for their Portable Works Collection nearly made it to the trash or fabric recycling pile several times (or as potential kindling).
It began as an art quilt project based on a photo of a beach structure for a series of classes I was taking with Jean Wells Keenan, called Journey to Inspired Art Quilting. I absolutely hated the piece and it seemed like to would never go anywhere (I felt like I was stopped in my journey anywhere, much less to inspired art quilting).
The series of classes ended, and I took the unfinished piece back home with me to sit in the abandoned project pile (where projects go to die..).
Randomly rummaging through my abandoned project pile a couple months later, I rediscovered the piece and I was suddenly struck with the feeling that I was not using the correct inspiration for the piece. The piece WANTED TO BE SOMETHING ELSE.
I had a photo on my inspiration board of an abandoned/closed water power facility in Central Oregon and I knew this is what the piece was to become (or at least be inspired by)!
After reworking the piece for a couple hours, I was tempted to return it to the abandon project pile (or just soak it in lighter fluid) but luckily I heard Jean in the back of my head to “just push through, keepgoing“. I cut out the bad parts, the parts that were not working in the piece, and eventually it became the Abandoned Water Structure art quilt.
If I were to summarize my thoughts and advice from this experience (and my ramblings above) for my fellow crafters and artists, it would be:
Creating can be like working with a partially rotted sweet potato.
You know there is yumminess still there but you don't want to eat
"the bad parts".
So cut out the "bad parts" and keep the good/viable parts!
Keep going, don't give up, be patient with yourself and the piece.
Let it become the yumminess it eventually wants to become.
Well I have stretched that analogy as far as it will stretch, thanks for reading to see where the heck I was going with my sweet potato story.
Oh and in case you were curious, my trimmed and boiled sweet potatoes were delicious (full of yumminess) in my salad at lunch!
I love seeing where people to create and in case you would like to see where I create, I have added a page to my blog tierneycreates Studio Tour where I will post photos of the latest version of my tiny little tierneycreates studio. More on this later in this post.
As part of my ongoing journey to curate my life (see post category: My MinimalismJourney ), I am working on letting go of more of my crafting related magazines.
Studios Magazine
I have a stash of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazine from 2008 – 2014 (magazine is no longer in publication). This publication featured “artist studio porn”: essays and articles about professional and hobby artists’ studios, tips on designing and organizing your studio, and endless photos of studio layouts. The tagline for the magazine was “inspiration & ideas for your art and craft space”.
There are so many online resources (aka Pinterest) on studio organization ideas, I do not need these magazines. I can let them go, donate them to my beloved local Humane Society Thrift Shop and let them go to someone else to enjoy.
But, I wanted to read through each one, one more time, before donating them.
Working though re-reading the pile with my tea each morning
When I got to the Winter 2010 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazine I noticed it featured a collection of tips by various crafters/artists on small space tips.
Recently I re-organized by studio to try and make the best of the small space. I thought I would share some of my favorite tips from this issue from the various studio tours in case my readers find them useful.
Small Studio Tips
In Her Shoes by Catherine Thursby
Get a space of your own, even if it has to be small
Make it personal to encourage your creativity
Have a place “off-site” to keep bulky or seldom used materials
Snowman Season by Sue Pelletier
In a narrow space, set up tables end to end so you can have several projects going at once
A dartboard makes a graphic yet compact inspiration board
Remember that if you want studio space badly enough, you will find a way
The Glitter Fairy by Laurie Davis
Use shelves with cubbies to hold and display rubber stamps
Use under-the-counter space as much as possible
Use stackable containers to hold small items
In a Nutshell – A small space dedicated to creativity by Janice Avellana
Keep supplies out in the open so the work is ready when you are
Disguise a small, open studio behind a tall bookcase
For flexible organization, use painted pegboard
Room of Requirement by Liza Julien
Maximize small space by going vertical with ladder-style shelving
Store papers suspended from pant hangers on a wooden dowel
Install hooks on table legs, the sides of shelving – anywhere that’s handy and out of the way
Studio in the Sky by Victoria Grobels
Store supplies in baskets hung from the ceiling
Make your worktable an inspiration board, too, by slipping photos under a clear, plastic mat
Make a small space seem bigger by positioning it near a beautiful view
The Love Shack by Roberta Philbrick
Use “regular” furniture to hold art supplies
Color-coordinated caddies keep small items organized, portable, and attractive
A glass-topped table cleans up easily and looks polished in a small living/creating space
Strategic Design by Michelle Spaw
For an eclectic approach to organizing, try using non-conventional items such as stackable trays, bento boxes, and takeout-style containers
Removing the doors to your closet is as strong incentive to keep it tidy. Because the contents are always visible, you will be motivated to maintain order and curb the clutter
When purchasing storage boxes, think of color and pattern as a way to identify what you’re storing
Beaddazzled by Linda Dolack
Glue a sample of what’s in a drawer to the front so you can find and retrieve the object quickly
Use simple skirting to hide clutter stored below counters
Install shelving above windows to hold books and display art work out of the way
Where Whimsy Reigns by Elizabeth Holcombe Fedorko
Use collectibles as storage containers that can be displayed
Attach a folding table to the wall: pull it up to work, down to put it out of the way
No matter how small your space, make room for pets!
Several months ago I posted that a friend of mine named her baby hen chicks after her close female friends. This is an update to that post – A Chicken Named “Tierney”.
A month or so ago I took photos of teenage “Tierney the Chicken” and her brand new chicken coop; and recently I took photos of young adult “Tierney the Chicken”.
The Teen Years Weeks
Here is the deluxe coop she and her hen sisters live in. It has an inside section and a sunroom:
Chicken Cooping in style
Here is teenage “Tierney the Chicken” and her sister “Gabrielle the Chicken”:
Here is “Tierney” and the other teenage hens getting a snack:
My friend Marla, mother to all the young hens, has a photo in her house of what “Tierney the Chicken” will look like when she grows up and becomes an adult Dominique chicken:
Young Adult “Tierney the Chicken”
“Tierney” is now a young adult and getting closer to her egg laying days. No eggs yet but my friend Marla thinks in the upcoming weeks she and her sister hens will lay their first eggs.
