Tierney is on vacation and she’ll tell you about her trip when she gets back. So I am going to step in and be the guest blogger so she does not go too long without having a new post on her blog (I know, I know, I am so awesome for helping her!).

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

A photo from last year of me writing a guest blog post

When I am not guest blogger posting, then Mike the Miniature Schnauzer has to guest blog post:

Someone else Tierney uses to do her work: Mike reviewing the draft of his guest post before posting…

Oh and now the subject of this post (which is not to just show how Tierney falls of the blogging wagon and we have to rescue her…) – I wanted to show you the recent updates to my home, which is also Tierney’s crafting studio.

Tierney’s partner John (human John, not to be confused with my Beastie fiancé “John Beastie”, see post Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom) has been busy in his Woodshop making things for her studio.

MY NEW “HIGH RISE“

Human John built Tierney a storage unit for her fat quarter collection and fabric scraps which she keeps in wine crates:

My dog Mikelet and I live on the “second floor”:

IRONING (AND CUTTING) TABLE

Human John also built Tierney a table with shelves for her new large iron board he made her (see post “From the Cutting Table”: Update to tierneycreates Studio (Guest Blogger)) a couple months ago. She stores her rulers in there as well as miscellaneous sewing supplies:

She’s also been known to store a Miniature Schnauzer in there:

THE TABLE

Last year from her local community board for free stuff, Tierney picked up a large black table to use for crafting. It was scuffed up but it worked:

Tierney was “making-do” with the table and covered up the scuffs with an old table cloth but John wanted her to have a decent looking table in her studio so he created a new tabletop for it! John created a pattern with wood like a “nine-patch” quilting block.

A month ago Tierney bought herself a used Juki sewing machine which is in the image above.

Alas, she did not buy ME another sewing machine, I have to just be happy with my Beastnina:

So those are the changes to my home, the tierneycreates studio!

Tierney will be back on the next post telling you about her trip and she might even catch up with reading her blogging buddies posts and responding to comments.

Until then, here is a sign she saw a couple months ago to give you some inspiration:

Bags Bags Bags, Beastie Adventures

More Adventures in Bag Making

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

If you read Monday’s post Zip Zip Zippers!, you saw that I now have a lot of zippers for bag making thanks to my generous friend Wendy.

Well I used one of those zippers to make another bag from a pattern by The Netherlands based designer s.o.t.a.k. handmade – Boxy Tool Pouch.

The pattern comes in three sizes and I made the medium sized one:

The fabric is a printed in Japan canvas which I bought years ago because it had a schnauzer in the print:

However I accidentally cut out the schnauzer while making the bag! (Don’t tell Mike my Miniature Schnauzer, ha!)

Here are my supplies to make the bag (minus the ribbon tape I discovered I needed for the side tabs later while working through the pattern):

Here is her YouTube video on making the pouch:

Here are some photos from my bag making process:

In the first of the images above you will see that I am pressing on a sleeve board, which I recently bought online after seeing the pattern designer Svetlana Sotak use it in several of her YouTube videos she has on bag making. It’s one of those things I never knew I needed until I got it!

Here are images of my completed boxy tool pouch:

It did not come out perfect but I was pretty pleased. At least it was not a “Misadventure in Bag Making” (see post Misadventures in Bag Making).

So what to do with the completed pouch?

Well tierneycreates Beastie changed from her Winter wear of her sweater, hat and scarf:

To her Spring wear of her t-shirt:

So I needed a place to store her clothes as well as her accessories:

And now her accoutrements are easily accessible on my bookshelf in my studio!

Next post the tierneycreates Beastie will guest blogger post and tell you about her latest accommodations in my studio as well as some other changes (“Mr. Woodworker” has been busy!)

An awesome find I discovered during a recent thrift shopping adventure and immediately put up on my studio wall!

Beastie Adventures, Blogging Awards

Outstanding Blogger Award (and snow)

March 14, 2021March 15, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Tierney here, writing to you from the “Snowpocalypse” in Colorado, buried under quite a bit of snow.

“It so bad their (snow) plows are getting stuck or tipping on to their side…”

Any of my blogging friends live in Florida or anywhere warm? May I move in with you?

I’ve spent the weekend inside working on a new quilt, which I will share in a future post. For this post I wanted to thanks Helen @crawcraftsbeasties for nominating me for the Outstanding Blogger Award, get the questions answered that come with the nomination, and throw a couple nominations out there myself.

