a fusion of textiles & smiles
All quilted and on the dining room/library table now!
After I finished quilting it and putting on the binding, I decided to launder it (and then try and iron out wrinkles) so it was ready for any future laundering after spills. I want it to be a “working” table runner that will stay on the table during a meal.
(Before company comes for dinner I will give it a better pressing, I was just so excited to put it on the table!)
This was so wonderful about the healing properties of knitting (and crafting in general) I had to reblog. Thank you Wild Daffodil for posting this and warming my heart (and moistening my eyes) on a cold and snowy day in Denver.
Here’s an update on some works in progress (aka WIPs) that I’ve discussed in previous posts…
Previous post on this project: Guest Blog Post: Progress on “My Blanket”
I am plugging along with this great-to-work-on-while-watching-TV in the evening project. I’m working on attaching the 7th row of blocks. It will be an 8 by 10 blanket when done as I made 80 granny squares. I will add an extra border or two of the same yarn I am using as the lattice (to attach the granny squares).
Previous post on this project: ScrapHappy January 2024 – Update on Table Runner and More
As I mentioned in that previous post, I decided to use a collection of traditionally pieced “orphan blocks” that my friend Wendy gave me as the backing for this table runner.
I figured that if I got a stain on the front of the runner while entertaining, I could flip it over and use the other side!
I’ve completed the machine quilting of the table runner and just need to sew the binding strips together, sew on the binding, and sew down the binding.
For the quilting I just went with a simple double crosshatch pattern (no that is not a real pattern name, I just made it up on the spot), following the lines of the pieced blocks.
I plan to press it, ha! It just came off the machine and I just finished trimming off the excess batting and backing so it is pretty wrinkly!
Previous post on this project: Denim Quilt Top Done and a Visit to a Fun Brewery
I am so looking forward to hand quilting this quilt (yes I decided to hand quilt it)!
I got the batting and backing put together with the quilt top to make the “quilt sandwich”. I’ve also auditioned some threads (I plan to use multiple and to use pearl cotton weight) for the hand quilting.
I have two more quilt tops awaiting quilting by me:
Strings Attached
Previous post on this project: Scrap Happy September 2023 – Strings Attached
I am going to machine quilt this small wallhanging.
Go Boldly
Previous post on this project: What’s on the Design Wall: Go Boldly
I haven’t decided on machine vs. hand quilting but if I do hand quilt it I have some cool threads I collected many years ago I want to use.
I will get to these two quilt tops eventually – ha!
I’ve been trying not to start any additional MAJOR projects before finishing my existing WIPs…but then some small projects might sneak in…you know how us crafters are!
Oh Mike wants me to tell you that he’s happy he doesn’t have to fill in for me with blogging since I seem to be back at it again (see his recent post Guest Blog Post: Humans Traveling and Dog Camp).
This leaves him more time for napping in the sun, on fleece blankets, in the upstairs bedroom (with the occasional waking up to intensely bark at people walking by and delivery trucks coming into the neighborhood).
Addendum to my post earlier today: Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet moves onto the Stark Museum of Art
I discovered late today that the Stark Museum of Art posted about my quilt Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet on their Facebook page:
And then I went onto discover the museum’s Curator, Sarah E. Boehme, Ph.D., discusses the quilt in her Curator’s Corner page on the Stark Museum of Art‘s website:
If you go to the Curator’s Corner page and scroll past her February 2, 2024 discussion of John James Audubon, “Maryland Marmot, Woodchuck, Groundhog” you will see the January 15, 2024 entry about my quilt:
January 15, 2024
“Langston Hughes, Pioneer Poet”
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an author and activist, born in Joplin, Missouri. He is known for his powerful poetry and as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, the flourishing of Black culture that developed in New York City.
Artist Tierney Davis Hogan depicted Langston Hughes for the exhibition “Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West.” She wrote an artist statement about this quilt for the exhibition catalog accompanying “Black Pioneers.”
Tierney Davis Hogan chose to portray Hughes for this exhibition, seeing him as a pioneer poet. She used a photograph of Hughes by Carl Van Vechten from the Library of Congress and reimagined it. She layered the likeness over an American flag and an African fabric to visualize Hughes’s identity as an African American. She stressed his role as a poet by incorporating words of Langston Hughes’s poetry into her art. Hogan reshaped four lines from the 86 lines of the poem “Let America Be America.”
Hogan lined the poem’s words along the stripes of the American flag, seemingly to emphasize the call to respond to American ideals. She arranged the wording so that “pioneer” appears directly over the head of Hughes. The final two words of the poem, “is free,” appear upon the African fabric, stressing the importance of freedom, especially for African Americans. Hogan noted the continuing relevance of Hughes poem, which was written in 1935, and encouraged the reading of “Let America Be America” in its entirety.
The four lines of poetry that Hogan used include a dream reference. Scholars believe that Hughes’s poetry influenced the imagery in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches. The two men were friends and maintained a correspondence for many years. Hughes wrote a reference to Dr. King in his poem “Brotherly Love.”
Langston Hughes has a connection to Orange, Texas. In 1945, he spoke at the Salem Methodist Church. Local historian Margaret Toal has written about Hughes’ visit for KOGT radio and noted that the newspaper “The Orange Leader” carried a front-page story about the poet’s upcoming visit. During his time in Orange, Hughes autographed a printed copy of one of his poems for local civil rights leader Velma Jeter.
Quite the surprise!
Feature image credit: Stark Museum of Art
The quilt I created for the show Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West, moves onto it’s 4th show venue the Stark Museum of Art in Orange, TX on March 2, 2024.
