Terry the Quilting Husband and I were scheduled to meet friends in downtown Bend, OR for lunch today at 11:30 am, however the Bend Christmas parade was scheduled to begin at 12 noon downtown today.

So to avoid the impending parking challenges, we headed to downtown an hour early and wandered around until it was time to meet friends for lunch. Most of our wandering time was spent in the wonderful downtown indie bookstore – Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

Armed with steaming mug of cocoa I browsed Dudley’s well curated collection; ran into a fellow art quilter from my SAQA group and had a lovely chat; and remembered a post I wrote about Dudley’s in December 2016.

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES (WONDERFUL & MAGICAL PLACES)

December 23, 2016

I won’t pretend I do not shop on Amazon.com for book deals or that I do not go to our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, but today I was reminded just how wonderful and magical Independent Bookstoresare to have in one’s community. I plan to spend more time at indie bookshops!

Today we went for a wander around and hot beverage at downtown Bend’s Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

As the sign upstairs at Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe reads:

Independent Bookstores are wonderful & magical places because each book will have been hand selected, you know all of them are jewels just waiting to be discovered…

After the friendly shopkeepers filled darling ceramic mugs with our hot cocoa (for me) and mocha (for Terry the Quilting Husband), we had a leisurely and delicious wander about the shop browsing and their well curated selections.

Come wander the shop with us for a moment…

Downstairs, where you enter Dudley’s bookshop and immediately think – “well this would be a fine place to nest for awhile”:

People were nesting – they have WiFi and some were on their laptops and some were sipping their hot beverages and reading a book (or previewing a book!).

Among the shelves of books are fun things and objects to look at, including this wickedly funny sign:

Now head upstairs (carefully carry your mug of hot beverage with you!) and check out the painted stairs celebrating books:

(I love the step that reads: “Fifty Shades of Dudley’s)

At the top of the landing you will find a shelf of books (in case it was too long a journey to go without being able to browse any books from the bottom of the stairs to the top).

Now, turn the corner…and…WOW: Here is the cozy reading nook you might have searched for while browsing any bookstore (and maybe dreamed about in your own home):

The secret OCD person inside of me wanted to go and fix the left side of the curtain, but I was here to browse books, not adjust decor so I left it alone – ha!

After walking by the cozy reading nook, you come upon the upstairs room with more books to browse – how about a Art/Film/Music book to add to your collection?

Even the bathroom was delightful and had this great poster called A Plotting of Fiction Genres:

If you would like to know more about this poster, I did find it online at Pop Chart Lab. I did not want to spend too long in the bathroom reading it, but I was very impressed with it in my brief time with it! Here is a better overall photo from the seller’s website.

Screen Shot 2016-12-23 at 3.57.32 PM.png

I could not leave Dudley’s Bookshop without a little something. If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I love our local public library and lately I get most of my reading through borrowing from the library (as I have been very naughty at bookshops in the past and have a huge book collection). I am trying not to add more books permanently to my home but I did want a little something from the indie bookstore, so I bought a cool set of greeting cards that you color yourself!

Two of my many favorite authors, Neil Gaiman and Ann Patchett are huge advocated for preserving independent bookstores (Ann Patchett even owns her own indie bookstore, Parnassus Books) and have lauded the value of preserving these shops in their writing.

I will close this post with a Neil Gaiman quote, which is also on the Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe website, from his wonderful and magical book American Gods:

What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore it knows it’s not fooling a soul. – Neil Gaiman

Dudley’s has a wonderful addition to the front of their shop – an antique typewriter! I had to take a photo to share!

2017-12-02_11-14-47_722 (2017-12-02T22_23_49.987)

A Crafter's Life

“Field Testing” a TTQH Quilt

November 28, 2017December 2, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Welcome to another entry in the Terry the Quilting Husband (aka “TTQH”) series of tierneycreates blog posts.

TTQH got his latest quilt – Flannel Fishing – back from the long-arm quilter and “field tested” it on Sunday (I was a nice wife and put the binding on for him, then laundered and put the quilt in the dryer to make it super yummy). He was joined by professional quilt field testers – Sassy and Mike (our miniature schnauzers).

The “field” was the living room sofa and the test involved falling asleep in the quilt while watching Sunday afternoon football.

2017-11-26_14-00-26_310 — Sassy, TTQH and Mike

As you can see above, I accidentally woke up Sassy and Mike from their snuggly flannel dreams when I took photos.

Mike was able to quickly fall back asleep under the quilt nestled behind TTQH:

2017-11-26_14-00-42_132 — His eyes might appear open but he was passed out cold

TTQH is not into being photographed for the blog, you will just have to trust me he is field testing the quilt on the sofa (hey maybe he is Witness Protection, you never know…)

The fabric for the quilt was purchased during Central Oregon Quilt Shop Hop earlier this year and you can read more about this quilt in the 07/06/17 post Update: Terry the Quilting Husband.

The long-arm quilter was not quite sure what do with it. It is a very busy quilt. She ended up doing a meandering stitch.

TTQH stitched together a bunch of flannel squares (9″ I think) of fishing and hunting themed fabrics he liked to create the quilt. The quilt was originally all PRINTS and I delicately suggested (I did not want to interfere with his creativity) that he add some solid flannels from my stash to help tone down all the prints:

2017-11-27_08-11-30_055 — Hey TTQH likes the design and it is his quilt 😉

I pieced the back of the quilt for him from an old collection of outdoorsy mountain wildlife fabric panels and kit I had collected 10+ years ago and never used – but it worked for the back of the quilt:

TTQH is very pleased with the quilt (and it provided a great nap during field testing).

The quilt joins the other TTQH flannel quilts strewn about the living room for the Central Oregon late Fall to Winter (to early Spring) season. In the evening we each grab a TTQH flannel quilt and start nesting!

If you are curious, TTQH doesn’t just make flannel quilts for himself – his very first flannel quilt he sent to his Mom and he has also made on for his sister Diane. He made his sister Susan a non-flannel quilt.

A Crafter's Life

Slashing the Stash with TTQH

November 17, 2017December 2, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In case you are curious what Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) is up to, he is going to be “Slashing my Stash” of homespuns (fabric).

Recently I pulled from a bookcase a stack of quilting books and booklets that I have neglected for years. The plan was to donate any book I could not find at least one pattern in the book I would definitely make.

TTQH was eyeing the stack of old quilting books for donation I assembled, so I asked him if he wanted to flip through the pile and see if he wanted to make any quilts from books in this pile.

He pulled out this book: Slash your Stash Quilts: 8 Recipes to Reduce Your Stash by Leisure Arts/Designs by Claudia Plett.

He showed me the pattern for the quilt he wanted to make – Twinklers.

The version of the Twinklers quilt depicted in the book was made from homespuns; and I realized I have a whole stash of homespuns in my fabric stash that I have not played with for years. So I pulled out all my homespuns and laid them before TTQH for his quilt “fabric shopping”!