Helen the maker of Beasties, like my tierneycreates Beastie, had her Beasties Paddy and Plunkett answer the questions for her Outstanding Blogger Award nomination and so I thought I would let my tierneycreates Beastie answer the questions for me.

Outstanding (Beastie) Blogger Award

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

Right now I am holed up in the house with Tierney during our “Snowpocalypse” in Colorado. I did go outside today to look around and here is what I saw:

Snow, snow and more snow. I had Tierney take a photo of me on the front porch as I nearly froze to death (I kept my dog Mikelet inside as it was way too cold for him):

I think it is appropriate for Tierney to let me handle the questions for the Outstanding (Beastie) Blogger Award nomination since I am sure it is my guest blogger posts on her blog that got her this nomination. Thanks to my maker, Helen @crawcraftsbeasties for recognizing my excellence as a Beastie blogger!

My answers to the questions Helen posed:

Coffee or tea? (Or no hot beverages at all?) TEA OF COURSE, ALWAYS TEA.
Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why? TIERNEY WANTS TO GO TO NEW ZEALAND, BUT I WANT TO GO TO IRELAND AND SEE WHERE I WAS BORN/MADE AGAIN
What is the most delicious meal you’ve ever eaten, and where did you have it? THE PLATE OF SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS MADE BY MY FIANCE JOHN BEASTIE (see post Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom).

What have you made that you’re most proud of, and why? I AM STILL LEARNING TO SEW ON MY NEW “BEASTNINA” THAT HELEN MADE ME, BUT I THINK TIERNEY IS PRETTY PROUD OF THE QUILT SHE DISCUSSES IN THIS POST – The Lesson and The Equation.

What’s your plan for today? STAY WARM AND NOT GO OUTSIDE AGAIN UNTIL THE SNOW MELTS!

Speaking of staying warm, when Tierney helped me back inside after I nearly froze to death in the blizzard. However when she helped me back to my new home on the storage unit in her studio (more in a future post), she neglected to remove the snow from my shoes!

Luckily I caught her as she was leaving the studio so she could help me remove the snow and I would not get frostbite!

Nominations & Questions

As part of being nominated for the Outstanding Blogger Award, Tierney and I need to nominate some other bloggers for this award and pose some questions to them. Helen @crawcraftsbeasties in her post Outstanding Blogger Award, already nominated a bunch of our mutual blogging buddies such as: Handmade Habit, Tammie Painter, Fabrications,and Quiet Water Craft (and I see that Mariss @Fabrications also nominated some additional mutual blogging buddies), so here are our nominations trying not to overlap:

If you choose to participate, here are a couple of questions for you to answer:

What has blogging added to your life?
Share the link for one of your favorite blog posts that you have written.
If you were stuck in the house for the entire weekend due to a snowstorm, what would you do with your time?
What household chore do you most enjoy, and what do you least enjoy?
What did you learn from surviving 2020?

We’ll close this post with a picture of Mike (big Mike as opposed to Mikelet, the Beastie dog which is a “miniature” Miniature Schnauzer) who actually went out in the Snowpocalypse today and played ball in the backyard, running around in the trench/”racetrack” that human John created for him.

Here he is in a quilt, trying to get warm after being outside.

Beastie Adventures, Studio

“From the Cutting Table”: Update to tierneycreates Studio (Guest Blogger)

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It’s been a while since I guest blogged. Hi there – it’s tierneycreates Beastie and I wanted to share some changes to my home (Tierney’s studio).

I’ve titled my post “From the Cutting Table…” because my dog Mikelet and I now live on the cutting table in Tierney’s studio:

In case you are new to this blog, here is a little background on me:

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

I like the cutting table, I have plenty of room and it is not too scary like it was when Tierney had me next to all those creepy giant schnauzers (see January 2020 post Guest Blogger: What the heck is going on here?)

Can you see the look of sheer terror in my eyes??!?!

Whew, glad those days are over! Oh you might wonder what became of my fiancé John Beastie (see post Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom), well he spends most of his time in John the Human’s office downstairs. Tierney and John Human feel it is best not to let a couple of Beasties spend too much time together as mischief is certain to happen! (Just wait until we get married, they’ll never keep us apart!!!)

