a fusion of textiles & smiles
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.
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!)
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…
When I returned from our trip to Asheville, NC I had a package from my sister.
She surprised me with an early Christmas gift – a box full of kimono fabrics from Japan!
My sister has a friend who imports kimonos from Japan and she had had a collection of kimono obi sashes that were no longer needed. She thought I would be able to recycle the fabric into something else.
Challenge accepted!
Yesterday Quiltfolk Issue 28: Colorado arrived to my home and I got to open it up and read the profile on me and see the photo spread. It was quite eerie to see myself in a magazine, especially one I’ve read/collected since the first issue in October 2016: Oregon. (The irony is that I was living in Oregon at the time the first issue came out!)
This is the magazine on my lap as I prepare to open it for the first time!
I wish I could share photos of what I saw but I don’t want to violate any copyright laws.
I can tell you that I was blown away that my quilt, Scrappy Autumnal Splendor was used as the background of the Table of Contents! I can also tell you the article about me is on page 56 and it is called “Tierney Davis Hogan: Pieced with Purpose”.
I get a couple copies for participating in the issue and I ordered additional copies on line at 20% using the code they gave me to share:
Quiltfolk did provided me with most of the photos from the photoshoot by the photographer Melanie Zacek (Instagram: @melanie.zacek) and stylist Kimberlee Zacek (Instagram: @kimberleezacek) created; but did not make it into the magazine.
Here is a sampling of some of the photos that are not in the magazine article:
I mentioned in my October 6th post The House That Won Halloween, I am so happy that I can return to my daily walks and walk the distances I used to walk before my awful left ankle break in January.
I go either for a long walk through the surrounding neighborhoods, like the one I did when I discovered the extensive Halloween decorations I shared in the post The House That Won Halloween; or I go on a “Nature Walk” on the extensive trails behind the neighborhoods in the area I live.
The “Nature Walk” is a much longer walk and it is quite the different experience than walking through neighborhoods. Most of the time it is just me on the trail and all I hear is the rustling of leaves, birds, insects chirping, or the rustle of an occasional rabbit or squirrel rummaging around the foliage.
The deciduous trees are now changing color on my “nature walk” and I took some recent photos:
I really like this photo I recently took on my “nature walk”, it came out very “stylized” but I did nothing but snap the photo:
There are also lovely evergreen trees on my “nature walk”, here are is of one I edited with some filter I randomly discovered on my iPhone:
And finally, you know I couldn’t pass on an opportunity for some Black & White photography on my walk:
I do enjoy the “neighborhood walk” (faster) but it pales in comparison to the beauty and peace of the “nature walk” (longer). I appreciate having both options!
October 2023 marks the 10th anniversary month of the tierneycreates blog and in addition to attempting to do a daily post each day of October 2023, I’ve been peeking through my archives and seeing if there is anything I would like to re-post. Here is a post from October 2016 I thought I would re-post.
The Tao of Quilting (re-post)
Are you familiar with the Tao Te Ching?
This ancient Chinese text, was according to legend, was written by Lao Tzu in the 6th century BC. It it a philosophical text which provides instructions on the way to live a virtuous life of harmony. There have been many versions of this text written and reinterpreted over the years to include The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff which shares practical life lessons from the perspective of Winnie the Pooh.
Many years ago, in a special publication quilting magazine Quilts with Style, I came across “The Tao of Quilting” by Stephen Seifert – a one page take on the Tao Te Ching. I have kept this page in the front of my binder of patterns-clipped-from-quilting-magazines to continually inspire me.
THE TAO OF QUILTING by Stephen Seifert
Our lives are full of obstacles causing stress and discontent.
But a quilt can be a bridge to overcome diversions and chaos.
Water ripples in the wind, never considering who is in control.
Yet its fluid nature gives it strength to serve as a foundation to life.
Soft fabric stitched together in a quilt fills the hardest heart with love and beauty.
The simplicity of love can penetrate all, including the the most cynical mind.
Rigid stone shores appear impenetrable, but their yielding surface gives rise to life.
Evergreens soar triumphantly above the lake shore, reflecting the paradox of life.
Problems emerge and seem pressing
But over time our thoughts evolve into understanding.
Nature’s silent teachings are taught without words
Instilling integrity into every quilt.
Feature photo credit – Pixabay
In Spring 2022 we did something crazy and changed our “Master Bedroom” into my studio and moved into one of the considerable smaller bedrooms in the home. Here is the link to the post on that story if you are new to this blog – A “New” Studio.
I’ve made a lot of changes since, and will someday share an update on it’s current configuration, but here is how the master bedroom was transformed in May 2022:
The master bathroom is off my studio (the curtains you see in the image above lead into the master bathroom) and the master bedroom closet is inside the master bathroom. The master bedroom closet is the biggest closet in the house; and I call it the “Big Closet”. (Actually it is about the size of the room I rented when I first went to college.)