He currently has the entire stash of homespuns in his sewing area and I will share an update on his progress in a future post. I plan to help him with the pattern as it has a couple new techniques for him.

TTQH’s recently finished quilt is with the long-arm quilter right now – below are photos of the fishing themed flannel quilt top and the nap TTQH and the dogs took under his completed quilt top:

In between working on quilts he has helped me with English Paper Piecing (EPP) and I will share my questionable EPP-husband-abuse in a future post in my Adventures in English Paper Piecing series.

I am quite excited he is “slashing my stash”!

Postscript

If you are new to my blog, just a heads up that I have two additional affiliated blogs:

Schnauzer Snips – Musings from Sassy, a Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer
Improvisational Textiles – Focused on collaborative and solo art quilter journey

A Crafter's Life

Random Follow-ups (Oct 2013 – Oct 2017)

October 31, 2017November 1, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

To close out the tierneycreates 4th Year Blog Anniversary, I will randomly share random follows-ups on random posts from 2013 – 2017. It is not really a “the best of tierneycreates” it is more just “the random of tierneycreates”!

If you’ve followed my blog the past 4 years it is likely you’ve never thought about these posts again...but just in case you were wondering what happened with…or what became of…

The link to the original post is in the header of the section; and warning – this post is going to be very random.

Announcing the Winners of the tierneycreates Blog’s 4th

Over the past 4 years I have gone through various iterations of my tierneycreates business card. Here is my current business card:

Some of you may remember this post in which I asked for your input on my new business card options – New Business Card Options (please vote for your favorite).

However, when I ordered these cards I still had many copies of my previous version of my business card (which had old URL addresses and listed my now closed Etsy shop):

So what to do with these left over cards? Make them into custom “tierneycreates” cards to send those who won the Little Wallets in the tierneycreates 4th Blog Anniversary Celebration Giveaway!

2017-10-30_12-15-36_393 — Finished card (talented papercrafters reading this blog please look away – ha!)

Moving on to the next random update…

UPDATE ON “A CHICKEN NAMED TIERNEY”

I know you all are wondering what happened to the chicken named “Tierney”. If you are new to this blog you may think I’ve lost my mind now. You can read the linked post in the title of this section, but a dear friend named all her hens after women she values in her life. So one of her Dominique chickens (she has 3 different breeds of chickens) is my namesake.

2017-07-27_17-29-47_401 — Tierney the Chicken (and another hen trying to “photo bomb”)

2017-10-31_16-07-40_237 — Tierney and her fellow hens having fun in the compost pile

Well Tierney the Chicken is now a full grown hen and laying eggs! Tierney is still the friendliest (and likes to snuggle) of all the hens in the coop.

Will it be too strange to eat eggs laid by my namesake?!?!?!

More randomness…

LITTLE MISS MUFFET, MADE HER OWN TUFFET

I love to blog about attending quilt retreats and I love to read other bloggers stories and see their images from quilt retreats. Quilt retreats are magical!

In August 2016 I attended a quilt retreat at the Over the Rainbow Quilt Retreat Center in Camano Island, WA. In addition to making tuffets (hence the title of the post), quilters worked on various projects.

My quilting sister Dana (for more on Quilting Sisters, see posts Quilting Sisters, Part I and Part II) worked on her first improvisational quilt after being inspired by my “log jam” quilts (you can search “log jam” or “log jamming” in my blog’s Search tool if you would like more info on these types of quilts).

Here is her piece in progress during the retreat:

And here are sections of her beautiful completed and quilted quilt (quilted by Krista Moser):

No the randomness is not stopping, it continues below……

WHAT’S OFF THE DESIGN WALL: COZY COBBLESTONES

This quilt, Cozy Cobblestones is now with Cindy of inastitchquilting.com for long-arm quilting:

So in the future I will have a reveal once the long-arm quilting is done!

Now on to the last bit of randomness updating you randomly on random previous posts.

LIVING WITH LESS?!?!?!

This was my first post related to my Minimalism journey (at the time I did not know what I was doing was “minimalism”). Eventually I developed a series of posts on my Minimalism Journey.

I have tapered off curating my life and getting rid of things. I did get rid of a couple things I wish I kept, but I figured that was going to happen eventually.

Now I am just careful what I bring into my life/my house; and I am no longer on the verge of “rabid” decluttering. Instead I am focused on appreciating little moments of joy found in the everyday.

So I am going to close out my this post and the month of October 4th Blog Anniversary with this reposting of this post from June 16, 2016 about finding little moments of joy:

AT THE CORNER OF JOY (AND SOME OTHER STREET)

Repost from June 2016

Yesterday I was at the corner of Joy, literally and metaphorically.

A reader asked “so what happened to your Pilot Butte hikes?” Well it has been very hot in Central Oregon and I had no desire to hike in the heat. Also my knee was bothering me a bit so I thought perhaps I should try something else besides the Monday hikes for a while.

So I decided instead to start riding my bike, on a daily basis, in the early morning, instead of a Monday hike. It has been a year since I have been on my bike and I forgot the joy of bike riding!

I am riding a couple miles each morning up to 7 or more miles. Some days I can only fit in a couple miles but that is still wonderful!

Bike riding is great for my knees and I am feeling a tremendous sense of JOY when I ride my bike.

I am riding in the surrounding neighborhoods and in low traffic areas. Many times, it is like I have the road completely to myself.

A sense of peace washes over me and I would be in a complete meditative state if not needing to carefully watch for cars (as you never know when a car will come out of no where and many drivers do not seem to see cyclists – it is like we are invisible!)

The other morning I was having a glorious bike ride in a newer neighborhood area I had not noticed before and I came across a street called JOY WAY. This street name perfectly described what I was feeling biking on a beautiful morning!

I had to take photo (yes I did dismount from my bike to take the photo) as it made me smile even wider than I was already smiling!

I hope you all find yourself at “the corner of Joy…”, metaphorically that is!

“One of the most important days of my life, was when I learned to ride a bicycle.”
– Michael Palin (English comedian of Monty Python fame)

“I’ll tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood.”
– Susan B. Anthony, 1896

“Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.”
– H.G. Wells

Featured image credit: Svilen Milev – free images.com

A Crafter's Life

The Napkin Story

September 11, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

From the tierneycreates archives – I am getting ready to meet up with my sister in NYC (I am attending the Quilters Take Manhattan event) and I was thinking of the many times that she inspired me to chill out more in life!

tierneycreates

In my previous post Farm Girl Vintage, Part III I mentioned my past challenges with nearly OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) level of desire for order and neatness in my life.