Here we are in July 2020 celebrating our engagement

Oh I think I am getting off track on my post…

So yes my dog Mikelet and I spend most of our time on the cutting board in Tierney’s studio and we like it, though I have to keep an eye on Mikelet because sometimes he plays in the pincushion and I think that might be dangerous.

By the way my maker Helen of CrawCrafts Beasties made me my own sewing machine so I could help Tierney sew projects and once I figure out how to use it maybe I will have a guest post about my projects instead of Tierney’s!

Now what I was I originally planning to tell you? Beasties are easy distracted. Oh yes, I wanted to tell you about a recent change to my home the tierneycreates Studio.

John, Human John not Beastie John, Tierney’s partner, recently made an ironing board table for the studio. Before the new ironing board table, Tierney was using a traditional ironing board and iron.

What started this change was for Christmas John got Tierney a cordless iron:

Perhaps you wanted to see a full image of the iron but isn’t the iron much cuter with me in front of it?!!?!?

Okay here is the iron:

Now that Tierney had cordless iron she had more flexibility on where her iron could be located, so John (again I mean Human John as Beastie John could not have handled the tools involved which are bigger than him…) built her a 2 foot by 4 foot ironing table for her studio.

First John cut a piece of plywood the same size as the table base being used (an old counter height folding table). Then John and Tierney wrapped and stapled four (4) layers onto the plywood base:

Batting
Insul-Brite heat resistant batting
Heat resistant fabric (like the type used for old ironing board covers)
Cotton fabric

Tierney is really pleased with her new ironing table and she used it while making all those tote bags she talked about in her recent post (see post Tote, Tote, Tote Bags).

So that is the big change to the studio.

Somedays I get tired of the studio and miss the days when I used to go on adventures with Tierney. The pandemic has slowed down my adventures. Tierney promises that soon we will resume our adventures, I just need to be patient.

For now Mikelet and I will wistfully stare out the studio window…

Postscript

I am going to close this guest post by sharing a secret: Tierney is sort of a slob in her studio.

Look at these mini Toblerone candy bar wrappers she left on the cutting table!

I caught Mikelet sniffing them, luckily there was no candy in them as chocolate is bad for dogs.

I hope she will be more respectful of my space and clean up her wrappers!

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom

July 24, 2020August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello! This is tierneycreates Beastie guest blogging for this post. If you are new to this blog here is my standard blurb:

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

Here I am at my latest makeshift desk writing this post for you on my Beastie laptop:

I am going to get to the news related to the title of this post, but first I need to talk about myself a bit, as that is what Beasties do.

You might notice in the photo above that I have a new dress! Well a shipment of goodies for me, likely purchased begrudgingly by the human Tierney, arrived a couple weeks ago from Dublin, Ireland, all made by my brilliant maker, Helen of CrawCrafts Beasties.

In addition to my new summer dress, there was also a scarf to match my hat I wear in the winter, a backpack, some books, Hop Monster IPA (I guess this is bottled in Dublin), and my new Beastnina Sewing Machine!!!! It looks just like Tierney’s Bernina sewing machine and now I can help her sew projects (because as slow as she is getting her projects done she obviously needs help).

Here I am hanging out in Tierney’s studio with my goodies with my dog Mikelet:

And because I know you can never tire of photos of me (and all my utter adorableness), here is a photo of me sporting my new backpack as I wait to get into Tierney’s car for our latest trip to the public library (one of our favorite places):

Inside the backpack I keep two important items: 1) my laptop; and 2) my Beastie library card!

I guess we could take a break talking about me and get to the story that connects to the title of this post: Mail Order Groom

The Mail Order Groom

Tierney now has her partner John that Mikelet (my dog), Mike (Tierney’s dog) and I live with. Well I wanted MY OWN PARTNER! So I asked Tierney to order from my maker Helen a “John Beastie”.

A couple weeks ago, along with all my goodies I shared earlier in this post, my new partner John Beastie arrived from Dublin, Ireland!

As I like to have as much the same as Tierney, I asked that John Beastie be a chef like human John (that is why he has on an apron just like the one John wears), and that he enjoys playing poker with his friends as one of his hobbies just like human John. So John Beastie came with a winning poker hand and chips (and his trusty cell phone). Additionally human John enjoys Bourbon and Whiskey tasting and loves to make homemade pasta so included with John Beastie is a bottle of Monsters Mark!