Langston Hughes, Pioneer Poet (2021), pieced and quilted by Tierney Davis Hogan
If you’d like to read the Artist Statement for this quilt that provides the background for my inspiration, it is in this post Update on the Langston Hughes, Pioneer Poet Quilt as well as on my Portfolio page (which I need to revamp someday) but you have to scroll a lot of find it on the Portfolio page. (Someone asked me at the first show opening why was Langston Hughes included in this show when he was known for the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s…well he was born in Joplin, Missouri so I am guessing that is why he was included. I never asked the curator when we were giving a list of historical figures to select from for our quilt from the show, I was just so excited to do a Langston Hughes quilt!)
The postcard for the show came in the mail yesterday:
I’ve attended two of the four show openings already and I do not plan to attend this one as the travel to Orange, Texas involves a bit a driving from major airports. Here are my blog posts on the two other show openings I attended: Black Pioneers Exhibit Celebration, California Museum, Sacramento, CA , Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West show opening weekend, Part I , Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West show opening weekend, Part II , and Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West show opening weekend, Part III.
Here is a summary of the four venues this quilt has shown in, from my Events/Publications page:
I will however plan to check the museum’s website and social media when the show opens to see if there are any walk through videos or photos to share with you on how my quilt is hung in the show.
This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time. It’s January 31st and Tierney has not posted on her blog since January 15th (ScrapHappy January 2024 – Update on Table Runner and More ) and I needed to intervene and jump on her laptop and write a post (even though I don’t have opposable thumbs so typing is challenging).
I need to figure out the dictation feature…
Tierney has been busy doing some purging in her crafting area and quilting table runner she discussed in her January 15th (so long ago) blog post. Also she and John have been doing some traveling and recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas where John was in a poker tournament (he didn’t do too bad in the tournament!)
Since I am on her laptop I was able to find a couple photos from her trip to Las Vegas to share with you including a meal they had at Hell’s Kitchen (Chef Gordon Ramsey’s famous restaurant) of the renown Beef Wellington and Sticky Toffee pudding on the menu.
But what is more exciting than their trip is the time I had at “Dog Camp” where I stay when they go out of town. “Dog Camp” is only for dog’s my size and I have a group of dog friends (like my Miniature Schnauzer friend Bandit is a regular at “Dog Camp”).
Here’s Bandit trying to manage one of the humans that run “Dog Camp”:
And here are more awesome photos of me recently at “Dog Camp” (the humans that run it take photos and send to Tierney so she knows I am having more fun that her and John while they are on vacation):
Yes I need to nap, as do my friends, after all that fun!
Well that’s all I had to share, but I am going to talk to Tierney and ask her to get caught up on her blogging friends’ posts as well as start writing her own posts again!
It’s the 15th of the month and time for my monthly “ScrapHappy” post as part of the ScrapHappy group I belong. At the end of this post I have a link to the other blogs participating in this monthly event in case you’d like to check out their ScrapHappy posts.
For this month’s ScrapHappy blog post, I am sharing an update on the table runner I’ve been working on that is made from my friend Wendy’s fabric scraps and orphan blocks from a quilt she made SuperSymmetry (see blog posts Update on SuperSymmetry Table Runner and the Library Book Borrowing Bonanza, A Table Runner for the New Table, and Quilter Distractions: Good Mail filled with “Taupe” ).
I completed piecing the table runner per the piecing instructions from her pattern SuperSymmetry, and discovered I needed to make more blocks in order to make it long enough for the table as well as finish each end (more on that later). Unfortunately Y seams were involved in the piecing (shudder) but I made it through.
I ended up making 14 additional blocks.
I floated the pieced SuperSymmetry blocks in taupe-brown Peppered Cotton (a heavy duty linen like shot cotton). Here is a little photoshoot I did of the completed table runner top on the new dining room/library table:
In the last two photos you can see the new rug that arrived that I mentioned in a previous post. It is one of those Ruggable rugs that can be laundered in the washing machine (in case there is “The Great Spaghetti Sauce Spill” during a meal someday).
And in case you are curious here is how I finished the ends of the table runner with all those triangle blocks in the piece:
Thank goodness for a good steamy iron as there was a lot of pressing involved to get it looking like I hadn’t been on mind altering substances while piecing…
In addition to the SuperSymmetry orphan blocks and fabric scraps, Wendy also sent me 7 traditional quilt blocks orphan blocks for a taupe quilt she was working on. I’ve decided to use these blocks as part of the back for the table runner.
I am going to float each of them in the taupe Peppered Cotton and then add in enough length in side borders as well as a bottom and top to meet the length. I am getting ready to start working on floating each block by doing some “log cabin” style piece around each block:
We’ve had a run of sub-zero Fahrenheit (colder than -17 Celsius) temperatures in the Denver metropolitan area and we’ve been spending a lot of time inside. John got addicted to watching cooking/culinary themed videos on YouTube and this weekend decided to try and make a copy of the famous Chick-fil-A (very popular fast food eatery in the US) chicken sandwich and the accompanying sauce after watching a video on how to do it.
He made enough for his father, sister, son and son’s family (who all live nearby) and then delivered them to their homes! You might have heard of the popular food delivery service DoorDash – well we named John – “DadDash”!
The sandwiches were a hit and included the famous pickle like the original. Here is a little photo spread from yesterday to close out this post.