When we lived in Seattle, WA I used to entertain, a lot. Game nights, holiday get-togethers at my house, random dinner parties, birthday party hosting, baby shower hosting, work parties, etc., etc. I was very social – and if I was not throwing party, I was attending a party or going to some event. Notice, I mentioned that “I” was very social, as I learned years later, Terry the Quilting Husband was only playing along, he would have preferred more quiet time at home with me and the dogs. (There is the Thanksgiving he always teases me about – when we out of obligation, courtesy and my desire, attended 3 – 4 Thanksgiving celebrations at various friends’ homes all…

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A Crafter's Life

The Expenditure Tracking Experiment

August 19, 2017August 19, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am still working on piecing together Cozy Cobblestones that I discussed in my previous post. The “Picnic Setting” is no picnic, and has several “Y” seams and must be pieced in a methodical way (or you are screwed!) Hopefully the next post will be to share my completed quilt top (unless I decided to throw in a post about our visit to the Deschutes County Fair a couple weekends ago…)

This post I wanted to share an interesting experiment I have committed to doing for a year and wondered if any of you have ever tried something like this – I am tracking ALL my expenditures for 1 year. Everything, even if I buy a $2 ice cream cone, etc.

I created a spreadsheet at the end of 2016, broken into as many categories as I could think of (though I had to keep adding categories as the year progressed) and starting January 1, 2017, I began recording anything I spent money on – from food to utilities.

Here is a screenshot of a section of my spreadsheet to date:

One of the most enlightening (actually shocking) things, was how much we spend on food (and there are only two humans in the household)! Not to mention how many trips to the grocery store (and several different grocery stores) we make each month.

For example in July 2017, we went to one grocery store EIGHT (8) times! I am starting to wonder if my hobby is not quilting/crafting, but actually going to grocery stores! I wince at the $1.38 purchase listed above – whatever that was, why didn’t I get it during the grocery store visit in the $52.90 purchase above?

Well making a change can only come after gaining awareness that a change is needed. I thought I was a very thrifty “demi-minimalist” but my spreadsheet says I am an out of control food hoarder!

Besides the shocking amount of grocery store spending/visits I have made so far this year, I have learned a lot of valuable stuff about our spending habits and several positive changes have been made. Also it has become a game, where I will not buy something that I do not really need because I want to see if I can get the current month’s expenditures lower than the others.

One more cool thing about this (sometimes painful) spreadsheet, is I have a tool to use to discuss with Terry the Quilting Husband strategies to manages our expenses. We discussed the disaster that was July 2017 and made a conscious effort to keep the August grocery expenses under control!

I would love to hear if any of you have tried something like this.

Well that’s all for now, I got to go head out to the grocery store and pick something up 😉

Feature image photo credit: Sufi Nawaz, free images.com

A Crafter's Life, tierneycreates

The Photoshoot Shed: Please Give Me Your Ideas

July 29, 2017July 29, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Looking at the feature photo for this post you are likely thinking: “Wow Tierney, you have truly run out of things to talk about on your blog. You are now talking about backyard sheds?!?!?”

No, this is actually crafting/quilting related post. Quilt photography related as a matter of fact.

I would love your thoughts/ideas on the best way to make the rear of my new 8′ x 10′ backyard shed work for photographing textile art.

But first, let me share some background.

I am a recovering terrible photographer. My photography skills only approved over the past couple of years because they had to – if I ever wanted to have a sale on my tierneycreates Etsy shop I had to learn to take clear and alluring photos.

My Etsy shop is now closed but it was a great way to force me to become a better photographer.

In order to become a better…well okay, to become a less-terrible photographer, I had to learn some basic photography techniques. One of the first things I learned was the power of using natural light and the concept of “The Golden Hour”.

The Golden Hour and Soft Diffused Light

Here is a wonderful description of “The Golden Hour” from photographymad.com:

The golden hour, sometimes called the “magic hour”, is roughly the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset, although the exact duration varies between seasons. During these times the sun is low in the sky, producing a soft, diffused light which is much more flattering than the harsh midday sun that so many of us are used to shooting in.

This type of light produces less contrast, reducing the chances of losing parts of your subject in strong shadows or blown-out highlights. The warm glow adds a pleasing feel to the scene, and the long shadows help to pick out details, adding texture and depth to the image.

As an added benefit, there are generally fewer people around at dawn and dusk than there are at other times of the day, giving you a chance to capture your images in relative peace.

The Golden Hour was wonderful for photographing the handmade miniature kimonos I used to sell on my tierneycreates Etsy shop. I also discovered it was wonderful for photographing quilts. The mid-day sun occasionally works for some large quilts but for art quilts, they seem to photograph better in diffuse light.

APQS, long-arm quilt machine manufacturer, has an article on their website, apqs.com, on How to Photograph Your Quilt which states:

If you are taking your quilts photo outside, keep in mind that stark daylight isn’t a great idea as it creates strong shadows and it is just too harsh. Filtered light, like dappled light through a tree’s leaves or even the light found during a cloudy day is softer. This type of light will help you capture your quilt’s beauty more easily.

Whether it is “The Golden Hour” or mid-day with dappled light, my handmade items always appear to photograph better in natural light instead of indoor artificial light.

So when our backyard Costco resin/Rubbermaid Shed’s roof caved in from all the intense Central Oregon snowfall this past Winter and was recently replaced with a real wood built-on-site shed, I knew this was an opportunity to have a standard place outdoor place to photograph quilts.

Whether photographing quilts and quilted wallhanging for my former tierneycreates Etsy shop or photographing art quilts for show entires, I have discovered that I get better images if the quilt is hung/mounted vertically and I can photograph it from a standing position. Although I have relentlessly tried, I just cannot get a good quality photograph of a quilt when it is on the ground and I am standing over it.

I just have to figure out how to set up the back of the shed as a quilt photography area that allows me the flexibility to hang/mount quilts of different dimension for their photo shoot.

I would appreciate your ideas!

Postscript

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s latest Schnauzer Snips blog post – Schnauzer Quilt on a quilt I do not think I have shared before on my blog.

Oh, and in case you are curious, here is a photo of the front of the new backyard shed:

A Crafter's Life

Update on “A Chicken Named Tierney”

July 15, 2017July 28, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Several months ago I posted that a friend of mine named her baby hen chicks after her close female friends. This is an update to that post – A Chicken Named “Tierney”.

A month or so ago I took photos of teenage “Tierney the Chicken” and her brand new chicken coop; and recently I took photos of young adult “Tierney the Chicken”.

The Teen Years Weeks

Here is the deluxe coop she and her hen sisters live in. It has an inside section and a sunroom:

Here is teenage “Tierney the Chicken” and her sister “Gabrielle the Chicken”:

Here is “Tierney” and the other teenage hens getting a snack:

My friend Marla, mother to all the young hens, has a photo in her house of what “Tierney the Chicken” will look like when she grows up and becomes an adult Dominique chicken:

Young Adult “Tierney the Chicken”

“Tierney” is now a young adult and getting closer to her egg laying days. No eggs yet but my friend Marla thinks in the upcoming weeks she and her sister hens will lay their first eggs.