Here is a current photo of “Tierney” and her sister “Gabrielle” (and some other chicken “photo bombing” the shot, ha!):
My friend Marla reports that “Tierney” is the friendliest of all the chickens. She runs towards you first when you come into the coop and she likes to snuggle:
Chicken Cuddles
Truthfully I’ve never cared about chickens beyond enjoying the eggs they lay or an occasionally tasty chicken dinner. This is the first time I have ever seen a chicken snuggle! (Is it my fate to eventually become vegan now that I suspect most farm animals will snuggle?)
Maybe it is slightly weird my friend named one of her hens after me (and her other close female friends) but how many people get to say they have a chicken with their namesake!??!
I will close this post with a photo of the cool wind vane inside Marla’s backyard:
For this year’s post on the 2017 Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) I am going share my 2017 SOQS experience in one post instead of breaking it into a series of posts like I did last year. Warning: There are a lot of photos in this post!
For more background on the SOQS and for photos and stories from previous shows, see my blog category Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.
It was very hot yesterday (imagine the witch in the Wizard of Oz: “I’m melting, melting”)
in Central Oregon and this year I decided to go to the show in the afternoon instead of the early morning as previous years. I had plans to meet friends for dinner after the show and I thought I would be completely melted by the end of the day if I went early!
Pathways Exhibit
I shared the progress on my art quilt for the annual Central Oregon SAQA exhibit, Pathways, in several previous posts (most recent Artist Statements, PartII). It debuted on Saturday July 8, 2017 at the SOQS.
Below are photos from the exhibit which featured the works of some majorly talented art quilters in the SAQA group I belong:
My SOQS Wandering Partner
My friend the NY Times Bestselling Author, Marie Bostwick, was in town for a book signing at Paulina Books (a wonderful indie bookstore, please support your local indie bookstore!).
I retrieved her after the book signing to extract her from the comfort of an air conditioned bookstore so she could experience the sweltering heat and wander around and look at quilts!
Inside Sisters City Hall: Respite from the Heat
Here is a secret to SOQS: If it is sweltering hot, you can take break from the heat inside of Sisters City Hall and look at quilts (or pretend like you are looking at quilts and just sit inside and relax!)
Inside City Hall, when you first enter, they had an incredible quilt on display by Jean Wells Keenan that is a tribute to the town of Sisters Oregon:
Walking into the City Council meeting hall, there was an incredible display of art quilts, the Quilt for TwoRivers project, inspired by the Whychus Creek in Sisters:
It was very empty in City Hall towards the end of the SOQS and Marie and I spent a leisurely 30 – 45 minutes or so sitting in the comfortable chairs of City Hall, in air conditioning, visiting. Finally the SOQS volunteers came in and kicked us out as they had to lock up City Hall.
More Around SOQS Photos
I did not take the volume of the photos I have taken in previous years attending SOQS. I hope I do not sound too jaded but it is a very nice show with a lot of very nice quilts, but I no longer think I need photos of every spectacular quilt.
Instead I took photos of a sampling of sights to give a mini experience of attending this mind-blowing show. The entire downtown of Sisters, Oregon is closed to traffic and the entire downtown, every building (and seemingly every nook and cranny) is covered with quilts!
Here is a glimpse inside the Stitchin’ Postquilt shop (Jean Wells Keenan of the Stitchin’ Post started the show in 1975):
During SOQS it is pure madness inside this quilt shop as compared to the rest of the year for us locals. I do not attempt to shop there during SOQS (as I can shop there anytime the rest of the year) but I do like peeking in to see the craziness as quilters from all over the world try to take home a little of the magic.
One thing I have to say about the Stitchin’ Post, besides having a fantastic staff (which includes many talented fiber artists), is that it has a fantastically curated selection of fabrics and yarn. If you are an art or modern quilter this is definitely the place to buy unique and hard to find fabrics.
At the show I ran into Donna R., an extremely talented art quilter and long time SOQS volunteer. She had on a handmade and dyed dress created from previous SOQS volunteer T-shirts:
The SOQS volunteers are quite an amazing group. I volunteered once in 2007 when I had my first quilt ever in quilt show at 2007 SOQS, but I have not been able to volunteer again since that time. Maybe in the future.
Speaking on volunteers, Jan T. another incredible art quilt and head of our Central Oregon SAQA group, presented a quilt story book in which each page of a giant book had a story on the right and a quilt on the left inspired by that story:
How often do you get to see something like that? Only at the SOQS!
While at the show I ran into the wonderful teacher and incredible person, Janet Shorten the head of Sisters of the Heart Foundation which brings medical teams and community enrichment teams to struggling villages in Uganda. Janet teaches women in Uganda to do crafts, including quilting, then helps them sell those crafts to raise money for their communities. Here she is with one of the quilts the women she works with in Uganda made:
They focus on community empowerment and if you are looking for an organization to support with your donation, I recommend this wonderful organization!
So that is my reporting from the 2017 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Check out the other blogs I mentioned early in this post for additional photos.
Postscript
While at the show, I did stop at the Sisters Habitat for Humanity Thrift shop and found this lovely sunflower fabric for $2:
I do love sunflowers and if you have followed my blog for awhile you might remember my obsession with sunflowers, like in this July 2016 post Waiting for the Sunflowers.
It is July again and I am once again waiting…so I just had to buy this fabric!
Linda Kelley at kelleysdiy.comnominated me back on June 27, 2017 for a Blogger’s Recognition Award:
This post is to thank her, as I have been very remiss as it is now July 8, and to recognize some blogs that I follow. I cannot find her original post with the rules, but I did find her notice to me on my June 18th post Cabbage Rose Quilting & Fabrics, Ft. Worth TX.
Since I cannot locate her post with the rules, I am just going say thank you to this very talented DIY Craft & Lifestyle Blogger. She is celebrating a year of blogging and will have a series of giveaways to celebrate the 1st year of her blog July 17th and ends Aug. 14th. Winners announced Aug. 15 – Giveaway Update Daily.