Tierney does not always take the best photos (and my paws are too small to handle taking photos with her smartphone so I have to leave it up to her) but what you cannot tell in the first photos of John Beastie, is he has a Colorado Avalanche Hockey team Bigfoot logo cap on his head:

This is human John’s favorite cap (he wears a lot of caps as his hair is missing, not sure where he left it…) and is a classic team logo cap/hat that is no longer sold by Colorado’s hockey team.

Here is human John with his cap that human Tierney suspects has grown into his scalp because he wears it so much!

My dog Mikelet (named after Tierney’s Miniature Schnauzer, Mike) took immediately to John Beastie just like real Mike is totally in love with human John.

Before I knew it, without asking, John Beastie was taking Mikelet for walks!

I am not sure why John Beastie is wearing his apron for walking Mikelet but he seems to like to always be ready to start cooking!

Since my dog really likes him, I decided to go ahead and accept John Beastie’s proposal (like Tierney did human John a couple months ago) for marriage. Luckily John Beastie arrived with two engagement rings.

Here we are – a happy family of Beasties!

Oh and if you’d like to see actual decent high quality photos of John Beastie, etc., check out our maker’s recent blog posts:

Monster Engagement Celebrations

Beastie Accessory Bonanza

Postscript

Tierney did not previously mention it on her blog but she did actually get engaged to human John earlier this year. Like John Beastie and me, they have no wedding date planned in the near future, they are just enjoying being engaged.

Human John proposed on the stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. As it was winter, there we no concerts planned and the public was allowed to wander around the natural amphitheater and go to the stage (where many famous acts have played over the years).

I asked Tierney to share a couple photos with you from that day to close out this post (unfortunately she left me at home, but she did bring her dog Mike).

Postscript Postscript

We’ve put Mikelet to bed and now John Beastie and I are off to enjoy our bottles of Hop Monster…

Beastie Adventures, The Library Stack

Beastie goes to the library (and gets a Library Stack)

July 5, 2020July 7, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It was as if the gates of Heaven opened and I could hear the angels singing: Last week a neighboring library system (the one I’ve started getting books via curbside pick up from a couple weeks ago, see post The Library Stack Is Back!), OPENED ITS DOOR TO THE PUBLIC!!!

So the tierneycreates Beastie and I headed to the library to frolic among the stacks! (We did not bring tierneycreates Beastie’s dog Mikelet since only Service Dogs are allowed in libraries…even though he is very small and I likely could have hid him in my pocket…)

After chatting with the library front desk staff and introducing them to the tierneycreates Beastie and showing them her library card* (see post Beastie Outing to the Library), we headed upstairs to browse our favorite Dewey Decimal System section 700 (Arts & Recreation)!

*tierneycreates Beastie with her very own Library Card

Once again, like the other time I took my Beastie to the library, she insisted on trying to navigate the library stairs herself:

But she was not getting anywhere very fast so she agreed I could just carry her upstairs to the magical 700 section of the library.

Once we got upstairs, I let her do her own browsing and she eventually found her way to the knitting book section as she is always trying to learn more about how she was made in Dublin by her maker Helen@Crawcraftbeasties.

Beasties are sort of vain and she kept asking me to take her photo among various stacks of craft books. Here is a photo she did not want you to see but I told her I was going to share it anyway so you can see sometimes even Beasties take bad photos:

While I was browsing (note – this was the first time I’ve been inside this library as I joined this neighboring library system when they started curbside pick up a couple weeks ago since my local library is still completely closed) in section 700, I noticed this sign:

I was like “whaaaaaaaaaaaat?” I love Interior Decorating/Design books and this library has their own “Interior Design Nooks?!??! (insert sounds of more angels singing). So I wandered over there while the tierneycreates Beastie continued to browse through the knitting section.

The nook is both sides of this freestanding section and a built in bookshelf!

Unfortunately my arms were overloading with browsings from the other 700 sections and I could only select a couple books from this section to borrow (but I will be back!!!)

Here is the resulting Library Stack from our visit (or frolic among the library stacks):

tierneycreates Beastie just mentioned to me that since I was “keeping it real” by showing a photo of her earlier in this post with disheveled hair, I need to show you all what the Library Stack really looks like when I first get it home before I put it in a nice order:

Beasties keep you honest!