Here is a current photo of “Tierney” and her sister “Gabrielle” (and some other chicken “photo bombing” the shot, ha!):

My friend Marla reports that “Tierney” is the friendliest of all the chickens. She runs towards you first when you come into the coop and she likes to snuggle:

Truthfully I’ve never cared about chickens beyond enjoying the eggs they lay or an occasionally tasty chicken dinner. This is the first time I have ever seen a chicken snuggle! (Is it my fate to eventually become vegan now that I suspect most farm animals will snuggle?)

Maybe it is slightly weird my friend named one of her hens after me (and her other close female friends) but how many people get to say they have a chicken with their namesake!??!

I will close this post with a photo of the cool wind vane inside Marla’s backyard:

A Crafter's Life, Studio

Impulse Buy: Antique Singer Sewing Machine

May 31, 2017May 6, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This was previously a “Postscript” on a post from May 2017, but I decided to make it a separate post.

Oh my what have I done?

My Impulse Buy

Perhaps I was influenced by Elena’s Vintage Sewing Machine blog or by the fact that sewing of my Quilting Sisters have antique featherweight sewing machines that they bring to retreats.

Saturday I went with my friend Susan to the Kiwanis Club’s fundraising garage sale in Sisters, Oregon and ended up impulse buying at vintage Singer sewing machine:

The machine was listed for $25. One of the volunteers at the fundraiser sale saw me looking at it and said: “You can have it for $10”. How could I turn it down (I know, I know, I could have said “no thank you” and walked away…)

It is not a featherweight and it is quite heavy but it still works and runs quite smoothly. I checked with someone who knows about vintage sewing machines and they gave me the name of someone in Central Oregon who can check out the machine for safety, clean and service it. It is also missing part of the footplate. You can still sew with the section missing but the bobbin is exposed.

Today I researched the serial number using the Singer Sewing Machine Serial Number Database website. and it was assigned in 1910 so I think that sort of dates the machine. I am going to do some further research and see if it really is that old. Also I need to watch some YouTube videos and check out some websites on how to thread the machine and do basic maintenance.

It seems like it would be really fun to use on a sewing project or two and would make an interesting piece of art in my studio.

What I did not buy

Next to the Singer were these two vintage sewing machine which I am sure the volunteer would have sold to be also for $10:

If I had a large sewing studio, they would have made for an interesting display on a shelf, but I had no excuse to buy them. I had of course no excuse to buy the Singer but I suspect it was meant to be…

Before Susan and I went to the fundraiser garage sale in Sisters, we stopped at the Stitchin’ Post quilt shop and I bought this fabric:

Yup those are vintage Singer sewing machines, a very similar looking model to the one I bought. Was it kismet that an hour later I ended up with an actual vintage Singer sewing machine?

What I tried to convince my friend to buy

Here was something hysterical I did not buy at the fundraiser garage sale, though I tried to convince my friend Susan to buy it – a PUG PURSE!

2017-05-27_13-06-30_002 — Susan was kind enough to model the Pug Purse

2017-05-27_13-06-35_857 — I do not understand how she left the garage sale without it?!?!

A Crafter's Life

Returning to a Wonderful Surprise!

May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I just returned from the 4-day annual May quilt retreat with my Washington, Oregon and California Quilt Sisters. The next series of blog posts will be about that retreat. When I walked in the house yesterday, suitcase laden with partially completed projects and some new fabric picked up during the retreat (oops), I had a package waiting.

Inside the package was my birthday gift from my Danish brother Torben (see 04/15/17 post The Library Stack and Hygge) from a quilt shop in his current country of residence, Austria!

The goodies inside included a “layer cake” (collection of 10″ precut coordinated fabric squares), information about the fabric line, information about the quilt shop, and other treats!

The fabric line is Véro´s World by Gütermann and my wonderful Danish brother, picked up the fabric (and other goodies) at a quilt shop, Quilted, in Vienna.

Check out the link for the Quilted Quilt Shop website for a peek inside a Viennese quilt shop! Note – everything is in German on the website, but you can get a general feel for the website’s navigation if you do not speak/read German.

I have visited Torben a couple times in Denmark, but not in Austria. I guess since they have quilt shop, I will have to visit – ha!

In addition to the treats from the Austrian quilt shop, there was a birthday card in Danish (just to mess with my mind). Most of the words I recognize from absorbing Danish from 20 years of friendship.

Just wanted to share my wonderful surprise, it was a nice way to return home from a wonderful relaxing 4-day quilt retreat (my next series of posts).

Postscript

Here is a card someone sent me years ago that I framed and keep on my studio wall. It is a good reminder when I get discouraged about the slow progress of my art quilting journey:

I am still working on finding my “song”.

Feature photo credit: www.quilted.at

A Crafter's Life

A Chicken Named “Tierney”

May 14, 2017May 14, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Wishing you all a Happy Mothers Day whether you are raising/have raised little humans, or you care for furry creature! Check out my fur kid’s latest musings in her Schnauzer Snips blog.

How do you know you have really made it in life?

You know when a chicken has been named after you!

My friend Marla started raising hen chicks and she has named them after her close female friends and family members. She is raising several varieties and I have been honored with one of her Dominique Chickens being given my name.

Here is “Tierney” the Chicken:

She and her husband began raising the chicks in their bathroom in a specially heated set up. Now the chickens are moved to a lovely outdoor coop her husband built (I hope to remember in the future to take a photo and share, maybe when little “Tierney” is all grown up). Here are a couple of photos of the chicks while they lived in the bathroom:

So what do you feed chicks as snacks? Well you give them Happy Hen Treats: Mealworm Frenzy!

It is both disgusting and hysterical. I think I will stick with dogs and dog biscuits, ha! I hope to remember to post another photo in the future when chick “Tierney” becomes full grown egg laying hen “Tierney”.

Postscript

One of the cool things about being a quilter is when many years later someone thanks you again for a quilt you made for them (that they have been enjoying for many years!).

Out of the blue I received a text from an old friend Colleen, thanking me for a quilt I made her 6 or so years ago after he husband passed. She sent me the photo below of the quilt, on her bed:

What a wonderful treat it was to be reminded of this quilt and how much it meant to her!

A Crafter's Life, Books, Music, Podcasts

Thoughts on Solitude

May 6, 2017May 7, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Recently I finished an audiobook, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel (2017). This book tells the story of the North Pond Hermit (Christopher Knight) who lived alone in the Maine woods for 27 years.

61CbvZnrDjL._SX336_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg — Photo credit: Amazon.com

Christopher Knight walked away from his life with the rest of humanity shortly after high school. He lived in isolation, in a hidden camp deep in the North Pond area of the Maine woods, without human interaction for 27 years.

Unfortunately, for 27 years, he pilfered summer camps for food, which eventually led to his capture. Until his arrest he was only known as a mysterious (and mythical) legend – the “North Pond Hermit”.