Oh and if you’d like to try and make them yourself, here is the video John used:
As promised, here are the bloggers that participate in the ScrapHappy monthly posting event, check out their blogs linked below for their ScrapHappy posts:
Kate @Tall Tales from Chiconia , Gun @Rutigt – G Adrian, Eva @bambisyr-evaj, Sue @From the Magpie’s Nest, Lynda @Life on the Farmlet, Birthe @Birthes rom, Turid @Den syende himmel, Susan @DesertSky Quilting, Cathy @nanacathydotcom, Tracy @It’s a T-Sweets Day!, Jan @The Snail of Happiness, Moira @The Quilted Snail, Sandra @Wild Daffodil, Chris @chrisknitsews, Alys @Gardening Nirvana, Claire @Claire93’s Blog, Jean @onesmallstitch, Dawn @DawnGillDesigns, Gwen @Deep in the Heart of Textiles/Textile Ranger, Sunny @The Adventures of Team Wil-Sun, Kjerstin @Quimper Hittys, Sue @Going Batty in Wales, Vera @lifebyacompassnotaclock, Ann @Ann F Stonehouse Quiltmaker, Dawn @myquiltprojects, Carol @Quilt Schmilt, Preeti @Sew Preeti Quilts, Nóilin @Paper, Pen and Mug, Viv @Where the Journey Takes Me 2, Karrin @Karrin’s Crazy World, Amo @View From Our Hill, Alissa @ Snakes & Cranes, Lynn @Tialys, Tierney @tierneycreates, Hannah @quietwatercraft
Well after Monday’s guest post by Mike the Miniature Schnauzer’s on the update of one of the WIPs (Guest Blog Post: Progress on “My Blanket”), the gray granny square blanket, that I shared in this post 2023 Recap: A Year in “Makes” and WIPs Going Forward, I guess I should actually do a post providing an update on another WIP I mentioned in the “2023 Recap” post: the table runner for our new table made from orphan blocks from my friend Wendy’s quilt SuperSymmetry (the quilt and the pattern she wrote appeared in the October 2010 edition of The Quilt Life):
I have all the blocks that Wendy gave me sewn together; and now it seems I have quite a few to make to bring the piece the full length of the table.
I am floating the table runner in progress on the taupe-brownish fabric that I will use as the borders. It is the same fabric I used as the setting fabric in this quilt which is in the dining room/library:
Yes that is Mike napping at my feet while I read a book in the library (before it was the dining room/library).
Here’s a couple more photos of the table runner in progress laid out on the dining table, this time with the bowl and candles that will sit on top of it when it is done:
You can see my breakfast in the background, it is a nice place to sit, read and eat breakfast.
I really like how the table runner is looking in the room and it coordinates well with my color scheme. I have one of those Ruggable washable rugs on order for under the table the in a muted brown color. Hopefully the rug will tie the room even more together (as well as protect the carpet from food spills when the dining table it being used).
You might have noticed in the first image in this post a stack of library books on the chair in the corner. A while back I decided to end my series of posts on the stack of library books I borrow from the library (last post in the series was Revenge of The Library Stack). But I thought I would share a special library book borrowing bonanza event.
The Saturday before New Year Eve (12/30), John and I decided to have a unique adventure – we decided on one day to visit all the libraries in our local library system that were within a reasonable drive. We drove to four different library branches, three of which I’ve never visited. Since my library card worked at all the libraries, I had an “incident” and came home with a LOT of books.
It was fun raiding the NEW NONFICTION sections of each library as well as browsing their 700s sections where all the yumminess for me awaits! It was such a delight to visit all those libraries in one day and what a wonderful sense of anticipation I had as our car parked in front of a library I’d never been to before!
Remember the post I did on the literary and popular culture inspired Christmas Trees my local library had on display (see post O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Trees…) as part of the Forest of Trees? Well the other libraries we visited in the library system also had trees on display as part of this library system wide program.
I took a ridiculous amount of pictures of the different trees at each library branch we visited. Here are some of my favorites (sorry the lighting wasn’t the best for photography) listed in order of the photos:
Such amazing creativity on the part of the library staff who came up with the concepts and decorated the trees!
This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time.
Tierney has been doing something weird the past month or so and only posting to this blog once a week. I am trying to work with her to increase her frequency. She went from torturing you all to daily posts in the month of October, this blog’s 10th anniversary, to BOOM once a week posts.
So I had to step in and blog about the progress on “my blanket”.
My writing station at “my blanket” in progress
Tierney previous posted her progress on this blanket these post Update on Various Projects and 2023 Recap: A Year in “Makes” and WIPs Going Forward, but she has made quite a bit of progress since these posts – she now has 5 rows of 8 granny squares joined:
Look at all the progress I’ve encouraged her to make!
In case you are wondering why I refer to it as “my blanket” – isn’t it obvious she is making it for me when it coordinates with my fur so wonderfully?
Try not to become overwhelmed with my cuteness
She has 5 more rows of 8 blocks to join to it to make it an 8 by 10, 80 block blanket. But at this point it is sufficient enough for me to snuggle under. For some reason she wants to keep working on it.
I’ve caught her cuddling under it while working on it and she even wrangled it into the car when John is driving to work on.
Here she is working on it while in the back seat when we had a holiday visitor; and I am trying to snuggle in it too:
It should be covering me but she said that won’t work while she is crocheting
Well hopefully it will be done soon.
That’s the end of my guest post and I am going to return to guarding the house from my sunny guard post on the upstairs guest bed surrounded by my natural habitats: blankets (fleece!) and quilts.
I was inspired by other bloggers’ year end recap posts and I thought jump in. I have a paltry amount of “makes” for 2023. Below are photos of projects that I either finished or at least finished the quilt top on:
Oh and I didn’t make all the handmade Christmas gifts I had planned, but I did make a Dallas Cowboys (American Football team) tote bag for one person who is a huge fan:
I did have to include a little bit of humor and added this tag on the side which states “Dream Impossible Things” – ha! She got a kick out of it.