Beastie Adventures, Studio

Tweaks to the Tierneycreates Studio

June 11, 2020June 17, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I love Crafter’s/Artist’s Studio tours! I love to see where people create. If I happen upon a studio tour blog post then it’s time to get a cup of tea and settle back and enjoy!

I have a couple books in my collection of studio tours/ideas and I occasionally pick up the latest issue of the magazine – Where Women Create.

So I thought I’d share an update to the post Guest Blogger: tierneycreates’ “New” Studio Tour, and share some photos of the latest version of my tierneycreates studio (aka back bedroom) in case you like studio tours as much as I do!

The Studio Needed An Official Name

I decided to name it “Tierney’s Woman Cave”!

New Layout

I changed the layout of the table I have on risers that serves as my cutting table. This is the table I got for free from my community’s for sale/for free online boards.

Before:

After (gave the Eurolounger next to the window to the pre-teen next door for her room remodel):

I had a feeling when I first re-did my studio after moving back into it after we decided in the early COVID days not to sell the house and to stay put (see post Perspective), that I would make tweaks to the layout as I used the studio and got a sense of what worked and what could be better.

I shifted the iron board and re-did the area on top of the bookcases in the room. I also added in additional storage drawers in the cubby bookcases.

New Closet

One of the biggest changes is that my partner John removed the original wire shelf and built me nice shelves in the closet. Previously I had the original wire shelf where clothes would have hung with hanging wire shelves added.

Before:
After:

I love my new closet and had so much fun organizing it!

Tierneycreates Beastie’s New Home

I relocated the Tierneycreates Beastie from a basket to the top of a bookcase next to a delicious basket of fabric string scraps (well delicious to me):

Project That is Sort of In Progress

I am will share more on this project in a future post in my series What’s on the Design Wall, but one of my quilting friends gave me a project she decided to give up on after taking a class. Right now I am sorting out the pieces she has sewn together, the pieces she has cut out, the leftover fabric, the pattern and the templates.

I am also still working on machine quilting my piece All the Trimmings which I last discussed in the post Update on “All the Trimmings”. I had to take it off my sewing machine to roll the section I completed quilting to make room in the machine:

I am really enjoying my Tierney’s Woman Cave, it is my “happy place”!

Postscript

A quick follow up to the post Proud of My Maker (Guest Blogger Post) in which the guest blogger, Tierneycreates Beastie mentions that I lost her t-shirt during packing for my move that did not happen.

Well her t-shirt has been found!

Turns out I had shoved it into this antique box when I was packing up:

I originally put the box in my cubby bookcase without even checking the contents, but took a closer look the other day.

So now she has her t-shirt for the warmer weather instead of having to wear her sweater all the time!

Audiobooks and Podcasts, Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Proud of My Maker (Guest Blogger Post)

May 24, 2020August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Tierney is busy catching up on the backlog of posts she wants to read by her blogging buddies around the world, so I am guest posting so she does not continue to fall so behind in blogging!

Once again I am sitting at my makeshift desk, typing on my laptop:

Oh I should introduce myself in case you are new to this blog, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (i.e. when Tierney fell off the blogging-wagon) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.

I am originally from Dublin, Ireland and I was made by Helen Crawford of CrawCrafts Beasties. Well the other day, Tierney and I listened to a podcast with an interview with my Maker – From The Maker To The Made, EP.18 Helen Crawford.

The link above is for the platform Spotify but you can also listen to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts, like on Apple Podcasts on your iPhone.

Here I am listening to the podcast on Tierney’s iPhone with her and my dog Mikelet:

The podcast was amazing and I got to hear my Maker’s voice! It was a brilliant interview and I enjoyed learning how Helen got into making Beasties like me. All I can say is I am so glad she did not become a “management consultant” after she finished university.

Oh now you might be wondering why at the end of May I am wearing the lovely Aran sweater that Helen knitted me and not my much cooler T-shirt she made me like in this photo from the April 2019 post Beastie Adventures – Seattle Public Library:

Well Tierney lost my T-shirt a couple months ago when she had packed to move but then did not move (see post Perspective). She hopes my T-shirt shows up but she might have to make me a new one herself (because I am going to get very hot in this sweater when we are at full summer in Colorado!) and perhaps as Helen if she can make me another.