The book was fascinating – I listened to it nearly non-stop (anytime I could find a moment for a listen). Most of the book is Christopher Knight’s story told through the author, a journalist, who gained access to Knight during his incarceration. The other parts of the book are interviews with law enforcement, Knight’s childhood neighbors, and summer residents of North Pond who were tormented and terrorized for years of endless thefts of their summer camps.

The author also delves into the psychological aspects and impacts of isolation; and why some humans crave isolation while others would do anything to avoid it. He discusses the beauty experienced and wisdom/insight that can be gained from selected solitude (think of Henry David Thoreau). I found many of the author’s musings very profound.

There was something intriguing about the idea of living alone in the woods (I know, I know, it would be hard to using my electric sewing machine, but I could get a treadle machine…) and I spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to live alone in the woods and the peaceful beauty of solitude as I read the book.

I do enjoy my time alone – on a walk or reading in a quiet spot. However I enjoy an occasional DAY alone, not 27 years (or 9850+ days!) alone.

A couple of quotes from the book:

“Solitude increased my perception. But here’s the tricky thing: when I applied my increased perception to myself, I lost my identity. There was no audience, no one to perform for. There was no need to define myself. I became irrelevant. (I)solation felt more like communion…To put it romantically, I was completely free.”

“Silence, it appears, is not the opposite of sound. It is another world altogether, literally offering a deeper level of thought, a journey to the bedrock of the self.”

“Modern life seems set up so that we can avoid loneliness at all costs, but maybe it’s worthwhile to face it occasionally. The further we push aloneness away, the less we are able to cope with it, and the more terrifying it gets. Some philosophers believe that loneliness is the only true feeling there is.”

― Michael Finkel, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

I was fascinated how Christopher Knight learned to survive in the Maine woods, especially during the long exceptionally brutal winters. It is amazing the price he was willing to pay each winter to continue to live in isolation. You can check out videos on YouTube (just search “North Pond Hermit” or “Christopher Knight Hermit”) of the camp he created as his hidden home in the Maine woods, taken when law enforcement seized his camp contents after his arrest.

His story of surviving in the woods, made me think of a recent post by one of my favorite bloggers, Dewey Hop: Feisty Froggy Reads Through the Library – Natural Disasters. Feisty Froggy discusses/reviews several books on how to survive disasters and what emergency supplies to have on hand. Christoper Knight went into the Maine woods as a young man without a “bug-out bag” or any standard/basic survival supplies. He just parked his car at the edge of the woods, got out and headed in to live the next 27 years of his life in isolation.

Postscript

In the Postscript section of my 04/12/17 post A Happy Ending for “Happy Ending”, I shared that I overdid it reserving a bunch of audiobooks all at once from my beloved public library and five (5) books came available at once!

Well the next day, a 6th book came available – The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit – the audiobook discusses in this post. Since the library only gives you 21 days to listen to the audiobooks and you cannot renew them if they have holds (and all the books had holds), I had to make some decisions.

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit obviously got priority, because I finished it! Here is what happened to the other audiobooks mentioned in the 04/12/17 post:

Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman – This audiobook is awesome, narrated by the author himself in his delightful British accent – my audiobook loan expired before I could finish it, so I have reserved it again…
For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men
– Shaunti Feldhahn – Very interesting book – I think it should be required reading before you get married (there is a companion book for men on the Inner Lives of Women); it is faith-based but not too heavy handed in regards to biblical tie-ins. I considered myself successfully married for eons but I gained some new insights.
We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere – Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel (yup, Gillian Anderson of The X-Files fame) – I wanted to like this book but struggled to finish it. It seemed very inspirational but it was read by the authors and for some reason they, especially Gillian Anderson (who I loved in The X-Files). I might try it again the future as a paper book instead of audiobook.
Good Omens – Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett – Oh my goodness – I love this book – absolutely hysterical with lots of British style snarky humor. Unfortunately my loan expired before I finished it, so I am anxiously awaiting notification that I can download it again (our library uses the Overdrive app and your download automatically expires when the 21 days are up)
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions – Neil Gaiman – Never got to it. Will try it again the the future.

Yes of course I reserved more audiobooks at the same time again. I do not want to be without an audiobook! I am currently listening to The Diet Fix: Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work by Yoni Freedhoff. I will chat about that in the future and what became of the Fast Metabolism Diet I shared in posts from mid February to early March 2017.

Christopher Knight, the North Pond Hermit, survived and thrived in isolation by reading books (that he stole from summer camps). If I had to, I guess I could survive in isolation for a couple years, as long as I had audiobooks!

Featured image credit: Gabor Szakacs, freeimages.com

A Crafter's Life

The Love Ducks are Back!

April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

No this post is not about our Oregon Ducks (University of Oregon) men’s basketball team who happens to be in the NCAA Tournament’s “Final Four: playoff today (the last time they won the tournament was 1939!). It is about the annual pair of a hen and drake ducks that wander around our neighborhood and seem to herald the start of Spring.

I do not know a lot about ducks and let’s assume it is not the same pair year after year (but maybe…), however, around this time every year (see my post from 04/02/16 – The Hen and the Drake) while walking the dogs, we come upon a “duck couple” hanging out or just walking about the neighborhood together:

They seem oblivious to the goings on in the neighborhood and even ignore our slightly snarling miniature schnauzers as we walked by the pair. I remember the first time I saw them in the neighborhood, about 11 years ago, and saw my next door neighbor’s cat slowly stalk them down the middle of the street.

The ducks kept walking at their normal pace, despite there was a cat obviously lurking/stalking them 20 – 30 feet away. It was video worthy but I did not think about that at the time.

Ultimately the kitty turned around and went back home. I guess he figured if the duck couple was not afraid of him, maybe he should be afraid of them!

I love my neighborhood. It is just a regular working class neighborhood with primarily older single story houses and kind and friendly neighbors who look out for each other. I feel very safe and peaceful when I walk around my neighborhood.

I guess the ducks feel safe here too.

A Crafter's Life, Thrift Shop Adventures

Softies and Sharing

March 27, 2017October 21, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Softies

I love working with fabrics and in the future I want to focus on more craft items than quilts – like tote bags, pillows, handbags, pincushions and “softies” (plush toys).

Although I am trying to be good on not buying crafting magazines, whenever we stop by Barnes & Noble for a book and magazine browse, I peek at the latest issue of Stuffed Magazine: The Crafting of Softies, published by Stampington & Company.

Like the other high end crafting magazines, it costs $14.99 an issue, and I could not really justify bringing an issue home with me. Especially when I have other crafting magazines filled with many patterns and inspirations waiting for me!

Until today…

Monday is my day off, and I took a car trunkful of donations (from cleaning out my crafting supplies – see my posts on “Craft Room Archaeology”) to the Humane Society Thrift Store.