It seemed silly to walk through my studio, and then through the bathroom to get our clothes, especially to John who like quick access to his clothes to dress for work in the morning. So a couple weeks ago we moved my studio storage from the two small closets in the other two upstairs bedrooms (one being the one we sleep in) into the master bedroom closet!
Here is my new studio storage in the Big Closet (and yes I have to walk through the master bathroom to get to it, but it is totally worth it to me):
I like that I had enough room in it to even put a table.
I’ve been working on getting my Etsy shop restocked (I even have 4 listings now up on my Textiles & Smiles Etsy Shop) and this closet gives me plenty of room to organize my items for sale as well as my crafting materials.
As far as my fabric stash, I’ve organized my entire stash to be on display in my studio so I can see exactly what I have and actually use it! No more fabric tucked away in a closet. I also did a HUGE fabric purge again and I am down to just what I am really going to use. I’ll do a post in the future about my new fabric storage and updated arrangement of my studio.
Oh and John removed the shelves (which stored my crafting supplies and my fabric) he built in the two smaller closets upstairs in the two other bedrooms, and installed closet organization systems for our clothes in those closets. So we each have our own small closet for our clothes but they are nicely organized. I also ended up purging a bunch of clothes when I moved from the large master bedroom closet to a small bedroom closet.
I know we are still a couple weeks out from Halloween but I was walking Mike this morning (more on that later) and discovered a house in my neighborhood that is winning Halloween in my opinion! Here are the photos which of course do not do their whole spooky vibe justice:
Can you imagine being a 6-year old kid on Halloween and your parents are trying to convince you to go up to that front door and ask for candy!?!? I would be like “H*ll to the No” (why yes, I would be swearing as a 6-year old kid if asked to go up to that front door – ha!).
Image credit: Avera Health
The family that owns this house has likely spent thousands of dollars on Halloween and clearly loves this holiday! The decorations are HUGE and very high quality, nearly (low budget) movie set quality on some pieces (like I said, the photos do not do it justice).
So earlier in this post I mentioned I was walking Mike. Some of you might remember in January 2023 I had a terrible twist/fall on ice and broke my left ankle in two places requiring surgery for my complex fracture. It’s been a long road to recovery but I am now regularly walking Mike again and able to go on long-ish walks. I am so grateful as it was the first time in my adult life (January to April 2023) that I could not go on daily walks. It was a rough time mentally, physically and even “spiritually” for me – going on daily walks is everything to me.
I’ll write more about Halloween later in this month, I’ve been thinking about some sweet memories from life in Oregon related to Halloween and will share in another post.
After my trip with my siblings to Saltsburg, Pennsylvania for the classroom dedication at The Kiski School (see posts The Kiski Sibling Road Trip, Part I and The Kiski Sibling Road Trip, Part II), my sister and I flew from the Pittsburg, PA airport to Montréal, Canada for a little holiday.
I had a laugh at the Montréal airport when I saw this:
I guess that is a fairly universal symbol on how to get to the bathroom!
We stayed in a 2-bedroom AirBNB in Old Montréal – it was a large loft with brick walls, huge windows with a lovely view, and a nice kitchen in an old building. I didn’t think to take photos of the place (and I cannot find it on AirBNB again to use their photos) but here is a photo of me with the kitchen behind me in which we made many meals:
Every day we’d go to the local market place (Le Beau Marché) around the corner from our AirBNB and buy groceries, like these strawberries:
My sister has been to Montréal many times but never stayed in Old Montréal, and it was a great location for my first visit. Here are some photos from our wanderings around the area – we stopped in lots of wonderful shops and tried out different markets/eateries:
Speaking of “markets”, we spent part of a day in the largest outdoor market in Montréal – Marché Jean-Talon (Jean-Talon Market).
Here are a couple of my photos from that amazing foodie adventure:
If you follow me on Instagram (@tierneycreates) I did post a video of this amazing guitarist playing his music while a market visitor was dancing.
And here is a YouTube video to give you a walk through tour of this mind-blowing market:
It was difficult to leave Marché Jean-Talon and when I return to visit Montréal with John someday (he’s never been there), I think we are going to stay in Little Italy (Petite Italie), at an AirBNB (with a kitchen!) and go to the market each day for supplies to make our food (John and I love to cook).
Trying not to make this post too long so I’ll continue with the story of our trip in my next post.
As I shared in the posts Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I and Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part II, I will be one of the Colorado quilters featured in the October 2023 issue (Issue 28) of Quiltfolk Magazine.
Thanks to my friends K and L, I’ve recently discovered that Quiltfolk Magazine has posted a preview for the issue and if you’d like to see it here is the link – Issue 28 Reveal.
Here is a screen shot from that link of me (Tierney Davis Hogan):
I’ve been sent the draft article to review as well as a proof of the photos to assist with captioning but I haven’t seen the complete article yet – can’t wait!