If you are a blogger who has ever dreamed of having a lot of followers she is the role model – she has been blogging for 1 year and has amassed over 5000+ followers.
I am also going to nominate some blogs I have not previously recognized in my other blogging award posts.
The Non WordPress Blogs
For those of you on WordPress (WP) we are sort of spoiled. Using the WP Reader it is so easy for me to sign up to follow and to follow other WP blogs. It is easy to click “Like” on their posts and to comment. On non WP blogs it can be a bit trickier to do this (and some do not have a “Like” button). Usually I have to sign in and verify I am a real person, etc. to comment. I have to admit sometimes even though I want to comment, I do not because I am pressed for time and it is not as easy as with my WP fellow bloggers.
I want though to send some love to the awesome non WP blogs I follow:
MaryFons: Writer! Quilter! All Things!– I met Mary at Trends in 2016 through a fellow friend and immediately liked her. She also gave a great presentation on the history/evolution of quilting (she is a quilting historian). She is the daughter of Marianne Fons of Fons& Porter. Her blog is well written and documents her travels, quilting adventures and life adventures and challenges (she suffers from Crohn’s disease/Ulcerative Colitis).
Lady Linda:ladylindateacup.blogspot.com – Linda is a dear quilting friend of mine who is one of my “Quilting Sisters” that I attend and annual quilt retreat. She has been blogging many years and is an Etsy guru/goddess. She was the one who first inspired me to open my (now closed) tierneycreates Etsy shop. She is an avid collector and seller of antiques especially dolls and small sweet vintage items. She is also really into tea. She knows how to do a proper English tea and has a beautiful collection of tea cups and tea service. She is also one of the very nicest people I have ever met. She is a retired 2nd grade school teacher and she is who you would have wanted to be your teacher!
WoolieMammoth: http://wooliemammoth.blogspot.com – I have mentioned this blog several times in the past, as well as her wonderful YouTube channel, Quilt Roadies. Anna’s blog focuses on the happening in the Central Oregon quilting scene as well as her travels in her RV across the country. Her YouTube channel provides many wonderful walking tours of quilt shops across the country, visits with famous quilters, and other travel adventures.
Wendy Hill’s Blog:www.wendyhill.net/blog/ – My friend Wendy Hill is a very talented quilter, quilt teacher and quilt book author. Central Oregon is “infested” with nationally and internationally known quilters/teachers/book authors. She blog documents her projects, book writing process, and travel adventures.
Kristen Shields:kristinshieldsart.com/blog – Kristen is a member of the local Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) group I belong and is a very talented quilter, knitter, painter and all around crafter. Her quilts have been featured (and award winning) at QuiltCon. Her focus in modern quilting.
SimpLeigh Organized – I love the title for this blog which combine the word “Simply” and the blogger’s name “Leigh”! This blog is filled with excellent home organization and cost savings tips!
WordPress Blogs
Now I will send some love to WP blogs I enjoy following that I have not mentioned in previous posts on blogging awards:
No rules for anyone to follow related to this nomination (as I cannot find them), just know I appreciate reading your blogs!
Now with this post I am finally caught up on nominations! In the future if anyone nominates me, I might just say thank you in the Postscript section of the post and call it good (smile).
So unless you live in Barrow, Alaska (1300 miles south of the North Pole/320 miles north of the Arctic Circle), you are probably not thinking about flannel, much less daydreaming of wrapping yourself in a flannel quilt right now.
We are currently sweltering in Central Oregon right but I am still going to share an update on Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH)’s latest quilt top: A flannel fishing themed quilt:
He actually finished it a couple weeks ago but I am just now getting around to posting about it.
He finished the quilt top in late May when we happened to have some cool days, and I found him and our miniature schnauzers taking a nap under his new quilt top (the “cuteness factor” was very high when I walked into the room and I had to tip toe out and grab my camera!):
He has not worked on the back for the quilt as it is kind of warm right now to even think about looking at flannel in our fabric stash much less touching it. We might just put the top away for now until the weather gets out of the 90s and we can start to think about flannel quilts again.
Postscript
With the warmer weather TTQH is working on other things in his spare time besides flannel quilts – like taking Mike, one of our rescued miniature schnauzers on a bike ride. We have two doggy backpacks and Sassy rides with me (the girls together) and Mike rides with Terry. The photo below is from a week ago when we had a break from the heat as Terry and Mike head out on their bike ride:
If you would like to see more photos of Mike (and Sassy) bike riding, see these posts on Sassy’s Schnauzer Snips blog:
This post is actually a continuation of my ongoing series “What’son the Design Wall”, featuring my latest project up on either the small design wall in my studio or the large design wall my hallway.
Got Medallion?
Obviously I have been influenced by my fellow blogger buddy Melanie at Catbird Studio (see post The Six-Pointed Star and per page Medallion Lessons) but I have a burning need to make a Medallion Quilt.
I am also influenced by this page I tore from a Keepsake Quilting catalog for a medallion style Block of the Month (BOM) sampler. The only problem is that monthly participation in this BOM is $42.99 plus shipping! As lovely as this quilt is that would not be in my budget, so I just added the image to my magnet inspiration board on my studio closet door:
Rummaging Through the “Challenge Bags”
For the 4th of July, we were “bunkered” in our house with loud movies or music playing in the background, all the windows shut and the air conditioner (actually we have 2 evaporative or “swamp” coolers) to try to keep our extremely fireworks terrified dogs calm. Each year we plan to get from the vet some anti-anxiety medications for them but we forget, so instead we distract them with other sounds. This works most of 4th while neighborhood kids are playing with their fireworks. It only stops working in the evening when there is a VERY LOUD fireworks display at local attraction near our house.
Since I was “bunkering” on the 4th, I decided to spend some time in my studio looking through my collection of “Challenge Bags” (see post Basket of Challenges). Inside one of the bags I found an old felt and tweed Schoolhouse block pillow top I had purchased 14 years ago for $1 in a clearance sale at the back of a quilt shop. Tucked in with the Schoolhouse block were several strips of “Pyramid” borders that another quilter gave me.