I had in my purse a “$5 off a $15 or more purchase” at the Humane Thrift Store coupon, so after turning in my donation, and noticing that all books and magazines were 50% off, I thought I would just stop in for a quick wander.

Guess what I found?

I found 9 issues of Stuffed Magazine, in excellent condition, for $3 each (instead of $14.99). With the 50% off sale on books and magazines, I only paid $1.50 per issue. I also picked up a knitting book, Yarn Play, and a $1 brand new container of Mod Podge (yes I opened it up and made sure it was still usable).

I know what you are thinking….

“Tierney, didn’t we just read a whole series of posts about you getting rid of stuff in your home…and this whole minimalism thing you are embracing?”

Yup. But, but, but – I could not pass this deal by…

Also, I am thinking of it as a “rental“. When I am done with the Stuffed Magazines, I will donate them back to the Humane Society Thrift Shop! For now, I am going to put on the kettle for a HUGE pot of tea for this stack of magazines!

Sharing

Do you ever feel like the Universe is having you hold onto something for someone else?

A couple weeks ago, I clipped the Humane Society Thrift Shop “$5 off a purchase of $15 or more” coupon and stuck it in my purse with no plans to go shopping with it. It just seemed like a good idea to keep it handy.

Today’s impulse wander at Humane Society Thrift Shop led to a $16 purchase but I did not use the coupon. Instead I gave it to the woman at the counter/line next to me, who had 4 young kids with her and was struggling to decide if she could get all her thrift shop purchases.

She had a stack of books for her kids (obviously taking advantage of the 50% off sale) and a couple of kitchen items. She was having the clerk tally the items several times to see what she could get and what she needed to put back/leave at the shop. I handed her my coupon, with the excuse that it was about to expire and I did not need it. She was quite pleased and exclaimed: “Now, I can get everything, thanks!”

I felt like the Universe had me put that coupon in my purse for her.

A Crafter's Life

Recycled Plastic Bags…Become a Bag!

March 17, 2017March 18, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Yesterday a friend surprised me with a gift – a large sturdy tote bag made from recycled grocery store plastic bags by a very talented crafter friend of hers!

It measures approximately 18″ x 12″ x 18″ and appears to be made using a crochet technique. Here is a photo of the bottom and if you crochet the pattern might look familiar:

Just how study is it? Well you can transport a Pom-Chi in it!

Imagine how many plastic bags get recycled to make this bag!

The friend who gave it to me (who also recently adopted the senior Pomeranian-Chihuaha, Chewy) mentioned that her friend who makes these has a huge ball of plastic grocery bag twine in her studio. The artist first makes plastic bags into twine/plastic yarn before crocheting (?) them into bags. She also makes mats/rugs from recycled grocery bags.

I am very excited about my new bag!

How awesome to go from this:

To this*:

*Adorable dog in a cute sweater not included.

A Crafter Needs to Eat, A Crafter's Life, Books, Music, Podcasts, Library Adventures

Diving into a quilt (and other stuff)

January 10, 2017January 27, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It is time to get back to some quilt making, since allegedly I am a quilter, and this a blog about a Quilter’s Life (which would imply there would eventually be some quilt-making involved).

I tried to start the quilt (Tango Stripe) I mentioned in the post Quilt Seating! but as I mentioned in the post Not working on what I’m supposed to be working on, I abandoned it for knitting a hat.

Never started…

However sitting around reading and browsing books from my latest library stack (see post The Library Stack) and being the ADHD creative person I am, I found a quilt pattern in the book Perfect Quilts for Precut Fabrics by That Patchwork Place, that I had to make IMMEDIATELY!

It is a fairly simple “half square triangles” (HSTs) quilt pattern called “Happy Ending”, designed by Lesley Chaisson. I have a couple bolts of Peppered Cotton (shot cottons) in various colors and a crazy amount of Moda charm packs. I thought this pattern and quilt would be the perfect marriage between a deep blue (ink) Peppered Cotton and a couple Moda Basic Grey line charm packs. You need like 7 yards of the solid so this is a great way to use up a bolt that I have too much of (originally I was selling it on my tierneycreates Etsy shop).

I have completed most of the cutting and Terry the Quilting Husband has drawn the diagonal lines on the back of the printed charm squares for us to make the HSTs. So the next step is to actually sit in front of my sewing machine and sew! (so that’s how quilts are made…)

And what about the hat I was working on? It is done and I wore it for the first time yesterday on a dog walk in the land of “Snowmageddon” (it is still snowing and snowing and snowing in Central Oregon).

(And yes I did wear the hat around the house for 1/2 hour with the double pointed needles on top mentioned in my prior post – I get so excited when a hat is nearly done – I get a “knitting high”)

I am tempted to start another hat but first I better actually finish a quilt top…

Postscript

So what else have I been doing during “Snowmageddon” – reading and cooking.

I am reading Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and I am completely sucked into the convoluted tale. I even stayed up too late one night reading. It is one of those books where I think the actual paper book is better than the audiobook. I gave up on the audiobook earlier this year and I am so glad I gave it another try in paper.

I am also listening to an audiobook when I walk the dogs in Snowmageddon – Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick. The book is delightful and narrated by the author. I did not know she was a child actor and I am enjoying her stories from her childhood and the less than glamorous world of childhood acting. She is a great narrator and I feel like she is talking to me telling me her story.

As far as cooking, I have been persuing Pinterest for soup recipes and found a delicious vegetable soup recipe on the Cooking Classy blog – Vegetable Soup. It says it serves 7 but I think they left the “0” off after the “7”. It made SO MUCH SOUP.

I froze several large bags of soup and I have a couple containers in the fridge for lunch this week (and next week, and the next week..)

2017-01-09_19-40-38_616

Finally, let me leave you with this image that a friend shared. I do not know the original source, so unfortunately I have no credit for the photo/meme. It does capture how we are feeling right now in Central Oregon with the nonstop snow:

2017-01-10_08-57-15_000

Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer now has her own blog schnauzersnips.wordpress.com.

You can sign up to follow her blog at schnauzersnips.wordpress.com/blog/

A Crafter's Life, Knit and Crochet Away!

Not working on what I’m supposed to be working on

January 7, 2017August 16, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

My Intentions

Well here’s what I’m supposed to be working on today:

Reality

Here’s what I’m actually working on today:

It’s so cold and snowy today all I want to do is sit around under a quilt and knit.

I am almost to my favorite part of knitting a hat – switching to the double pointed needles. I love finishing off the top part of a hat – it’s kind of challenging but fun! (Plus I like being silly and walking around the house with my nearly completed hat and double pointed needles sticking out of the top – ha!)

Well back to watching the snow fall outside my front window…

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Postscript

Reminder – Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer now has her own blog schnauzersnips.wordpress.com.