Feature image credit: quiltfolk.com
Toward the end of July 2023 we met up with dear friends on the Oregon Coast. I am doing a series of blog posts about our adventures on the Oregon Coast – check out the blog category – Oregon Coast Adventures – for the other posts (note when you click the link this current post will be the first one that shows but keep scrolling).
After flying into Portland, Oregon, renting a car, and stopping in McMinnville, Oregon (see post Oregon Coast Adventures: First Stop -McMinnville, Oregon) we drove to Depoe Bay, Oregon and spent the night at a little motel right on the bay. We came in a day before our friends we to arrive so we could do a little sightseeing on our own and leisurely make our way to Newport, Oregon to meet up with them.
The motel itself was nothing to “write home about” but it had a tasty free breakfast included and some amazing views.
This was the view from our motel room window:
And here are photos of the beach area a little bit down from the motel where we did a little exploring before heading to a delicious fresh seafood dinner.
And of course I had to take a photo in B&W:
I love this photo! Looks kind of mysterious and moody!
Next post in this series I’ll share our adventures when we got to Newport, Oregon to meet up with our friends.
Recently my sister and my nephew visited us in Colorado for 4 days. Here are some highlights of their trip which included a visit to the Night Bazaar in downtown Denver, hiking at Castlewood Canyon, and making homemade Ramen.
THE NIGHT BAZAAR
I liked calling it “The Night Market” (it sounded more mysterious) and we stumbled upon it when visiting downtown Denver one evening.
My nephew, who likes trying out eateries he hears about on viral Tik Tok videos, asked if we could visit Dave’s Hot Chicken (which they do not have available in Virginia where they live). It is a “fast food” type of eatery but one of the founders trained at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry (one of the world’s most famous three-Michelin star restaurants) and it shows in what I would consider a masterpiece of “fast food” eatery chicken.
So we ventured to downtown Denver where one of the Dave’s Hot Chicken locations was located and across from that eatery was the Night Bazaar. After our visit to Dave’s we headed over to the Night Bazaar.
We had so much fun wandering through the vendor booths as the sun was setting. Mike the Miniature Schnauzer was in the backpack and got to enjoy some sightseeing in downtown Denver:
John was continually stopped as we wandered through the market and then the Platte River Plaza bridge area with questions about Mike in a backpack. In the photo above he is chatting with a large group of people who want to know how Mike ended up in a backpack (the other dogs were being walked on leash through the market).
My sister and nephew found this cool sidewalk art with very wise words and took this cool photo:
THE CANYON
My nephew loves Colorado and wanted to go on a hike while he was visiting. We decided to take him to Castlewood Canyon which is not too far from our home and has lots of hiking options based on desired activity level. Here are a couple photos from our hike:
I’ve learned to wear a hat (I am the sister in the hat) when it’s hot and you are hiking – it helps in the Colorado sun!
At the Visitor Center, where I stopped to use the bathroom, I met a Park Ranger that had a rescued Bull Snake wrapped around her waist. The snake was recovering from an illness and she was “babysitting” it by keeping it on her all day at work!
Now that is dedication to the park’s wildlife!
If you’d like to see more photos of Castlewood Canyon check out this post I did in April 2020 – And on the 8th Day…Part III.
THE RAMEN
John’s loves to cook and always wants to challenge himself and experiment with making foods outside his comfort zone. A couple weeks ago, after much YouTube watching, he began making Ramen soup at home. He was using pre-packaged air-dried noodles (much higher quality than the instant ramen you eat in college) along with his fresh ingredients.
Well he wanted to take it to the next level and learn how to make his own Ramen noodles from scratch. My visiting nephew also loves to cook and was game to do a “Ramen Night” one evening for dinner and make Ramen with handmade noodles.
It took them two evenings to complete the dish – you have to let the ramen noodles sit for a day before you can use them. You also have to let the prepared chicken thighs for the ramen sit overnight before cooking the chicken so it will have a nice crust on the skin.
After all their hard work, they served us Ramen for dinner on Sunday night:
Their Miso based broth was amazing and I thought I was at an authentic ramen eatery!
So those are some highlights from their visit.
I’ll close this post with a couple bonus photos from their visit:
1) My sister brought a kimono for me as a belated birthday gift. She has connected with a woman with in Thailand that makes these kimonos with fabric sourced from Japan. She plans to import some of the kimonos to sell in the US. Here I am modeling the kimono she gifted me:
2) My sister and nephew adore my dog Mike, they are dog people…and cat people (they have two cats and two dogs) and Mike went on a lot of road trips with us. Here is Mike acting as a granny square crochet square rest as I crocheted sitting in the back seat of the car with my sister during their visit:
(I work on crocheting granny squares when I am a passenger in a car for a long car ride…keeps my passenger-in-a-car anxiety under control!)
3) My nephew and John played tennis at the tennis courts in my neighborhood and had a blast.
John didn’t do too bad playing someone like 1/3rd his age. (Both had played on tennis teams in junior high school but there was quite the difference of years since those experiences!)