My excuses for an underwhelming amount of makes in 2023: I broke my ankle in January 2023 and have my first under anesthesia surgery when I had a surgical repair of my complex ankle fracture; as well as immobility for several months…so yes I am using that as one of my excuses – ha!
Another excuse for a lack of “makes” in 2023 was that once I was able to be mobile again I did a bit of traveling. I’ll share a recap of my 2023 travel in a separate post.
Here’s what I have on my plate to start out 2023:
1) 3 finished quilt tops to quilt (the first two below I will machine quilt and the 3rd one I plan to hand quilt
2) 2 granny square blankets to finish
3) A new table runner in progress
And then I have like a million (ok perhaps a little less than that) projects in queue.
There were 7 of us for Christmas Eve and we were going to make do with our 6 person seating kitchen table, with one person (#7) either crammed in or sitting at the kitchen counter.
We don’t have a formal dining room, just an open room when you first enter the front door which we turned into the library (previously it was a “sitting room”).
Well I came up with the semi “hare-brained” idea on December 23 that we should go buy an actual dining room table and put it into the library. It would serve as both a library table (it’s always been my dream to have one) and a dining table when needed.
So off we went to IKEA on 12/23, which was surprisingly empty so close to the Christmas holiday, and bought a table which seats 8 (but you could fit 10 at the table).
Yes John could have built a table in his woodshop but we figured it would cost the same or more to build from scratch a 92 1/2″ x 39 3/8 ” table (234 cm x 100 cm approximately) and he wouldn’t have it ready for December 24th!
We got the table home and before you know it we had it set up and made up for Christmas Eve (including Christmas Crackers):
And the table worked perfectly for our Christmas Eve dinner of 7 people (we used the loveseat in the library as seating for 2 of the 7 people; and the chairs are the existing kitchen table chairs):
In addition to candles on the table, I set up tea lights on the bookshelves in the library for a nice atmosphere during our festive dining.
And the two dogs that attended (Mike and Ajax) enjoyed foraging under the table and begging for food:
Christmas morning I was having some quiet time sitting at the new table in the library having tea and looking at library books with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer…
…and I thought: this table needs a table runner! (And a new larger rug under it…I am looking into one of those Ruggable rugs that remove from their pad and are machine washable).
Luckily I had in my stash a group of blocks my friend Wendy gave me (see post Quilter Distractions: Good Mail filled with “Taupe”) from a quilt she made for a magazine article/pattern she wrote for October 2010 edition of The Quilt Life called SuperSymmetry.
It is not enough blocks to make a quilt but it was enough to start a table runner!
I used up all the blocks Wendy sent and I am only at about a 6 foot table runner. The table is over 7 1/2 feet long so I am going to have to piece more blocks. Luckily Wendy sent me a bunch of coordinating fabric scraps!
I plan to add some type of thin border to the pieced blocks to float them. I don’t plan to make the table runner very wide as I just want to run the center of the table.
I’ll update you on the progress.
Oh and I’ll close this post with something sweet I saw this morning on my walk.
We have a lot of deer in the area so there are a lot of “deer crossing” warning signs as crossing deer (who like to randomly cross the street when you least expect it) are a dangerous traffic hazard.
Well someone decorated one of the “deer crossing” signs with a red nose (like Rudolph the Red Noses Reindeer!) to make it festive!
This bit of whimsy gave me a huge smile on my walk!
Hello! This is the tierneycreates Beastie guest blog posting (if you are new to this blog, my story is on this post – I’m A Monster!!! and you can see all my posts at this link: Beastie Adventures).
The main reason for this post is my husband John Beastie (Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom) and I would like to wish you and yours a very Happy Holidays!
If you are admiring our “Ugly Christmas Sweaters“, Tierney and John (aka “The Humans”) picked them up from Hobby Lobby and they are actually Christmas tree ornaments and hang from little hangers!
I think John Beastie and I looks so cute in our sweaters I will share a couple more photos for your enjoyment:
Yes it’s pretty much the same photo but Beasties love photos of themselves!
And here is the “More” part of this post.
Remember that scary Halloween house that Tierney shared in her post The House That Won Halloween?
Well the other day Tierney and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer were on their daily walk and noticed the house had a friendly and sweeter look for the Christmas season:
What a big difference!
And a little more – Tierney thought you all might enjoy photos of Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (even though I am cuter) out holiday shopping with John and Tierney the other day:
Once again they snuck him into the Food Court (like in the post Mike in Macy’s). I think he is pretty spoiled. They are yet to take John Beastie and I to the mall.
Ok…they did take us to Ireland in October 2022 so that might be more significant…
It’s the 15th of the month and time for my monthly “ScrapHappy” post as part of the ScrapHappy group I belong. At the end of this post I have a link to the other blogs participating in this monthly event in case you’d like to check out their ScrapHappy posts.
For this month’s ScrapHappy post I thought I would honor a legendary scrap quilt and it’s maker.
Harriet Powers is recognized in the African American quilting community as one of the “Mothers of African American Quilting” and is known for her famous Bible Quilt (which is a scrap quilt) first exhibited in 1886.
Image from the Smithsonian Museum website
According to the Smithsonian Museum, “Harriet Powers, an African American farm woman of Clarke County, Georgia, made this quilt in about 1886. She exhibited it at the Athens Cotton Fair of 1886”.
Two of her bible themed quilts which are considered icons of American quilt making are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
Here is her Bible Quilt from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:
Image from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston website
Last year Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, founder of the Women of Color Quilting Network (WCQN) to which I belong, sent out a request to WCQN members to contribute to purchasing a headstone for the gravesite of Harriet Powers.