I know some of you might follow’s Helen’s blog – BeastieBlog, and I wanted to suggest you check out this podcast episode if you’d like to hear her lovely Irish accent and her being interviewed about her creative journey and process!

I am so proud of my Maker!

Postscript

Speaking of podcasts, now Tierney and I need to head over to Tammie Painter’s: The Book Owl Podcast and listen to the latest episode. She is another one of Tierney’s blogging buddies and she has her own Beastie that was made by Helen of CrawCrafts Beasties – Finn McSpool.

Tammie got to bring Finn back to Ireland and be reunited with his Maker Helen (and Tammie got to meet her).Tammie has a series of posts about her visit with Finn to Ireland in her blog tammiepainter.com/blog.

Tierney and I had planned to go to Scotland with friends this July pre-COVID pandemic (plans got cancelled with her traveling buddies due to the pandemic) and while she was in the UK, she was going to also visit Dublin and meet up with Helen. I am bummed this did not happen, but I know someday I will get to return to where I was born!

I am very much looking forward to touring Dublin someday as all I’ve seen of it is the inside of Helen’s studio where I was created.

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Studio

Guest Blogger: tierneycreates’ “New” Studio Tour

April 4, 2020August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As Tierney promised in her previous post Perspective, I am going to be your guest blogger for this post and give you a tour of my “new” home, which is also Tierney’s “new” studio.

2020-04-01_10-56-08_365 — Mikelet and I in our cozy basket where we hang out in the “new” studio

But first, in case you are new to this blog, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (i.e. when Tierney fell off the blogging-wagon) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.

Here is what my dog Mikelet and I look like outside our basket (before we were homebound…):

We were created by the very, very, very talented Helen of Crawcrafts Beasties in Dublin, Ireland.

Here I am working from my makeshift desk to bring you this guest blog post:

Well enough about me (even though I am very interesting) and let’s get to the tour of Tierney’s “new” studio.

Oh – first I should address why I keep putting the word “new” in quotes. It’s because, as she shared in her previous post, she did not move into the new house she and John were going to buy. Instead they decided to stay at their current house which was pretty much completely packed up except for basic items to stage the house for sale and to live day to day. Her studio had been painted and converted into a bedroom:

So when they decided not to buy the new house/not to move, Tierney had to unpack her studio and in unpacking her studio, she decided to reimagine the layout.

So she has sort of created a “new” studio!

tierneycreates Studio Tour

Tierney decided to first bring in the IKEA bookcases she had previously in her home office (she has been a full-time telecommuter for the past 14 years, before I was even a ball of yarn…). From there she figured out with her partner John on the best way to layout the room.

Over the next several days she unpacked her boxes (which seemed like they would never end), hung up some art and quilts on the studio wall and found a place for the large design wall her partner John built her.

Here are photos of the completed studio from various angles:

So Tierney is ready to create (she can be tierneycreates again) in her new studio! She is so happy to have her sewing machine unpacked!

She did start making some masks with a filter pocket opening out of recycled oxford shirts yesterday (easy pattern is at www.madeeveryday.com/fabric-face-mask-free-pattern/) .

But she is hoping to start sewing a bit more fun things in the near future than masks…

Oh and I forgot to mention, Tierney did make sure that Mikelet and I have a very prominent and cozy spot in her “new” studio:

Which of course should have been her first priority from the beginning of setting up her studio!

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger: What the heck is going on here?

January 8, 2020August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It is time for a Guest Blogger entry by a brilliant, adorable and talented guest blogger (me, me, me!).

In case you are new to this blog, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (i.e. when Tierney fell off the blogging-wagon) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.

2018-10-28_20-09-55_029 — My dog Mikelet might be made of felted wool but he is very affectionate

In my previous brilliant Guest Blogger post (by the way, Beasties are brilliant and you can check out more of my kind at the website of our maker in Ireland – CrawCrafts Beasties/Beastie HQ) Beastie Guest Blogger: Checking in on her progress, I shared that Mikelet and I had a cozy new area of Tierney’s new studio:

Well it is all GONE! The studio is gone and our cozy spot is gone!!!!

Tierney and her partner are getting ready to sell his house and buy their own house, and they have to do something stupid called “staging the house for sale”.