I was randomly thinking about this memory the other day and thought I would re-post it. If you’ve been following my blog a very long time (at least since 2016) you might remember the post – The Ladies Friendship Circle (1931).
In 2013 I facilitated the completion of a quilt started in the 1930s and given as a gift to someone 80 years later (who was alive when the quilt was first started). Here is the story:
THE LADIES FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE (1931)
82 years ago in 1931 (note this post was originally written in 2013) my friend’s MJ’s grandmother and her group of friends made a quilt top for MJ’s mother (the new baby in 1931). The quilt was never finished. MJ wanted to finish this quilt for her 82 year old mother who had kept it packed away in a chest for 80+ years and surprise her for Christmas.
After searching several quilt shops, MJ and I found the perfect backing and binding fabric at one of our wonderful Central Oregon quilt shops. Then we had the quilt professionally longarm machine quilted.
MJ and I spent an evening sewing down the quilt binding to finish it. We were both snuggled under the quilt as we each worked on sewing down one end of the binding. MJ planned to surprise her 82 year Mother with the mind blowing Christmas gift of a lifetime – a quilt top put away since 1931 that has been turned into a quilt!
Something very special about this quilt: MJ’s Mom is the only person living from this time period of this dear group of family and family friends – so when she gets the surprise quilt for Christmas she will see the names of the long-passed very dear people she grew up with.
I warned MJ – when you hand your Mom the quilt at Christmas, it is going to be a “blow out the tear ducts moment”!
MJ presented her mother with the quilt for Christmas in December 2013 and yes there were many tears of joy. Imagine receiving a completed quilt that was started when you were a child, by people who loved you and are now are long gone.
MJ’s Mom passed away in mid 80s and I am so glad she got to enjoy this quilt before she passed.
Quilts are love (as most quilters know) and this quilt contained the “spirits” of the departed loved ones entwined in the quilt’s hand embroidered stitches. I liked to imagine these “spirits” being very pleased that their quilt was finally finished and given to the intended…even if it took 82 years…
I had a couple brief updates and I thought I would spread them out into a bunch of brief blog posts but I am lumping them all together.
GO BOLDLY
An update on the quilt (which might end up more wallhanging size) that I mentioned in the post What I’ve Been Up To and What’s on the Design Wall, which I named “Go Boldly“:
I am now sewing the blocks together. There are 64 blocks and each need to be sewing into blocks of 4 to make them into 16 blocks to then sew together.
I am currently debating whether to make the quilt larger (I have enough leftover blocks to make 1 – 2 additional quilts or wallhangings) or leave as it is. I think I am going to just sew the 16 blocks (4 mini sections to make a block) together and then decide.
OH SCRAP – IT’S NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE
A little update on the freeform (or wonky as some say) log cabin quilt I discussed in this post – ScrapHappy June 2023: “Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White!” :
The longarm machine quilter (Sew Colorado Quilting) has finished quilting it and sent me some photos, here is one of them.
I actually picked up the quilt today from her and will do a post on it with more photos once I get the extra backing and binding trimmed (I like to do my own trimming) and decide on a binding. I am thinking about doing a “facing” on it (like you would do with an art quilt) as I plan to hang it on the wall.
COLOUR WHEEL
A quick follow up on this post The Colour Wheel Quilt is Done, about the color wheel quilt I made to use as a teaching aid when I give a workshop next year (September 2024).
By the way I will share more information about that workshop including the venue once that venue gets ready to publish its online catalogue listing the workshop. If that doesn’t happen before October 2023, then I’ll go ahead and share as I’ve shared it with the Quiltfolk article writer for Issue 28 that comes out in October so it will be publicly revealed then anyway!
I had put the quilt away until next year for the workshop but then I decided to find a place for it in my studio so I could enjoy it before then – here it is now on a wall in my studio that I rearranged to make room for it:
VARIOUS RANDOM INFORMATION
John who loves to cook, tried making Ramen for the first time the other night and it came out pretty good!
My yellow rose bush in my front garden is finally taking off and here is one of its lovely roses:
And finally, here is Mike and his “cousin” Goose both trying to via for John’s laps (Goose won) when John was visiting his Dad the other day.
Hmm, I just realized that technically Goose is Mike’s “uncle” not his cousin – ha!
As I shared in Part I (if you are just joining us, see Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I), I was invited to be part of Issue 28: Colorado in the October 2023 issue of Quiltfolk Magazine.
I had an amazing Zoom video chat the previous Friday with Dr. Sharbeon Plummer, one of the Quiltfolk Magazine writers who will write the article about me; and then a very fun photoshoot inside and outside my home with the Quiltfolk Magazine photoshoot team.
I thought I would share some “behind the scenes” photos from the photoshoot that I took while the photographer was getting set up and/or the stylist was doing her styling magic.
Inside My House
The photo above is not a grouping of quilts to be photographed together, but rather a selection of quilts the photographer wanted to do individual close up details on. The first photo in the series of images above shows some of the photographic equipment they unpacked for the photoshoot.