With Medallion Quilts floating around in the back of my mind, I started playing with the pieces on the design wall:
I had just enough of the Pyramid pieced strips to border the Schoolhouse block twice on each side and ended up with the beginning of a scrappy improvisational medallion quilt!
My very first Medallion Quilt in progress. I plan to make it using only fabric scraps and recycled pieced items from my challenge bags. I am going to read through Melanie at Catbird Studio’s lessons on for making Medallion quilts as inspiration and then let myself get all improvisational once I understand any helpful concepts.
What Comes Next?
I pulled from my “Basket of Challenges” (my stash of challenge bags) a bag of scrap squares and a bag of scrap triangles. I am going to just keep this piece up on my design wall and slowly add to it as I am inspired.
Thank you to One Creative Family, the mother/daughter creative crafters team, for nominating my tierneycreates blog for the Liebster Blogging Award.
Here are the guidelines they posted:
Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.
Answer the 11 questions the blogger gives you.
Give 11 random facts about yourself.
Nominate 11 blogs.
Notify those blogs of the nomination.
Give them 11 questions to answer.
The only thing I am going to do different is not to individually notify the blogs I nominate. I am going to leave it up to the bloggers to catch their nomination on my post and to participate if they like – it is completely optional.
Favorite book– My favorite book of all time would be Speaker for the Dead (the sequel to Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game)
Favorite foods– Pierogies are my complete guilty plesasure, smothered with lots of sour cream, but because I would like to fit through my door frame I do not indulge more than a couple times a year in these delicious delights!
Rather be outdoors or indoors– Outdoors on a walk
If you could travel anyplace in the world where would that be– Australia
Why did you start blogging– as a vehicle for my tierneycreates Etsy shop which is no longer active (discovered I love blogging more than trying to sell stuff!)
How do you relax – crafting, reading or organizing (except after scaling back my life I have run out of things to organize)
Rather eat sweets or salty – Salty I guess as I have been trying to stay away from many sweets
What is your favorite family activity – Bike riding with the dogs in their doggie backpacks
What type of movies do you enjoy watching– Science Fiction and Indie films
How do you relax after a stressful day – working on a hand quilting project or knitting
11 Random Facts About Me
I have this fantasy I am going to start getting enough sleep each night
I collect schnauzer figurines (though I am trying to be good and not bring anymore into my life)
Somedays I tire of making quilts and only want to make small items, but then I get lured by a new quilt pattern
Every morning my miniature schnauzer Mike and I have a major cuddle – he loves to cuddle
I met my husband on a Alcohol & Drug Detox Unit…no we were not patients – I was in nursing school (it was the only hospital unit that had openings for student nurses) and he was a nursing assistant.
I have a ridiculous amount of yarn I have never used
I prefer my cooking to the cooking at most restaurants – luckily my husband agrees
I am trying to curb my addiction to self-help genre books and read more fiction
I like to occasionally have a dance party in my living room with myself and the dogs
I miss the excellent Chinese food we had when we lived in Seattle, WA. I have yet to find a dependably decent Chinese food restaurant in Central Oregon
Ice cream cones make me gloriously happy
image credit: Becco Eliacik, free images.com
The 11 Blogs I Nominate (in no particular order) for the Liebster Award:
Peggy and Sami Quilts(even though I am wondering how her dog Sami is actually quilting, I think she is just covering for Sami and Peggy is actually doing most of the quilting – ha!)
knitNkwilt(one of the first blogs I ever followed and one of my first followers)
The 11 Questions for these bloggers, if they choose to participate:
Paper of Plastic?
What is your favorite dish soap, and why (if you would like to elaborate on your dish washing liquid of choice)?
Your favorite non-alcoholic beverage
How many hours of sleep a night do you need to feel rested?
Is there a hobby you would love to do but you are terrified to try it?
If you have a pet and suddenly your dog, cat. hamster, etc. were granted the ability to speak to you, what do you think is the first thing they would say?
If you were required by law to stop blogging, would you be okay with it or would you find a way to secretly blog?
What is your favorite seasoning to use on a variety of dishes?
Where do you think lost socks go?
If you read magazines, what is your favorite?
Favorite Doctor? (for the Doctor Who fans) or Favorite Star Trek Captain?
Saturday, a week before the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS), I met up with a couple friends to wander around Sisters, Oregon and have lunch.
A Little Bit About SOQS
SOQS, the world’s largest outdoor quilt show, is always the second Saturday in July. If you are a quilter or a person who loves quilts, I recommend you put it on your bucket list to see at least once in your life.
Per the website: “More than 10,000 visitors from all 50 states and 27 foreign countries” attend the show. We wanted to wander around Sisters before the madness of all those visitors descended upon the town!
While waiting on line to order lunch at The Depot Deli in Sisters, we chatted with a quilter from the UK that was in town for the SOQS and the week of classes prior to the show – the Quilters Affair.
At the Quilters Affair, renown quilters (Tula Pink, Joe Cunningham, Jean Wells, Rosalie Dace, Sue Spargo, Karla Alexander, Hilde Morin, Elizabeth Hartman, Rob Appell, etc.) teach classes.
My friend Susan created this year’s SOQS raffle quilt which will help raise funds to help cover the administrative costs of this free to the public event (the Saturday SOQS main event is free, all other events are not). The proceeds from the raffle also benefit various community programs such as the Sisters Food Bank.
While wandering around Sisters Saturday, Susan and my other friends stopped at the Stitchin’ Postquilt shop where her quilt was hanging out front (and of course we went into the quilt shop and wandered around):
“A Story of Stars” designed and pieced by Susan Cobb and quilted by Laura Simmons.
Many of the quilts at SOQS are for sale. Last year I had 6 quilts in the SOQS (5 for sale and 1 in a special art quilt exhibit); and Terry the Quilting Husband had 5 quilts in the “Made by Men” Exhibit and he sold 2 quilts!
This year for the 2017 SOQS I will only have 1 quilt in a special show by the art quilting group I belong to, Central Oregon SAQA. I will post photos after next Saturday’s show.