You can sign up to follow her blog at schnauzersnips.wordpress.com/blog/

A Crafter's Life

The New Schnauzer Snips Blog is Live

January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Sassy, the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer, and I are happy to announce that her new Schnauzer Snips blog is up and running.

I helped her (as it would have taken forever with her paws to do all that computer work) transfer the three years of her musing from the from the tierneycreates Schnauzer Snips page to her new blog at: schnauzersnips.wordpress.com

She would love to have you follow her if you want to keep up on the musings of a highly opinionated miniature schnauzer!

A Crafter's Life, Special Events

New Years Blog Party 🎉

January 1, 2017May 24, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Something fun for New Years Day if you like – a Blog Party – from bernbakes.wordpress.com

A Crafter's Life

Happy Schnolidays!

December 24, 2016December 24, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Perhaps this post reveals the depth of our pathology related to our obsession with schnauzers (and dogs in general)…

For the past 25 years we have adopted rescued miniature schnauzers and for the past 25 years we have collected schnauzer and dog themed Christmas ornaments. Some were given as gifts (from friends supporting our obsession) and some we purchased (okay most of them) on our own.

Every year, right after Thanksgiving, we delight in pulling out our collection of schnauzer and dog themed decorations and trimming our tree.

Eight or so years ago, instead of “Happy Holidays” we started saying as a joke to people who knew us (and our obsession) – “Happy Schnolidays!”. Occasionally I get inspired to make my own holiday cards and they are always “Schnolidays” themed – several times featuring our miniature schnauzers dressed up for the holidays (against their will).

Well I want to wish you all a very HAPPY SCHNOLIDAYS – even if you do not have schnauzers (or dogs) – to us “Schnolidays” means the the Holidays + Fun & Laughter!

One of our favorite new ornaments in our collection is a reindeer-schnauzer! It makes us laugh everything we look at it:

Of course here are actual real live miniature schnauzers, in their festive attire (Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer and her adopted brother Mike):

A Crafter's Life, Independent bookstores, Quality of Life

Independent Bookstores (wonderful & magical places)

December 23, 2016January 30, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I won’t pretend I do not shop on Amazon.com for book deals or that I do not go to our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, but today I was reminded just how wonderful and magical Independent Bookstores are to have in one’s community. I plan to spend more time at indie bookshops!

Today we went for a wander around and hot beverage at downtown Bend’s Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

As the sign upstairs at Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe reads:

Independent Bookstores are wonderful & magical places because each book will have been hand selected, you know all of them are jewels just waiting to be discovered…

Come wander the shop with us for a moment…

Downstairs, where you enter Dudley’s bookshop and immediately think – “well this would be a fine place to nest for awhile”:

People were nesting – they have WiFi and some were on their laptops and some were sipping their hot beverages and reading a book (or previewing a book!).

Among the shelves of books are fun things and objects to look at, including this wickedly funny sign:

Now head upstairs (carefully carry your mug of hot beverage with you!) and check out the painted stairs celebrating books:

(I love the step that reads: “Fifty Shades of Dudley’s)

At the top of the landing you will find a shelf of books (in case it was too long a journey to go without being able to browse any books from the bottom of the stairs to the top).

Now, turn the corner…and…WOW: Here is the cozy reading nook you might have searched for while browsing any bookstore (and maybe dreamed about in your own home):

The secret OCD person inside of me wanted to go and fix the left side of the curtain, but I was here to browse books, not adjust decor so I left it alone – ha!

After walking by the cozy reading nook, you come upon the upstairs room with more books to browse – how about a Art/Film/Music book to add to your collection?

Even the bathroom was delightful and had this great poster called A Plotting of Fiction Genres:

I will close this post with a Neil Gaiman quote, which is also on the Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe website, from his wonderful and magical book American Gods:

What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore it knows it’s not fooling a soul. – Neil Gaiman

A Crafter's Life

Our Beautiful Central Oregon Winter

December 19, 2016December 19, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Technically it is not Winter yet. Not until Wednesday Dec 21, but we like to start things early in Central Oregon!

We’ve had over a foot (or two) of fluffy snow so far; and when we have one of our many sunny days with the endless impossibly blue sky, the snow looks very pretty.

Last week, after a huge snow storm, I shared photos with my coworkers at my pay-the-bills-job. I am fortunate to be a telecommuter and my coworkers also telecommute, most from warmer climes such as Seattle and Portland (yes I say that with jest as it has been fairly cold, icy and even snowy in those areas).

One of my coworkers asked about our snow in Central Oregon so I sent her and my other coworkers photos of the snow around my neighborhood. At first I was going to share those in this blog post, but those photos are BORING compared to the recent photos my friend Jenny took of our beloved Mt. Bachelor skiing area.

Photos from the Mountain

My friend Jenny went snowboarding last week and took photos from her run at the top of the mountain. She was kind enough to give me permission to share them with you:

Now that is SNOW! I think this photos are worthy of a future art quilt inspiration (oh darn, I could have made this post part of my ongoing series “Creative Inspiration“. I might someday recycle these photos on a future post about creative inspiration…

Snowshoeing in Central Oregon

I am so lucky to live a short drive from one of the largest ski resorts in the country, Mt. Bachelor. I might be making this up but I remember hearing recently that it is the 5th largest in the country.

So you are thinking – wow, Tierney, you must ski all the time.

Nope. I grew up in NY and when I was in nursing school, I went with my roommates on my first ski trip to Vermont. I discovered that I was a terrible and highly uncoordinated skier. I have no place on snow skis…ever.

I did however eventually learn to cross-country ski. However, I did not particularly like it. What I discovered I liked, and so does Terry the Quilting husband, is to go snowshoeing!

I remember when we first moved from Seattle to Central Oregon and we went snow shoeing here for the first time. We had been snowshoeing several times in Washington State in places like Snow Parks and the Snoqualmie Nordic Center, so we thought we were comfortable snowshoeing.

So we scheduled a guided snowshoeing trip our first winter in Central Oregon with Bend Parks & Recreation as we thought that would be the best way to first experience snowshoeing in a new area.

As we boarded the Bend Parks & Recreation van to take us to a day of snowshoeing at one of the Sisters Mountain, we noticed we were the youngest people getting into the van. Everyone else, except for our guide, was a Senior Citizen. We thought, wow, we hope we do have to snowshoe too slowly with this group (fearing our day would be slow and boring).

No. We were the slow ones on the mountain. As I shared in the 04/25/16 post Monday Again, about my continuing adventures hiking up Pilot Butte, Central Oregon has some seriously fit Seniors here!

There was one woman, who said she was in her 80s and was originally from Switzerland, who was especially “dusting” us. We could not begin to keep up with her pace – all I could see in the distance was this tiny woman powering along with her snowshoes and her poles. (I like to think it was because she grew up in Switzerland and maybe she lived on top of a mountain and had to snowshoe to school everyday…)

ry=400.jpeg — These are my old snowshoes, at the end of last season I did get some new ones which I will use this season!