Outside My House (Front & Backyard)
So that’s about it for now about this incredible opportunity.
As we get closer to the release of the October 2023 issue of Quiltfolk Magazine I’ll have some type of “social media” package with a preview of photos from the article I can share as a teaser and a discount coupon to share on my blog and Instagram for followers who would like to purchase a discounted copy of the issue.
The photographer and stylist set up some really cool photos and I cannot wait to see the outcome of the photoshoot. I also cannot wait to read the article of course!
If you’d like to see some additional behind the scenes photos check out the Instagram feed of the stylist @kimberleezacek (see her “Quiltfolk” reel) as well as the IG feed for Quiltfolk Magazine – @quiltfolk – which has a reel called “Issue 28” showing the amazing road trip by the photographer (Melanie) and stylist (Kimberlee) as they travel through Colorado meeting with quilters and photographing their homes and studios (as well as the beauty of Colorado).
Here is the follow up to my recent post: What I’ve Been Up To and What’s on the Design Wall.
I was invited to be featured in the October 2023 issue (Issue #28) of Quiltfolk Magazine.
On Friday June 16 I had my Zoom interview with one of the Quiltfolk Magazine writers; and and on Thursday June 22 I had a photoshoot at my home with one of the Quiltfolk photographers and one of the stylists.
So where do I begin? How about with a little background/history?
Quiltfolk Magazine is a quarterly magazine which features interviews and stories about quilters and quilting communities in a specific US state or region.
I’ve been reading it and subscribing to it (on and off when I feel inspired to pay the annual subscription fee) since it’s first publication in October 2016 – which featured quilters and quilting communities in Oregon, the state I lived for 14 years before moving to Colorado.
And I’ve been working on a quilt similar to the one on the cover since 2016! This cover inspired me to try out English Paper Piecing (EPP).
(I now have around 68 rosettes done, so I am getting close to the 99 to finish the EPP quilt.)
I love Quiltfolk Magazine, I have collection of past issues and each one feels like a beautiful ode to the art of quilting.
Check out this link to see the beautiful covers on these issues – Archive – Quiltfolk.
Okay so with that background perhaps you can imagine my shock, surprise and honor to have received this e-mail from the Editor in Chief of Quiltfolk Magazine on May 24, 2023 (excerpted and text condensed):
I am writing to you today because our team is currently in the process of planning an upcoming release, Issue 28: Colorado, and we came across your name and amazing work. We would like to know if you would be interested in being featured in our next magazine issue? First, a little about us: Quiltfolk is a 164-page, ad-free, print-only quarterly publication for quiltmakers and quilt lovers. We are a travel magazine as much as we are one about quilts. We go on the road four times a year to find America’s quilt stories, covering one state per issue. I’ve attached a PDF of our most recent release so that you can see how dedicated we are to producing a first-rate magazine for the national quilt community that we love. We were founded in 2016 and have been steadily growing ever since, now reaching tens of thousands of quiltfolk across the country. If you are interested in being featured in Quiltfolk, Issue Issue 28: Colorado, (and we hope you are!) please confirm by responding to this email. Then, next steps are as follows: One of our writers will reach out to schedule an email, phone or Zoom interview with you within the next three weeks. We will also be in touch to coordinate an in-person, socially distanced photo shoot with our crew. (The photography team consists of one photographer and their assistant. Occasionally, a writer may join them.) We are currently planning photo shoots between June 19th – 28th.
I stared at the e-mail for quite a while before my brain fully registered all the words! Quiltfolk Magazine, friggin’ Quiltfolk Magazine, which I’ve loved and read for years is inviting me to be in it!
Of course I replied “Yes”!
More to come in Part II…
I’ve been behind in writing blog posts and reading blog post. I’ve been prepping for my first magazine photoshoot! For now I’ll need to keep you guessing but soon I will reveal what publication and what issue.
I had a Zoom interview last Friday with the article writer and yesterday (Thursday) I had a photo shoot with the photographer and stylist. I made them some homemade shortbread cookies, fruit, coffee and tea for their morning photo session with me:
The photographer and the stylist were so awesome and it was a fun (and a little tiring) morning posing for photos and helping them style what they wanted to at my home. Photos were taken inside and outside my house and lots of quilt photos. I have some “behind the scenes” of the photoshoot to share once I can reveal the publication. If you follow me on Instagram (@tierneycreates) you’ll probably find out first as I am just waiting for the stylist to post their behind the scenes photos to Instagram.
The “What’s On The Design Wall” part of this post is related to the photoshoot.
A day prior to the photoshoot, the Editor in Chief of the publication informed me that they liked to photograph any “works in progress”. I’d just finished Scrappy Autumnal Splendor (see post Scrappy Autumnal Splendor Back from Professional Quilting) and It’s Not Just Black and White (see post ScrapHappy June 2023: “Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White!” ) so I had nothing on the Design Wall!