If you would like to get a feel for what it is like to attend this amazing show checking out my Central Oregon blogging buddy, Anna and her blog Woolie Mammoth or her YouTube Channel – QuiltRoadies, where you will find videos from past SOQS and she will post videos about this year.
Additionally, I have added a category for my posts – Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, if you want to check my posts from previous years on the show.
The Drug Store Quilt Show
During the 2nd Saturday of July for the SOQS, the entire downtown of Sisters Oregon is shut down from traffic and quilts are hung from every building in the town. They are also hung inside all the downtown buildings!
A couple weeks prior to the SOQS, Sponsor Quilts are hung in many downtown shops as a prelude to the SOQS. Patrons of these shops have the opportunity to purchase the quilts on display prior to the SOQS.
When you go into a drugstore you never expect to also be walking into a quilt show (not something generally associated with drugstores!). While wandering around Sisters, we stopped in the Sisters Drug & Gift Shop to see another one of Susan’s quilts displayed. Here are photos from inside the this downtown drugstore (and awesome gift shop!) – note the first photo is an incredible paper pieced quilt by teacher Janet Storten who I have mentioned in previous posts (see AdventuresinAppliqué):
I bet you have never attended a Drugstore Quilt Show!
This drugstore is famous for its handmade chocolate counter, which will tempt visitors during the SOQS:
I am looking forward to the 2017 SOQS next Saturday!
Postscript
While wandering around Sisters, we stopped at the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop and I picked up this Crosley radio for $12:
These radios retail for $54 – $79 and look like antique radios. The sound is excellent and the only thing wrong with it was a couple cosmetic scratches.
I added this radio to my paper crafting and jewelry making station I created in my sunroom:
I am determined to start card making and jewelry making again. So many crafts, so little time…
This post was originally published on 07/02/16 on the Improvisational Textiles website. It being moved to tierneycreates.
I have two new pieces, made from recycled textiles that will show in the Central Oregon SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Art Quilt Associates) exhibit Doors during the upcoming at the 2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.
Thanks to Marion and Jan the Central Oregon SAQA representatives that coordinated this exhibit!
The Recycled Door (2016), photographed by Marion S.
TheRecycled Door (2016) will become part of my Recycled Denim Series.
I have been remiss. Three bloggers have been kind enough to recently nominate me for blogging awards and I have not followed through on them! Recently, outside of working my pay-the-bills healthcare job, I have not been interested in writing or other “productive” activities.
True confessions: I have gotten involved with this: MyPorch Swing.
All I want to do is sitting or lie on my porch swing with a book, or no book, and just stare up at the sky, or just swing and swing and close my eyes. I have mastered pushing myself with one hand to make the swing, swing, while drifting off to sleep into a Swing-Nap.
If you remember (if you are not new to my blog) in my series of posts on the annual May retreat I attend with my Quilting Sisters, the post Quilt Retreat Inspiration andProjects in which I share my distraction with the porch swing at the retreat center.
I appear to be suffering from Porch-Swing-itis. I just want to be in my swing!
The Mystery Blogger Award
Well back to the purpose of this post (luckily it is 10 pm at night while I write this so I can fight my urge to run outside to the porch swing now that I am thinking about it) to thank Dewey Hop: Feisty Froggy Reads Through the Library for nominating me for the Mystery Blogger Award.
Dewey Hop|Feisty Froggy Reads Through The Library is one of my favorite blogs. She does not post frequently but when she posts they are well researched intriguing posts about a large variety of topics. As the blog’s title implies, the blogger is reading through the library, one section at a time and sharing the interesting finds!
Okoto Enigma created this award as a means of helping bloggers connect and discover amazing blogs. This is what she says the The Mystery Blogger Award is for:
“Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve any of the recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion.
Here are the rules for accepting/nominating for this award:
Post the award/ image on your blog .
Thank whoever nominated you and give a link back to their blog.
Mention the creator of the award and give a link back to her blog.
Nominate some deserving bloggers and notify your nominees by commenting on their blogs.
Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice; including one weird or funny question.
Here are the questions from Dewey Hop’s nomination post and my answers:
If you could change one thing about our country, what would it be and why? I would make it mandatory that in general we treat each other with respect and kindness. There is no actual “us” and “them”, there are just fellow earthlings on one planet. We waste time and distract ourselves from the wonders and beauty in life when we are busy drawing lines in the sand.
Which super hero powers would you like to have, if given a chance? Why ? I would like the ability to know what dogs are actually thinking. Why – because it is about time I figure out the devious plans of Sassythe Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer!
What motivates you to blog (write) ? I like to use my blog to encourage myself…actually pressure myself to complete projects. I like to tell myself I owe it to my readers to complete a project I share the progress on in a blog post. It is likely highly imaginary and no one is really that concerned whether I complete a project or not, but blogging keeps me motivated. I also like to share interesting things I encounter in my life journey with others, in case they find it useful in their journey.
What is something you like to collect, if anything?Fabric unfortunately though lately I am well behaved. I also seem to collect crafting related magazines and books – I love looking over ideas with a pot of tea. As part of My MinimalismJourney I am trying to bring less things into my life/better curate my life, and so far I have been able to reign in my desire for new magazines and crafting related books but using my public library to fulfilled that need (see my series of posts on The Library Stack). In a future post on Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s blog schnauzersnips, she might share some photos of our secret collection of schnauzer kitsch!
If given the chance to rename any fast food restaurant, which would it be? “Kentucky-Fried Death”? “McPoison”? In general do not eat fast food. I read the book Fast Food Nation many years ago and it forever impacted me on how I view fast food restaurants, especially the major chains. I am about 13 – 15 years free of having eaten at “the golden arches” or other such places. On a rare occasion we will stop at a Sonic to get soft serve ice cream cones.
Here are my five (5) nominees of some “amazing bloggers with ingenious posts” (Please do not feel obligated to participate and follow the rules, but thank you for your wonderful posts I am enjoying):
Melanie @ Catbird Quilt Studio – another one of my favorite blogs. Melanie’s posts are well written, informative and focus on a variety of topics to include quilting, but not just quilting.