Harriet Powers passed away in 1910 and the small cut stone marker, inscribed by one of her sons (she had 9 children with her husband Armstead Powers) originally marked the grave for her and her husband who passed in 1909. In 2008 this fragile marker was broken and removed.
Members of the WCQN, including myself, contributed to purchasing a beautiful headstone for Harriet and Armstead Powers gravesite and on December 2, 2023 there was a “Recommittal and Dedication Ceremony” at Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.
I was invited but could not attend. Dr. Mazloomi kindly sent me the pamphlet from the ceremony.
When I lived in Central Oregon in 2016 I took an appliqué quilting workshop at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, Oregon with the amazing teacher Janet Storton (who runs the Sisters of the Heart Foundation helping women in Uganda empower themselves through craft making).
In this appliqué workshop you could work on making a Bible Quilt inspired by the one made by Harriet Powers or another project. Janet brought in a bag of her scraps, which included African themed fabrics, to share with the class.
I ended making my wallhanging sized quilt Tree of No Hurry based on the Lao Tzu quote: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” with the new appliqué techniques I learned in the class.
Here are my blog posts from 2016 – 2017 related to the process of making this piece:
The Backstitch and the End of Tangled Floss
Everything is Accomplished (What’s On the Design Wall)
“Tree of No Hurry” at QuiltWorks Gallery
Here is one of the Bible Quilts made by Ugandan women that Janet works with as part of her foundation that was exhibited at the 2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (Janet shared the quilt top before it was quilted during our workshop):
As promised, here are the bloggers that participate in the ScrapHappy monthly posting event, check out their blogs linked below for their ScrapHappy posts:
Kate @Tall Tales from Chiconia , Gun @Rutigt – G Adrian, Eva @bambisyr-evaj, Sue @From the Magpie’s Nest, Lynda @Life on the Farmlet, Birthe @Birthes rom, Turid @Den syende himmel, Susan @DesertSky Quilting, Cathy @nanacathydotcom, Tracy @It’s a T-Sweets Day!, Jan @The Snail of Happiness, Moira @The Quilted Snail, Sandra @Wild Daffodil, Chris @chrisknitsews, Alys @Gardening Nirvana, Claire @Claire93’s Blog, Jean @onesmallstitch, Dawn @DawnGillDesigns, Gwen @Deep in the Heart of Textiles/Textile Ranger, Sunny @The Adventures of Team Wil-Sun, Kjerstin @Quimper Hittys, Sue @Going Batty in Wales, Vera @lifebyacompassnotaclock, Ann @Ann F Stonehouse Quiltmaker, Dawn @myquiltprojects, Carol @Quilt Schmilt, Preeti @Sew Preeti Quilts, Nóilin @Paper, Pen and Mug, Viv @Where the Journey Takes Me 2, Karrin @Karrin’s Crazy World, Amo @View From Our Hill, Alissa @ Snakes & Cranes, Lynn @Tialys, Tierney @tierneycreates, Hannah @quietwatercraft
I’ve been working on some handmade holiday gifts so not much to post right now, but I thought I’d get you in the holiday spirit with a collection of delightful Christmas trees!
My beloved local library (yes after 4.5+ years in Colorado I have finally fallen completely and madly in love with a library...I thought no library could replace my beloved Deschutes Public Library in Bend, Oregon but finally I am able to love again!) has a delightful and whimsical display of Christmas trees inspired by literary classics and popular culture.
There are 32 decorated Christmas trees are scattered around the first and second levels of the library and are called the Forest of Stories. I tried to see every tree during my weekly visit to the library; and here are the trees that I found most intriguing:
BARBIE TREE
NANCY DREW TREE
Oh how I loved reading Nancy Drew books as a kid!
THE HUNGER GAMES TREE
JURASSIC PARK TREE
If you’ve only seen the movie and never read the book, I highly recommend reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton! This is where I first learned about “Chaos Theory”.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S TREE
Here’s a terrifying movie I do not recommend (and I like scary movies). We went to see it a couple weeks ago with John’s granddaughter and son who have played the video game. It was disturbing and a movie I never care to watch again, ick!
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS TREE
A magical book from my childhood I will not forget!
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TREE
THE NIGHT CIRCUS TREE
I highly recommend this delightful book! I keep a copy in my home library.
TREASURE ISLAND TREE
STUDIO GHIBLI TREE
MAYA ANGELOU TREE
Beautiful tribute!
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW TREE
I’ve heard many good things about this book by Gabrielle Zevin. A friend gave me their copy and it is sitting in my queue to read.
BRIDGERTON TREE
Complete with “Lady Whistledown” gossip sheets! I’ve never read the books but did enjoy the Netflix television series which was sort of mindless but juicy entertainment!
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA TREE
HG WELLS TREE
His novel The Time Machine (1895) is quite the science fiction classic!
There were a lot more trees (32 in total as I mentioned earlier in this post) but this post would go on forever if I shared all the photos I took! I chatted with the library staff and they said they had so much fun decorating the trees!
OUR TREE
Speaking of Christmas trees, here is our set up for this holiday season. We put and decorated our right after Thanksgiving:
Can you spot the Miniature Schnauzer (Mike) staring at me?
Let’s zoom in closer…
Our Christmas tree is not even closely creatively decorated like those trees at my local library; but we do have some fun additions to our tree to this year.
Last year during a holiday together, we had our guests including John’s sons and granddaughter, decorate pre-made/printed ornaments with “bling” and colorful markers. We had such a fun time doing it. Everyone signed their ornaments and left them behind with us.