But the set of circle blocks that my friend D sent me a couple years ago (see post What’s on the Design Wall: Pride) for a colorful quilt she began in a class but decided not to finish, came to the rescue!
I started making the existing blocks into a quilt in summer 2020; and making additional blocks from the pattern and templates she gave me. I was going to name the quilt “Pride“, but I got distracted by other projects, took the quilt off the design wall and put it away.
Now it is back up on the design wall, just in time for Thursday’s photoshoot:
Yes it’s a little wrinkly but I was short on time before the photoshoot to re-iron the blocks before putting them up.
As part of the photoshoot I even sewed two blocks together, so I guess I better now work on sewing the whole thing together!
I changed the name of the quilt to “Go Boldly“. It is going to be wallhanging size and I do have enough leftover blocks to make a second wall hanging or even a quilt if I use up the extra fabric D also gave me to make more blocks (I have very generous quilting friends!)
Oh a quick update on Scrappy Autumnal Splendor – the binding is on and it is sitting in its new home in my home library. I was happy to get it back from the long arm machine quilter and get it bound (or “binded”? SpellCheck tells me that is not a word, ha!) before the photoshoot.
And I will close out this post with a couple photos of John (napping) and Mike enjoying the new hammock (actually intended for camping, it is a portable and fits in a small bag) we picked up on clearance at a sporting store. We got a break from all the rain we’ve been having in the Denver Metro area and they got to enjoy some hammock time!
It’s the 15th of the month and time for my “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.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post What’s on the Design Wall: Scrappy Log Cabin, I am having a “Scrap Happy Retreat” at my house.
It starts today with two of my friends attending and runs to Friday where they will fly home. I only have enough space for two other quilters at the table in my studio and in the accommodations in my home (unless I install bunk beds, ha!).
My sew table is set up for the retreat, I pulled out my other Bernina sewing machines – my QE 440 with 7 million stitches (see post 7 Million Stitches+) and my little 215 that I take to classes.
I have some treats set up for my friends at their sewing stations and of course tucked inside a drawstring bag (if you are new to this blog see post The End of the Drawstring Bag Era (A Year of Finishes – 36th to 42rd Finish))!
In case you are wondering what the zippers are – I have a lot of red zippers and thought I would share in case we want to make any scrappy zipper bags during the retreat.
I am calling our retreat a “Scrap Happy Retreat” because we are going to work on projects using my fabric scraps (though they are threatening to bring some of their own to unload).
I got my scraps already sorted by color (or type as I keep Batik fabric scraps separate) and they are ready in their wine crates:
I’ve sorted my fabric scraps into these color groupings:
Next year when I teach the 6 day workshop I am slated to teach (more on that later when the venue complete the class catalogue and I can officially announce) I am going to bring this whole lot of scraps with me to let the workshop participants use them if they like. I just have too many fabric scraps, even after donating several bags of them to charity thrift shops.
At the retreat this week, which runs Monday to Friday, we are going to work on improvisational piecing log cabin quilts (I will review the “log jamming” technique I first learned in a class at the Stitchin’ Post many years ago) like the one share in yesterday’s post:
Here is a YouTube video on “log jamming” by the Stitchin’ Post if you’d like to see the technique. I’ve adapted the original technique to a process that works better for me but it is still essentially the same concept.
And here is the fabulous Jackie who taught the class I attended and has a pattern she’s published on Modern Log Jam (I miss the Stitchin’ Post so much, a lot of wonderful creative memories while living in Central Oregon happened there):
In addition to working on improvisational log cabin quilts, we are also going to try our hands at piecing scraps onto adding machine tape. I have a bunch of adding machine tape I bought from a thrift store for $2:
Here is the YouTube tutorial we are going to use (I have a small TV in my studio and we can watch and try it together on our machines):
Wish us luck on this new technique for us!
I’ll update you on the progress on our projects at the retreat!
Oh and the tierneycreates Beastie thinks she might be able to pull out her Beastnina (made by Helen of Crawcraft Beasties) and sew with us 😉
Here are the bloggers that participate in the ScrapHappy monthly posting event, check out their blogs and 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, Jon @writinghouse, 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, Edith @Edi’s Crafting Life, Nanette @Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas, Ann @Ann F Stonehouse Quiltmaker, Dawn @myquiltprojects, Carol @Quilt Schmilt, Preeti @Sew Preeti Quilts, Debbierose @Sew Rosey, 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 little follow up to the recent post From Junk Drawer to Charging Station :
I finally put to use something I learned years ago when I was obsessed with Minimalism and was reading everything I could get my hands on about it (if you want to see my posts related to this obsession they are filed under this blog post category – My Minimalism Journey ).
I read somewhere that if you are struggling with getting rid of something sentimental, that does not really add anything to your current life but you are just keeping it because it holds memories, you can take a picture of it to remember it, then let it go.