I’ve Read This– a blog I recently started following, this blog is loaded with well written book reviews and lots of photos of kitties! If you like cats and reading, this is a blog you should check out.
Zheng Fan Minimalist– this is blog I recently started following with a wide variety of engaging topics and posts!
Crave Food-Health-Life – a lovely blog with a variety of topics and wonderful healthy recipes.
In the mornings before work and before it gets too warm outside I try to go on a bike ride and listen to a podcast (no worries, I ride my bike in a safe low traffic section of my neighborhood and always watch for cars).
Recently I have discovered The RobCast by Rob Bell (robbell.com), a former pastor turned author, coach, speaker. His podcasts focuses on minimalism, spirituality and quality of life. I discovered him through The Minimalists.
There are to date 157 episodes of his podcast, and I started with episode #1 after hearing him speak on an episode of The Minimalists Podcast. Although his message is based on his spiritual beliefs and he does share biblical quotes, the topics discussed in his podcast are not limited to/designed to appeal only to those with Judeo-Christian beliefs.
In my opinion they would appeal any spiritual belief whether what you consider “The Divine” is based on a higher being(s), a prophet, nature, science, or what lies within you. He discusses what I feel are universal truths that he makes accessible sharing the kind of real life situations and challenges we all face. There is no “bible-thumping” in this podcast (which personally would turn me off immediately).
The RobCast is now part of my morning bike ride routine and I today listened to Episode #3 in which Rob Bell explores being grateful for having employment to feed yourself/your family; and discusses the idea of an inedible seed turning into something that nurtures you:
“(A) seed contains within it the potentiality to keep you alive. It contains latent life-force, present but unrealized possibilities…you place a seed in the earth and you bury it and it somehow become something else…as it arises from the earth in a new form it is from that particular new form…provides you with what you need to live.
A seed only becomes the thing it could become…its potentials are only realized when it is buried…it is in the dark..it is under the earth, it appears lost to your sight…it is in the moment in which the seed is most gone that is actually when it is undergoing the most radical necessary transformation for it to be something that could give you life…” – Rob Bell, The RobCast, Episode 3|Receipts
Listening to the passage above got me thinking about something I created but have not shared on blog that has to do with SEEDS.
But let’s back up for a moment…
As a general rule I stay away from politics and religion as topics of discussion on my blog. I want to always respect my readers that may have different views on these very sensitive subjects. These are very personal types of beliefs.
I do however make a point to have people in my life who have different spiritual and political beliefs than I do. I like to be exposed to ideas and viewpoints that differ from mine. It is a basic requirement though to be my friend that you do have same general values about treating others with respect (sorry raging misanthropes we cannot be friends, ha!).
It is for this reason (staying away from politics) that I have not shared something I created for a certain march on issues that are meaningful to me as a Woman and as a Person of Color. I am feeling inspired to now share and here a banner I created, all about seeds:
I think what Rob Bell says about seeds in his RobCast #3 and the general theme of my banner, could translate to any situation in which you feel buried, without hope and things are the darkest. If you have planted seeds, although it is dark, there might be a period of incredible transformation happening underground that and will eventually bloom into something beautiful.
Postscript
Speaking of seeds and thus nature, I am definitely taking a cue from nature as I slowly work on hand stitching the letters on my Lao Tzu quotes themed wallhanging. As I shared in yesterday’s post, The Backstitch and the End of TangledFloss, I am finishing up a wallhanging from an appliqué class I took in 2016.
I am in the process of stitching:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Lao Tzu
And it is obvious I am not hurrying (ha) but I have completed THREE WORDS (a significant improvement from TWO LETTERS I shared yesterday!
It is a peaceful meditative process to carefully stitch on words, I like it! I plan to knock out another word or two this evening.
(Which will happen first: the acorn will turn into the oak tree or I will finish stitching the saying onto the quilt?)
Continuing my theme of cleaning out the old UFOs (unfinished projects) from yesterday’s post, this weekend I also worked on an appliqué project that I began in a wonderful class a over year ago (Adventures in Appliqué).
To finish this wallhanging size quilt top, I needed to embroider the words that go with the image using a “backstitch”:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Lao Tzu
Hopefully it is obvious (fingers crossed) that my wallhanging contains an acorn which eventually becomes a large oak tree in time.
The concept of the wallhanging is based on the African Themed Bible Verses appliqué quilt that students had the option of making in the class.
Bible Verses Quilt by Ugandan Women, Sisters of the Heart Foundation, Sisters Coffee House during the 2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show
I being the rebel, decided to use the words of an ancient Chinese philosopher as inspiration for my piece (also a rebel, I decided to make a smaller wallhanging with one block instead of a quilt with multiple blocks).
Although I have allegedly been quilting for 17+ years, sometimes I feel like a brand new quilter when I discover something else I do not know how to do: in order to stitch on the words, I needed to learn how to do the backstitch.
The wonderful instructor, Janet Storten (who is the Director of Sisters of the Heart Foundation) kindly offered to give me a refresher on the backstitch as she did cover it in her class (and I swear I did pay attention in class). I was tempted but I thought I would take a chance and try to learn the backstitch from YouTube.
YouTube is filled with awesome instructional crafting videos (and I have lost hours of time watching one right after the other). I discovered one by the talented crafter Lauren Fairweather:
As Janet had instructed in her appliqué class, I first lightly drew words in pencil on my fabric (see I did remember something). Following the video above, I slowly did my first backstitch letters!
This is another hand sewing meditative experience (slowing down and focusing appears good for the soul!)
In time I know I will get better, but here are photos of my progress so far (I had to put my work in a hoop to stabilize it until I get more experienced):
So Tierney, you stitch on TWO letters and then post photos? Why yes, I am very proud of those two letters – ha! Of course when the whole top is finished I will post an updated photo.
A Tale of Tangled Threads
Actually a tale of tangled embroidery floss, but the words “embroidery floss” did not not provide the alliteration that “threads” did in the header to this section!