Well now we get to display them on our tree each year! Every time I look at them I smile and remember the laughter and joy decorating them!
Our group was most adults and it was fun to watch the adults have so much fun coloring and decorating simple cardboard ornaments. We had so much fun doing it we are going to do it again this year!
I’ll close this post with the reference for the title of this post. “O Christmas Tree” is the English version of the German Christmas song “O Tannebaum”.
Let’s transport you back to my childhood Christmas for a moment and my parents are playing Nat King Cole’s Christmas album on the record player…
Hello there, hope you all are doing well 🙂
I finished the quilt top for the quilt “What Direction Do I Go?“ which I most recently posted about in this post – Update on Various Projects.
The quilt top measures 55 inches by 55 inches (140 cm by 140 cm). I am still thinking through my plan on how to quilt it but I did decide what fabric to put on the back of it:
I have this awesome vintage Kas Richloom light weight upholstery fabric in my stash that I found at a charity thrift store shop a couple years ago. I think it will add a bright and happy touch to the back of the quilt.
The quilt is meant to be a wallhanging/art quilt so it is okay if the quilt ends up being a little stiff with the recycled denim and home decor fabric on the front and the upholstery fabric on the back.
I have some handmade items I am making as Christmas gifts so I need to set the quilt top aside for now and get to crafting gifts, but I’ll pick it up again after the new year (can you believe it is nearly 2024?!?!?)
Thanks to one of the quilters I met at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Reception for quilters in the October 2023 issue of Quiltfolk Magazine, we discovered an awesome brewery near our house that seems to be custom made for me!
Fiction Beer Company! Two of some of my favorite things combined: craft beer and reading! This brewery was already in Denver and it opened a second location in Parker, Colorado in May.
The brewery is DOG FRIENDLY (we were able to sit inside on a sofa with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer), has a free lending library (take a book or donate a book), delicious craft beer, free bookmarks, and a friendly bartender who came and visited with us and Mike for a while when the bar service slowed up!
This brewery is Miniature Schnauzer approved (no worries we did not give Mike beer, but the bartender did bring Mike over a bowl of water and some dog biscuits!)
DENIM QUILT
Finally I’m sewing together the blocks on my recycled denim and home decor fabric quilt “What Direction Do I Go?“
I am trying something new to sew the 81 blocks together by working on 9 blocks at a time, numbering them and then semi-chain-piecing them into a square:
So far I have three squares, which is 27 blocks total, sewn together:
I really like the look of the individual blocks sewn together:
In the post Blocks Completed for “What Direction Do I Go?” , I mentioned I was trying to figure out the layout for the blocks on this quilt. Well I decided to make it look as if light was coming from the center and radiating out…sort of…well as best I could with the blocks I made. I put the blocks with the lighter or more faded denim in the center and the darker ones on the outer areas:
GRANNY SQUARE BLANKET
As I mentioned in the post What’s on the Design Wall, Design Carpet, and the wall…, I finished crocheting 80 granny square blocks. I’ve started crocheting the blocks together and here is my progress:
It is a fun project to work on while watching TV and hopefully soon it will cover more of my lap (photo above) than it does right now (because it’s cold now in Colorado – 28 degrees!)
PANTRY UPDATE
A couple years ago John redid the pantry and built in shelves. Recently he repainted the pantry to a white with gray undertones and added a new butcher block shelf. He also added a motion sensor light that will turn out when you enter the pantry and turn off after a while when there is no motion; and 4 outlets so we could keep a couple appliances in the pantry and use them in there.
It’s the 15th of the month and time for my monthly “ScrapHappy” post as part of the ScrapHappy group I belong. At the end of this post I have a link to the other blogs participating in this monthly event in case you’d like to check out their ScrapHappy posts.
What better way to celebrate our love of fabric scraps (what keeps us “Scrap Happy”) than to share some images of a wonderful exhibit I saw at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum on Scrap Quilts?
While I was at the reception for Colorado quilters featured in Issue 28 of Quiltfolk Magazine: Colorado (see post Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Reception) I viewed and photographed some of their current exhibit: 25 Years of Scraps by the 19th Century Patchwork Divas.
Below is the placard on the exhibit if you want to read the background on this show:
There were so many wonderful scrap quilts at this exhibit, it was difficult to select which photos to share.
But here are my favorites – enjoy!
Scrap quilts are awesome, eh?
As promised, here are the bloggers that participate in the ScrapHappy monthly posting event, check out their blogs linked below for their ScrapHappy posts:
Kate @Tall Tales from Chiconia , Gun @Rutigt – G Adrian, Eva @bambisyr-evaj, Sue @From the Magpie’s Nest, Lynda @Life on the Farmlet, Birthe @Birthes rom, Turid @Den syende himmel, Susan @DesertSky Quilting, Cathy @nanacathydotcom, Tracy @It’s a T-Sweets Day!, Jan @The Snail of Happiness, Moira @The Quilted Snail, Sandra @Wild Daffodil, Chris @chrisknitsews, Alys @Gardening Nirvana, Claire @Claire93’s Blog, Jean @onesmallstitch, Dawn @DawnGillDesigns, Gwen @Deep in the Heart of Textiles/Textile Ranger, Sunny @The Adventures of Team Wil-Sun, Kjerstin @Quimper Hittys, Sue @Going Batty in Wales, Vera @lifebyacompassnotaclock, Ann @Ann F Stonehouse Quiltmaker, Dawn @myquiltprojects, Carol @Quilt Schmilt, Preeti @Sew Preeti Quilts, Nóilin @Paper, Pen and Mug, Viv @Where the Journey Takes Me 2, Karrin @Karrin’s Crazy World, Amo @View From Our Hill, Alissa @ Snakes & Cranes, Lynn @Tialys, Tierney @tierneycreates, Hannah @quietwatercraft
A quick follow up to these posts:
ScrapHappy October 2023 – Recycled Jeans and Home Decor Fabric Scraps
What’s on the Design Wall, Design Carpet, and the wall…
As I mentioned in the first post on this quilt (ScrapHappy October 2023), I’ve tentatively named this piece What Direction Do I Go? and it is made from recycled denim jeans and recycled home decorating fabric scraps.