This was my first exposure to how fit people are here. My goal of course is when I am a Senior, that I am going to be very fit like the role models around me!

(Just a side note/excuse for our lack of initial fitnesses – we did move from Seattle, which was at sea level to Central Oregon which is on average at 3000 – 3500 feet above sea level elevation just at the ground level when you walk around town!)

Postscript

I know, I know, this blog is called “tierneycreates” and if you are a crafter reading this you are probably wondering: “where is all the ‘creating'”. Well it is going on, I just cannot show a photo of it yet. I just finished a gift quilt and I am shipping it off to the person today and did not want photos of it on the blog until the person received it (that would take the surprise out of it!)

I did recently add to the right side of my blog a listing of and link to the websites of Central Oregon Quilt Shops, just to prove I really am a quilter (even if my blog does not show this lately) and to support the wonderful quilt shops in my area!

A Crafter's Life

T-shirt Quilts

December 18, 2016September 15, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Have you made a T-shirt quilt? They are a great way to recycle old T-shirts.

Our Collection

I realized yesterday that we have three (3) T-shirt Quilts in our home:

A king-size T-shirt quilt made from 49 of Terry the Quilting Husband’s old t-shirts and a couple of mine. It is super warm (it has flannel shirt flannel fabric on back) so we use it in the winter:

Terry Birthday T-Shirt Quilt, pieced by Tierney Hogan, quilted by Guadalupe Designs

A lap-size T-shirt quilt made from our collection of Schnauzer-themed t-shirts (and yes many of the t-shirts below were worn by Terry – he is a man who unabashedly loves dogs!). We have it as a wall-hanging in our bedroom:

Schnauzer T-shirt Quilt, pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Guadalupe Designs

Several of the schnauzer T-shirts are from when we used to attend the annual “Schnauzer Walk” in Portland Oregon, which we fondly call “Schnauzer Fest” as a huge group of miniature, standard and giant schnauzers take over one of the parks in the Portland area for a day!

A T-shirt quilt made from our collection of microbrewery themed T-shirts (primarily Terry’s except for the “Central Oregon Beer Angels” one). Terry keeps this one in his sewing studio/guest room area:

Microbrew Aficionado T-shirt, pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Guadalupe Designs

Resources

The two books I own that I use as resources on T-shirt quilts are Memory Quilts: Using T-Shirts, Autographs, and photos by Meredith Corporation (2007); and T-Shirt Quilts Made Easy by Martha Deleonardis (2012)

Photo credit: Amazon.com

Postscript

We have a stash of more T-shirts to make eventually into another quilt. I love the idea of T-shirt quilts and the recycling of old T-shirts.

When my father passed, I made my brother and sister each a T-shirt quilt of his old T-shirts (our father loved his collection of humorous T-shirts, I got my quirky sense of humor from my Dad). Now my brother and sister have a piece/memory of my Dad to wrap around them!

Terry the Quilting Husband, also has a very quirky sense of humor. One of his favorite t-shirts, which I incorporated into the king-size bed quilt, is from when we lived in Texas from the late 1980s to late 1990s. The humor in Terry wearing this t-shirt is that we are originally from NY and except for NE England, you can’t get more “Yankee” than that!

A Crafter's Life

Because Nice Matters (re-post)

December 15, 2016December 15, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Re-posting today a selection from the tierneycreates Archives – a post from September 2015.

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s SchnauzerSnips page for announcement!

I’ve had this sign on my wall for a couple years, discovered at a long forgotten gift or thrift shop or maybe a garage sale: Because Nice Matters.

Nice does matter. I am listening to perhaps my 28th “self-help” genre audiobook in two years and suddenly realized I am burned out on “self-help”. Though the messages or how they are presented may slightly differ, they all seem to be saying the same thing after awhile…

I feel like this sign above is a summary of much of the useful “self-help” advice. Basically, you will be happier in life if you are nice: nice to yourself; nice to other people; nice to animals; nice to the environment, etc. It’s simple: just be nice.

Because nice matters.

Postscript

Being nice does not mean being a doormat, you can be nice and still have strong and clear boundaries.

Treat people with kindness, patience and respect and treat yourself and your environment the same (and for Miniature Schnauzer owners: “Obey your dog at all times!”).

A Crafter's Life, Books, Music, Podcasts, tierneycreates

And the winner is…

December 12, 2016January 2, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As promised, today I will reveal my decision on which of three new business card finalists I was considering; and asked for your votes on in the post New Business Card Options (please vote for your favorite).

The Options

To recap, there were the three options:

Option #1

screen-shot-2016-12-08-at-5-41-37-pm

Option #2

screen-shot-2016-12-08-at-5-43-23-pm

Option #3

screen-shot-2016-12-08-at-5-44-16-pm

The Poll Results

Here are the results from the poll:

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As you can see above, with 16 votes of the 28 total votes, Option #1 was the winner of the poll.

The Decision

Option #1 won the poll, but alas, it was not the winner of my heart. As much as I loved the graphics on card #1 it kept feeling like that business card for a tailor or seamstress.

I so appreciated all the comments and votes, but I really connected with several comments in regards to Option #3 and decided to go with the vertical business card.

I am only ordering the smallest order (100 cards) as I love the idea from several comments to eventually go with a business card that features my art.

2017 I am going to focus on creating more of my textile art so I have a large selection of works to choose from someday – ha!

Postscript

I am currently listening to the audiobook Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck (2006).

Although some of the material seems dated (the book was published in 2006), I am really enjoying the audiobook. A lot of it reminds me of the audiobook, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016) that I discussed in several posts, most recently in the 7/22/2016 post A “Gritty Bad#ss”?

51ixemn3mhl-_sx322_bo1204203200_ — Photo credit: Amazon.com

The book focuses on a discussion of the “Fixed Mindset” vs. the “Growth Mindset”.

I am about a 1/3rd way through listening to the audiobook and I came across a great quote by the author on how some people need to feel praised, “worshipped”, and admired by others:

If you feel a need to be surrounded by worshippers, go to church. – Carol S. Dweck

I must admit at times in my life I sought praise from others, a lot. I cannot change how I behaved in the past but it is giving me a lot to think about for the future!

Feature photo credit: dchappel, free images.com

Postscript (12/02/17)

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AT THE CORNER OF JOY (AND SOME OTHER STREET)

Repost from June 2016

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The Golden Hour and Soft Diffused Light

I would appreciate your ideas!

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The Teen Years Weeks

Young Adult “Tierney the Chicken”

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My Impulse Buy

What I did not buy

What I tried to convince my friend to buy

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Softies

Sharing

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My Intentions

Reality

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Something fun for New Years Day if you like – a Blog Party – from bernbakes.wordpress.com

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Photos from the Mountain

Snowshoeing in Central Oregon

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Our Collection

Resources

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The Options

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

The Poll Results

The Decision

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