Last May when I took Janet’s class on Appliqué I discovered embroidery floss cards (Tierney – have you been quilting under a rock all these years, why do you not know about basic crafting items?!?!) Janet was kind enough to share some of her huge collection of embroidery floss cards with her students. She gave me this one that coordinated with my piece:
I did not know such magical cards existed! I thought that she had discovered a mysterious and secret fountain of embroidery floss!
You see I have always purchased embroidery floss this way:
Photo credit: Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts
And turned these nice little packages of embroidery floss into TANGLED MESSES.
Prior to learning to stitch with them, I used embroidery floss in various colors as the “string” to hold the chopstick on the miniature kimonos I make so they can become a wallhanging.
Miniature Kimono by tierneycreates with red embroidery floss
Other crafters will likely cringe at this but I would just cut in the middle of a new package of embroidery floss in order to access a length of it for hanging the kimono. Then I would put the rest of the floss away in a small bag and it would turn into a tangled mess.
I would untangle the mess to try and cut more floss out for another kimono as needed.
Are you cringing, I mean really cringing? Do you want my “Crafter Card” revoked at this point?
Not able to find embroidery floss on these mysterious spool like cards, I just kept doing what I was doing until I discovered a large package of embroidery cards with floss and some EMPTY CARDS for $1.50 a couple of weeks ago at a thrift shop.
(Lightbulb)
So…you buy the cards and then you wind your embroidery floss onto the cards!
This weekend I sorted my thrift shop find into an old small plastic container with dividers and wound all my floss packages onto their own spool cards!
I went from this (note the tangled floss in small packages):
To this:
When I ran out of the cards I got from the thrift store bag, I used one of them as a template and created my own with some recycled cardboard.
Just think how much more basic quilting/crafting stuff I will learn in my next 17 years of quilting!
“Once in a while, you just have to let loose and HOWL” is one of the dog themed sayings on the wallhanging sized quilt I just finished on Saturday and hung in Terry the Quilting Husband’s (TTQH) studio (aka the Guest Room).
No More Just Gathering Dust
My friend Lisa gave me dog themed wallhanging sized quilt top (unfinished quilt) a couple years ago. Since then it has in my closet (after sitting in hers) as an un-finished object (UFO), just gathering dust (yes quilters like to transfer their UFOs from one quilter to another to keep in storage at someone else’s house!).
Saturday I was rummaging through my UFOs and came across this quilt top; and spur of the moment decided to JUST FINISH IT.
Lisa was very generous to give me this completed wallhanging quilt top. All I had to do in order to finish the quilt was to prepare the backing; machine quilt it; and bind it.
Recycled Batting
A quilting colleague who is a professional long-arm quilter has quilting batting leftovers from her customers’ quilts that the customers do not want. She saves some of the pieces for me to use for table runners or small projects. (I rarely buy package batting as for smaller pieces I have her discards and for larger quilts I get them professionally quilted which include the batting in the cost)
She also taught me how to piece smaller batting together to make a larger batting for a project – either by zig zagging the batting together or using a special tape to join them.
I did not have pieces of scrap batting to finish the dog themed wallhanging quilt. So I zig zagged two smaller pieces together:
Favorite Saying?
Not only did I make the batting, quilt it and bind it all in one day, I also got it hung in TTQH’s sewing area (the entire Guest Room is dog…primarily schnauzer…themed)!
Summoning TTQH to the Guest Room…I mean his “studio”, to reveal the latest addition, I asked him which saying on the wallhanging was his favorite. He selected this one:
One of my Quilting Sisters (see posts Quilting Sisters, PartII and Quilting Sisters, PartI) is a breast cancer survivor and asked at this year’s annual Quilting Sister Retreat, if each of us would make two blocks for a fundraising charity quilt to raise money for breast cancer research.
The plan is to make different “star” blocks in blues and whites. This past weekend I worked on my blocks, made from the same block pattern from the Ladies’ Art Company Block Tool – Four X Star:
Here are the completed blocks, I used the same “white on white” background fabric and different blues for the blocks:
The blocks are “nothing to write home about” but I needed to get them done (because I had procrastinated working on the blocks) in time for the quilt to get assembled by my Quilting Sister who is pulling all together and having it quilted for the charity fundraising event.
I like the blocks better turned on point and I do not how the quilt will be set. I will try and remember to share a photo of the completed quilt in the future.
Good Omens
I just finished an exceptionally funny and irreverent audiobook – Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Photo credit: Amazon.com
The book is about heaven and hell screwing up the Apocalypse. It has two absolutely endearing characters, who are actually best friends, a bumbling angel Aziraphale and a demon Crowley (who actually secretly quite fond of humanity) who try to sabotage the Apocalypse.
The book is brilliantly narrated by Martin Jarvis who does an exceptional job with all the voices of the characters.
Filled with delightful bits and parodies of modern culture (well as modern as 1990 when it was published), I laughed so hard while trying to go on my daily walks that one time I actually stumbled! The authors obviously dislike telephone salespeople, tax accountants, and the fast food industry!
In addition it the awesome British humor and endless silly bits (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are actually “Hell’s Angels” bikers!), some of them with “Monty Pythonesque” humor, the book has some wonderful insight on humanity’s foibles and how we should try and be better to each other. It also is filled with heart warming sweetness of how much goodness there actually is in the world.
There are many wonderful quotes in the book. Here is one I found on QuoteAddicts.com:
Postscript
The kale in my garden is ready to use!
Hello Kale, I would like to invite you into my belly
With some crusty bread, we had a very tasty supper last night! Check out my repost from November 2016, A Girl’s Gotta Eat (repost), if you would like links to some of other favorite recipes.
All the topics on this post seem rather random, so I will continue to be random, and share the cover of a blank journal my friend Susan recently gave me as a gift. It makes me smile:
During our recent trip to Fort Worth, Texas, Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) and I stopped at a Fort Worth area quilt shop – Cabbage Rose Quilting & Fabrics.
It is a lovely quilt shop with a great selection of fabrics, excellent prices (and a very nice sale section) and friendly/helpful staff. I got to chat with the owner a very nice lady.
All around the shop were sweet little vignettes, here is one with a miniature antique sewing machine in the window, that I thought was darling:
Quilt Shop Family Reunion
What made the visit to this quilt shop very special was it was also the location of a mini Hogan family reunion!