Saturday night I finished up the 81 blocks for this 9 by 9 block piece and I just thought I’d share with you what my design wall looks like with all the blocks completed:
Now it’s time to figure out the final layout and then get the blocks sewn together.
But first I seriously need to clean my sewing machine it was a LOT of lint from piecing denim and home decorating fabric scraps (many of which are synthetic type of fabrics).
In this post Black Pioneers Exhibit Celebration, California Museum, Sacramento, CA in July 2023, I shared that I discovered that my quilt Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet was featured on the poster for California Museum‘s leg of the nationally touring show Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West, curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi.
What a huge surprise when I arrived at the show!
Well the show ended October 1, 2023 and last week I got to wondering “what became of that poster now that the show is over?”
On a whim I reached out to the exhibit team at the California Museum and one of the Exhibit Technicians kindly mailed it to me!!!
It arrived on Friday and we went and out and got a frame for it that afternoon.
I was going to hang it in my studio or somewhere upstairs in the house but John insisted we hang it in the living room (I used the term “we” loosely as I only advised if it was centered while John got up on the ladder and hung it):
We had a giggle that the poster coordinates with our decor (how thoughtful of the museum when they designed the poster, ha!); and coordinated very nicely with the quilt hanging over the banister:
I’ve been taking a break from blogging after my push to do a daily blog post for the 31 days of October, my 10th anniversary month of blogging. Additionally recently I had a wonderful visit with out of town family that of course kept me from sitting down and blogging.
Here are some updates on my current adventures in creativity.
THE DESIGN WALL
Here is a follow up to the post ScrapHappy October 2023 – Recycled Jeans and Home Decor Fabric Scraps.
I now have 66 blocks completed and 15 more to go to make 81 blocks for a 9 by 9 layout:
This is not even close to the final layout, just blocks put up on the design wall to track my progress. I have a lot of cleaning to do on my sewing machine after all that lint from sewing denim and home decor fabrics!
THE DESIGN CARPET
This is a follow up to the post What’s on the “Design Carpet”.
I’ve completed the 80 crocheted granny square blocks for the next granny square blanket I am making. I am doing a 8 by 10 layout of the blocks and will set them in dark gray yarn as the lattice.
Mike the Miniature Schnauzer couldn’t wait to lay on the laid out blocks as soon as I moved away from them!
This also is not the final layout, just a general layout to show all the blocks (and a Miniature Schnauzer, ha!).
THE WALL
This is a follow up to the posts Quiltfolk Issue #28 Colorado Released (and I am in it!), Magazine in Hand, and Magazine in Hand, Addendum…. One of the other quilters featured in Issue 28: Colorado of Quiltfolk Magazine, reached out to me and shared pages from an extra copy of the magazine she had purchased in order to take it apart and put the pages featuring her in her portfolio.
I used the pages she sent me to make a display in my studio of the article I am in using these cool 11 inch by 17 inch frames I found. John did a great job helping me hang them.
I’ll close this post with a cute meme my sister sent me the other day as we all struggle with Daylight Savings Time (setting the clocks back 1 hour in the Fall and 1 hour forward in the Spring); that is US states that agree to play along with it (Hawaii and Arizona do not participate).
I thought I would close out my 31 days of daily blogging to celebrate my 10th anniversary month in October 2023 with a little more on our trip to Asheville, North Carolina a couple months ago. Check out the post Greetings from Asheville – Blue Ridge Parkway for more on our trip.
John’s long time friend E was our tour guide during our trip and one day he took us to an absolutely magical place – the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s The Folk Art Center.
Downstairs was an amazing craft shop with everything from handmade baskets to spectacular quilts; and upstairs was a craft museum with exhibits of new work and historical works.
I took like a thousand pictures (okay perhaps only 70 or so) but here are a couple of my favorite images of what was on display or for sale.
If you are a crafter visiting Asheville I highly recommend this place. John and E were very patient as I wandered around this magical place wanting to see everything. I think they had a good time also (E and his wife S have purchased some amazing crafts from this place for their home); or they were patient because they knew afterwards we’d be visiting another amazing Asheville, NC brewery (Asheville is known for its craft breweries!)
I have some news: I am done with Etsy for now and have removed listings that I recently posted to my Etsy shop Textiles & Smiles.
Some of you warned me a while back when I mentioned returning to Etsy, you mentioned that sellers had had issues.
Recently I listed a couple of my drawstring/project bags on Etsy (I was getting ready to make a big announcement on my blog and on Instagram that my shop was restocked).
I followed Etsy’s STRONG recommendations (they want to compete with Amazon I think) and provided free shipping on the items, by including the cost of shipping (which unfortunately I had underestimated a little) in price of the item. I also included a coordinated little wallet to sort of offset the slightly higher listing price to include the cost of shipping (it felt sort of like playing a game with your customers that I do not like). Etsy rewards you for offering free shipping by giving your listings are higher visibility.
This weekend wonderful woman, who had reached out with the specific bag she was interested in based on an image she saw on my blog, purchased one of my newly listed bags.