While John and I were purging our mega junk drawer and countertop area above the junk drawer which had become a hot bed of clutter, I was faced with making a decision on what to do with this mug that I created like 25 years ago in one of those “paint your own ceramics” classes we attended for a friend’s birthday party.
It was such a fun memory of painting that mug with friends and my late husband.
I was never really clear though if my finished mug was really “food safe”, ha, so I used it for years as a pen holder. It was actually a poor excuse for a pen holder as the mug is too small to hold very many pens, but I kept it around for sentimental reasons.
Well this weekend I did it: I took a photo of it and let the mug go! It was a big thing for me.
I’ll close this post with some recent photos John took while over his Dad’s house of Mike and Goose, his father’s miniature Miniature Schnauzer (who needs a haircut but is so adorable!)
We are never sure if Mike is actually happy that his “grandpa” now has his own Miniature Schnauzer. Mike liked that days when he went to stay at his “grandpa’s” house and it was just him getting all the attention!
Still recovering from my left ankle nasty break after slipping on ice (not a good Winter sport…) when walking my dog Mike; and subsequent surgery to repair my fractures in mid-ish January 2023.
I am still spending time horizontal (though not as much as previously as swelling is nearly completely gone) as part of my recovery. So I can justify another installment of “The Horizontal Diaries”.
If you are just joining us I have a several other installments of “The Horizontal Diaries” on these posts: The Horizontal Diaries, The Horizontal Diaries, Continued, and The Horizontal Diaries, January 30, 2023 .
I spend a lot of time the upstairs guest room/my office as I do not want to hang out in my regular bed all day when elevating my left leg.
It’s cheerful and sunny, has a small TV mounted to the wall; and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer likes to hang out in the corner of the bed where he can catch sun and watch for any suspicious activity in front of the house (like those dastardly UPS, Amazon Prime, and FedEx drivers who like to ring the doorbell and run off!).
John wanted to make mornings easier for me (and himself when he is working…he telecommutes from the basement) and he repurposed an extra little refrigerator in the closet of his bar area (for chilling glasses) into an upstairs breakfast and snack bar for me.
Now I don’t have to slow “slide” downstairs to the main floor to get my breakfast (I have my new knee scooter on the main floor and a used knee scooter we found on the Nextdoor upstairs). Nor does John have to take time out of his workday morning routine to make me breakfast and bring it up.
So far so good – I can turn on the electric kettle, make myself a cup of tea and put together some yogurt and granola for breakfast. I also have snacks during the day (healthy and naughty) if I get hungry; and a selections of beverages to quench my thirst. It is sort of like my own apartment upstairs – ha!
Speaking of “snacks” (and other fun stuff) – more awesome “Get Well” surprises came in the mail over the past week – two care packages with various goodies; and a wonderful science fiction book from three different family and friends.
Here is Mike with the cool laser cut iron on appliqué schnauzer included in one of the gift packages:
It’s funny, a surprise always seems to arrive in the mail when I am feeling especially down and discouraged over my lack of mobility. I struggle to remember a day in my recent life when I haven’t gone on a daily walk prior to this injury. Daily walks seem part of my existence and always center me!
But the healing continues and I have more energy and can even participate in some household tasks now (on my knee scooter of course!)
I did have a special treat last week – John took the knee scooter and I out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Denver – Hillstone. I just had to take a photo of the delicious roasted chicken and kale salad (loaded with cashews) that I had for dinner. They do a beautiful job of preparing the kale so there is no bitterness just sweetness.
It was so special to go out to dinner and the crowded restaurant was awesome about accommodating my knee scooter.
I came across this quote randomly online (perhaps a reminder from the Universe) and I am trying to keep it in the back of my mind if I start to feel whiny that I am currently not able to walk around:
We spent this past Sunday doing a major purge of “the junk drawer” in our kitchen, discovering that most things could go elsewhere or be donated or tossed.
John found on the web, a special “drawer charging system” which allows you to turn a drawer into a “charging station” by adding an outlet to the drawer. This special system has a swinging arm that holds the cord from the plug which mounts inside the drawer, so that you can easily open and close the drawer.
image from dockingdrawer.com
John did some wiring to set up an outlet in the back of the kitchen cabinet, cut a hole in the former “junk drawer” and created a charging station:
In addition to clearing out the “junk drawer” we also did a major purge of the countertop above the junk drawer area.
We have something fun planned our newly cleared countertop…will share at a later date.
While I was writing yesterday’s post The Horizontal Diaries, January 30, 2023 which included a little tour of the Tattered Cover Bookstore, I decided that I needed to add a new “blog post category” Independent bookstores, as I’ve written more than a handful of Independent Bookstore tour blog posts over the years; and adding them to a blog category would make them easier to find.
In order to tie all the previous blog posts about trips to indie bookstores, I needed to search for all my old posts using the WordPress search tools. While searching I came across this post from June 2018 – Beastie Adventures: Sisters, Oregon about a day trip I took with my late husband Terry, Mike the Miniature Schnauzer and the tierneycreates Beastie to Sisters, Oregon. That day trip is a wonderful in a lifetime of wonderful memories of my life with “Terry the Quilting Husband”.