We picked up TTQH’s quilter sisters Susan and Diane from the airport and headed directly to this quilt shop from the DFW airport. Terry’s eldest brother Andy and his wife (also a quilter) who live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, met up with us at the quilt shop!
TTQH had not seen Andy in many years and they spent a long time chatting and catching up in the quilt shop while TTQH’s sisters, sister-in-law and myself shopped! I have some adorable photos of Terry and his big brother in the quilt shop (sorry many of my photos from the Cabbage Rose Quilting & Fabrics shop contain TTQH’s family members and to respect their privacy I have not posted those photos).
If you are ever in the Fort Worth area I highly recommend their shop. They also have a great website:
Of course I bought something! I have to support local quilt shops when I am traveling! I was rather well-behaved and bought a couple of modern fabrics from the 1/2 yard precut sale bin:
Postscript
Really Hungry, Willing to Take Chances
We took a red-eye (overnight) flight from Central Oregon to DFW (via a stop in Portland, Oregon) and arrived at 5:00 am in the morning. After waiting around a couple hours in the DFW airport rental car center (yes the airport is so huge the rental cars have their own HUGE complex off site from the airport) and picking up our rental car, we were tired and hungry.
We do not know the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and we could not check into our hotel in Ft. Worth until the afternoon, so we had to figure out stuff to do till then AND find some breakfast. (The rest of Terry’s family was not coming into town until Friday, which we did not realize until after we bought our plane tickets).
We stumbled upon a little “hole-in-the-wall” diner in strip mall and were so hungry we thought we would take our chance and try it – Mom’s Cafe:
We had our finger crossed that “Mom” would not give us any gastrointestinal distress. Instead we were pleasantly surprised with EXCEPTIONAL Tex-Mex breakfasts!
I had an incredible plate of migas with tortillas for breakfast and TTQH had some type of breakfast burrito.
We were very quiet while we ate as we were each having our own private moments of total-food-yumminess! “Mom” did good!
TTQH loves even more than quilting, historical war-gaming. After breakfast we found a Ft. Worth area miniature historical war-gaming shop before finally getting to our hotel and passing out.
Later that evening, we went to the Movie Tavern for dinner and a movie (we saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2, a very fun movie!). The next day, while visiting with Terry’s brother Andy, had worked on the building of this theater!
Blogging Awards
Recently I have been honored with a couple more blogging awards (thank you so muchOne Creative Family and DeweyHop) and I will do future blog posts about those but I am backlogged with other blog post topic ideas. I guess I have to try and do daily posts when I can to catch up with all the random stuff floating around in my head (smile).
Yesterday’s post featured a completed quilt to convince you that this is still a Quilter’s Blog, so now I am free today to post about some other non-quilting random topic!
This is post is a sort of follow up or continuation of my post from August 2016, Shameless Thrifting. In my “Shameless Thrifting” post I share how I overcame my aversion to thrift stores as part of my Minimalism Journey. I also share a secret obsession from my childhood discovered during an afternoon of thrifting.
Got Outfit?
In yesterday’s post (in which I try to convince you I am a quilter again), The Wedding Gift Quilt, I mention that I recent returned from a trip to Fort Worth, Texas for a family wedding.
Preparing for the trip I realized I did not have many nice warm weather outfits for Texas (90+ degrees F and high humidity).
I live in the Pacific NW and in general we dress fairly casual; and I am a telecommuter and I can work in sweat pants and a T-shirt all day. I used to have a lot of dressy clothes from when I worked in an office, but I donated most of them to thrift shops as I discussed in my series of posts on My Minimalism Journey (My Minimalism Journey).
I could not stand the idea of going out and buying NEW clothes. Anytime I think about buying new clothes, I think about an article I read last year on how “Fast Fashion” is creating environmental issues. This is not the exact article but it has the same message: Newsweek’s FAST FASHION IS CREATING AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
Several times I started to get into the car and go to the local Macy*s or J. Jill, or even Old Navy to see if I could find any cute outfits for the trip. I also thought of our local boutique shops and although I would like to patronize small businesses I was not sure if I wanted to pay their prices and I noticed many of their clothes are made in overseas.
Let’s Try Local Thrift Shops!
Thank goodness due to the influence of my sister, a very creative “thrifter”, I can proudly and shamelessly, go thrift shop shopping for clothes! There are many wonderful “gently used” fashionable clothes at thrift shops.
After visiting several thrift shops, I was able to put together a couple outfits for the trip I was very pleased with. Here is an example of one of those outfits (note I already had the shoes – they are are Dankso dress clogs with ankle straps I’ve had for many years and they surprisingly matched perfectly):
How much for the entire outfit including the jewelry (not including the shoes) – $9.
Yes $9 for the whole outfit: the $5 dress is a J. Crew dress, the $3 jacket is a boutique brand type item, and the coordinating necklace was $1. I received compliments on the outfit while on my trip!
And when I get tired of my “new” thrift shop summer travel wardrobe, I will just donate it back to the thrift shops!
Postscript
The Capsule Wardrobe
Speaking of clothing, a vlogger (video blogger), Casually Matthew, has a beautifully produced short video on how to create a Capsule Wardrobe:
I love the idea of a “Capsule Wardrobe” and first heard about this concept when I started following The Minimalists a couple years ago. I was going to add a link to provide more background on Capsule Wardrobes, but you can google this phrase and find many wonderful guides.
Essentially a Capsule Wardrobe is a way to declutter and minimize your closet while curating your clothing into a coordinated collection of clothing you really love; and is flexible in its ability to “mix and match”.
I have a fairly casual Capsule Wardrobe for my telecommuter/Pacific NW lifestyle but I would like to evolve it to be a tad more stylish and plan to use thrift shop finds to achieve my goal!
Feature photo credit: Roger Kirby, free images.com
One of the most enlightening (actually shocking) things, was how much we spend on food (and there are only two humans in the household)! Not to mention how many trips to the grocery store (and several different grocery stores) we make each month.
Here is 
tierneycreates 