I was preparing her order for shipping today and discovered this in my Etsy Shop Manager platform:
I listed the bag for $35.00 for a large drawstring/project bag to include shipping (but you use the bogus term “free shipping” as it isn’t really free, especially if you are a small small business, you have to include the postage cost).
Etsy took fees for shipping ($4.31, okay I expected that and allotted for that), fees for their commission and credit card fees ($4.85, expected, I am still okay with this), AND then they took a fee called “Offsite Ads” for $5.25 which is 15% of the listing price (which included the cost for me to ship the item).
So this left me $20.59 profit, which if I were to meet a certain sales threshold (which I think is $600) in a year, I would also have to pay taxes on. So if just for very rough example sake, let’s say I was in a 22% tax bracket would be $4.53; so that would bring me to $16.06 in net profit.
So I looked at the cost of materials to make the bag (and the little wallet), my time for making, administrative (photos, creating listing, etc), and travel to the post office etc., I am at sweat shop wages of like $3 an hour or less.
I just started crying as I really wanted to sell my handmade items on Etsy and reach a large audience but I just don’t have the heart to work for nearly free. And I can’t do the volume as a sole proprietor of a business to make the fees okay. I am feeling a bit heartbroken.
And the Offsite Ads? Wow I looked into how to turn those off and could not find a way even following their instructions. Plus they said only some shops will be opted out. Plus I do not think the sale came from Offsite Ads (like Google Ads) as the lovely person who bought the bag first contacted me with an image from my blog.
I looked at the Etsy forums for challenges other shops had with these Offsite Ads and found many forum postings like this:
I also found this about Etsy fees. As you will see below this seller is losing 30% each sale to Etsy fees:
I think the only way to be successful on Etsy is to sell digital products (for example pattern downloads) where you have passive income (you create it once, occasionally update it, but don’t have to do anything major on the product again after you upload it), resell items you’ve purchased at a low price (like the whole vintage item resale market); or if you sell products that you can charge a fairly high fee for or produce very inexpensively compared to what you are selling them for.
As fas a digital products, perhaps I will look into that in the future if I start writing patterns, etc. I don’t like listing my drawstring/project bags for $100 a pop will fly – ha!
So I am looking into other ways to sell my bags including revisiting working with brick & mortar stores again (see my post The Tangled Ball and Project Bags) that want to sell my bags, craft shows, and direct sales (I am working on ideas for that and might post them on a page on my blog, more to come), etc.
For now, I’ve updated my Textiles & Smiles Etsy shop with this message that my shop is on hold.
Thanks for reading my rant 🙂
Maybe I’m just not built for this kind of retail…
(I feel ultimately the Universe is telling me to just focus on my art quilting journey…like slapping me in the face about it right now, lol…)
Feature Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
Tierney needed a break from her daily postings for October 2023 challenge to celebrate her 10th anniversary of blogging, so I am stepping in and doing a guest blog post for her.
This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time.
Here I am doing some late night blogging.
Well the other day the humans pulled a fast one on me. They loaded me into the back seat of their car and said we were going to “Home _______”. I thought they said home improvement store that I go to all the time with John when he works on his projects – THE HOME DEPOT. This is my favorite store and I am regular there, with many of the humans that work at The Home Depot greeting me and occasionally slipping me a dog biscuit (because my cuteness overwhelms them!).
Nope, we did not go to The Home Depot. Instead we went to some place called HOMEGOODS. Home Good is VERY DIFFERENT than The Home Depot!
Here I am in shock as they push me around in my box in the cart:
No one stopped and petted me or gave me a biscuit. This store sucks!
As we approached the check out line I gave my humans quite the look for disappointing me!
I was fooled my the word “Home” in the shops title!
There are so many awful and sad things going on in the world right now it’s difficult some days to write a cheerful post. I think for today’s post I will just share a post from October 2020 when I was struggling with craziness in the world.
Currently I am just trying to focus on appreciating the good things in my life and sending love to those struggling in the world.
Why Worry Now (re-post from October 6, 2020)
I was thinking about a different post to write this post on my morning walk with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer.
The trees have turned and the weather has cooled down and there was a delicious Autumn cool quiet to my walk this morning.
I enjoy listening to either podcasts, audiobooks or music while I walk Mike. This morning I was listening to music and one of my all time favorite songs queued up on my playlist – Why Worry by Dire Straits from of one of my favorite albums of all time – Brothers in Arms.
In the back of mind lately, always swirling around, are thoughts of the craziness going on in the world. Listening to this song gave me pause.
So I decided to save the post I was going to write today for tomorrow and instead share this song with you and maybe it can give you a little pause too if you have a lot of “thought swirling” going on in your head…
Baby, I see this world has made you sad
Some people can be bad
The things they do, the things they say
But baby, I’ll wipe away those bitter tears
I’ll chase away those restless fears
And turn your blue skies into gray
Why worry
There should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Why worry now
And if you’d like to see a lovely live version of the song in a Mark Knopfler duet with the exquisite Emmylou Harris, here you go…
I thought my soul would float away from peacefulness listening to this…
This is a follow up from yesterday’s post Bags, Bags, Bags, Bags, Bags and More Bags…. My plan was to get 5 – 10 drawstring project bags listed on my Textiles & Smiles Etsy Shop today but the day got away from me and I only got one listed!
I am really pleased with the interior/lining fabric I put in this bag – representing the “fields of grain”/grain fields you might pass during a journey on Route 66!
The previous time I sold my bags on my Etsy shop I include a little wallet as a thank you gift. This time I decided to include the little wallet in the Etsy listing. I plan to try and select a little wallet that coordinates with the bag.
Well at least I got one listing done, ha, and tomorrow is another day to get more done.
tierneycreates 