Here is a photo from that blog post from June 2018:
Look at the right side of the photo – there is the SAME kit a wonderful friend recently sent me in the mail as part of a “get well” package (see blog post The Horizontal Diaries, Continued):
I was absolutely floored (I gasped) when I discovered this. It was obvious that I liked this hat kit as I took a photo of the tierneycreates Beastie with it in June 2018 on a wonderful day (and now memory) with my late husband Terry.
Once I realized this serendipitous occurrence, I immediately texted my generous friend who had sent me the kit, to tell her of this magical occurrence along with the blog link and the photo of the tierneycreates Beastie with the kit in June 2018.
Here is what she responded (paraphrased):
Oh my goodness! That is crazy! Well…I think you should consider it a gift from Terry if that isn’t too painful because here is what happened… I went to the yarn shop… I already had the Noro yarn for you and your box was pretty much full so that is all I was going to get. That kit caught my eye from the register and I couldn’t quit thinking about getting it for you. I walked back and forth, brought it to the register and then put it back several times. Finally I just couldn’t leave it there and walked out with it for you…There was the same kit with neutral colors in it and I kept swapping which of the two I was going to get you. I thought the neutral one looked more like you but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to it it. I had to buy this one!
A little magic from the Universe? Pretty awesome! Now that kit has an additional meaning/significance (beyond a wonderful gift from a friend) and I cannot wait to make this hat!
Featured image – Pexels free images
Sharing some updates and I am continuing to use “The Horizontal Diaries” as a blog post title (like I did in the recent posts The Horizontal Diaries and The Horizontal Diaries, Continued) because it semi describes my current reality.
I am doing much better as I recover from my left broken ankle and subsequent surgery to repair it (I got “screwed” and “plated”!) and all the swelling has gone down from my foot and lower leg as I behaved and spent a lot of time horizontal! My swelling went down so much (foot/leg returned to normal) that my splint/cast has gotten sort of loose. Good thing I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow – looking forward to finding out what comes next…and when will I be ready to compete in the Olympic Gymnastic Trials?!??
I’ve been knitting non stop (just like you suggested @mariss/fabrications) and I am nearly done with the replacement hat for the one I lost during my trip to Ireland in October 2022. I am at the point of decreasing the stitches for the top of hat (soon it will be time for my favorite part of hat knitting – the double pointed needles). I think I will get it done today – yay!
Perhaps with the leftover yarn, that I harvested from the matching scarf I never wore, I can make a second hat…or perhaps a small (quite small) scarf – ha!
I mentioned in the previous “Horizontal Diaries” post that I was working on an irritating English Paper Piecing (EPP) Project. It’s the one I’ve been working on for years (feels like I’ve been working on it for decades). Here’s what inspired the project – the first issue of Quiltfolk magazine:
I need to make 99 hexie rosettes (each rosette is composed of 7 EPP hexies), and I am happy to report I now have 75 done (I’m going to actually “do math” now and report that I only have 24 more hexies to make)! I’ve been working on the rosettes while horizontal, they are a fabulous (if not tedious) hand sewing project:
I’ve made more in the past week than I’ve made in the past 6 months! 24 more and I can start to think about the fabrics to set the blocks in – each rosette is appliquéd to a square of fabric (but I will probably use my sewing machine to do that so it isn’t actually DECADES before I finish the quilt – ha!)
It’s interested to see how my EPP hexie assembly progressed from when I began the project is 2016 (gasp). My first EPP hexies were basted with thread to keep the piecing in place:
Then I learned from a friend that I could baste with fabric glue stick instead which saved a lot of time!
I think I’ve struggled with completing this project because the late “Terry the Quilting Husband” punched out many of the hexies for me as well did a lot of the glue basting of the hexies (he was like a master at it after a while!) for me. I would say he helped me make 60% or more of the hexies for this project. I’ve finished after he passed in December 2018 other projects he started such as The Last Baskets , The Last Quilt and The Ball of Yarn (which eventually became a hat) , but for some reason this one was dragging on.
But 2023 is a YEAR OF FINISHES (I might write a separate post about that later) and this project is on the list to be finished!
To get out of the house the other day, John took me on an errand with him and then took me (and my knee scooter) to the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Littleton, CO (near where his errand was). I love independent bookstores and I had a brief but wonderful wander is this old bookstore in knee scooter!
I wonder if they have a music night where someone plays the piano in the center of the bookstore. If I wasn’t injured and needing to return home to my “horizontalness”, I would have grabbed a stack of books and nestled in one of the chairs. This bookstore has a large collection of both new and used books.
I did pick up two cool new stickers for my older laptop (my newer laptop is fully covered with stickers now) at the Tattered Cover Bookstore:
Well that is this installment of “The Horizontal Diaries”, thanks for reading!
tierneycreates 