That means that her whole studio got packed up and put away, and they are painting over the beautiful turquoise color in the room to make it a boring neutral color like the rest of the house (humans are so silly!).

I am highly irritated over this (and Mikelet is none too happy either) and what has made it even worse is that Mikelet and I were relocated to Tierney’s home office to hang out with her creepy collection of giant stuffed animal schnauzers (well they are giant compared to Mikelet and me):

Mikelet and I are kind of disturbed by the giant schnauzer head we are pushed up against as well as the super creepy schnauzer hanging over the basket next to us!

He is just a little too close for comfort, I can feel him breathing down my neck!

Once you recover from the shocking images above of Mikelet and I thrust into a “schnauzer slum”, you might start to wonder: “well what is Tierney going to do for crafting with all her stuff put away?”

Well she has set up this basket of hand craft projects in the living room and allegedly she will show you what is inside of this basket in her next post.

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Beastie Guest Blogger: Checking in on her progress

October 23, 2019August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Well Tierney on the road (well in the air) again, this time for a quick business trip to Portland, Oregon for a meeting. So I am going to be the guest blogger on this post.

Do you all miss me? It’s been a long since you heard from me. I was packed away along with Mikelet (I know, I know, you are thinking of reporting Tierney for Beastie-neglect but we should give her a break since she been through a lot this past year…).

Now we have a nice home in Tierney’s new studio:

2019-10-22_08-11-05_364 — It now Autumn in the Denver, Colorado area and getting kind of cold so it is sweater time!

Oh, but if you are new to this blog, I guess I should first introduce myself:

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

I think the last time I guest blogged, I was complaining about the physical spot (in a box in the closet!) where she had me living in her first studio after moving to the Denver greater metropolitan area.

Here is that post if you want to be shocked and appalled like I was: Another Beastie Blogging Intervention: New Studio Tour, Part III.

I must warn you, Beasties are notorious for making things all about themselves (just check out the blogs Crawcrafts Beasties and Tammie Painter and you will see what I mean!) but I am going to try to focus on the primary subject on this post – an update on Tierney’s post from 10/13/19 – The “Madness” Returns (though a post just about me would be much more interesting!)

So Tierney has finished about 14 little wallets so far. It is not a very impressive number but at least she’s gotten off to some sort of start in replacing her previous stash:

2019-10-22_08-12-01_966 — Only 13 in the photo because she already gave one recently as a gift

I inspected her work and provided feedback that she needs a lot more color and fabric combinations:

Do like the fact that I could use one of the little wallets as a suitcase?

Of course I only have one other article of clothing – my warm weather shirt. Eventually I need Tierney to place an order at crawcraftsbeasties.com to expand my wardrobe!

Tierney does have other additional color/fabric combinations in progress:

I guess if she wasn’t flying around everywhere all the time she could buckle down and get a larger variety of little wallets done!

She won’t allow me to use the rotary cutter or scissors so I cannot help her. We won’t talk about the time one of her quilting friends loaned me a rotary cutter at a quilt retreat…(Guest Blogger: October Quilt Retreat Part I).

2018-10-25_15-03-23_912 — Perhaps not the best idea…

Postscript

As long as I am guest blogging, I might as well also give you a follow up to Tierney’s 08/30/19 post New Studio.

Tierney’s been moving things around and playing with a slightly different layout.

Most importantly, she put me and Mikelet on top of this “pre-cut bookcase” so that we are prominently displayed in her studio (where we can closely watch over her crafting):

She also moved some stuff around after sewing in the room a couple weeks, to make it work better for her.

2019-10-22_08-22-09_986 — So many precuts…maybe they are breeding when Tierney not looking…

Tierney loves this colorful display of books and recently found one of the books she was missing from the “Pretty Little” series, Pretty Little Pillows, at a charity yard sale.

Perhaps she’ll do something crazy one day and actually MAKE crafts and quilts from these books on display!

Oh one more thing – remember how Tierney mentioned in her 09/27/19 post A New Way to Organize My Fabric, that she had more fabric to organize?

Well she finally did: she organized her flannels, canvas, novelty prints and panels in the shelves in her studio.

So with the fabric above, plus the pre-cuts, plus the fabric below in this photo, Tierney should give up sleeping and starting crafting/quilting 24/7 (and we will not even mention her collection of fabric scraps at this point).

And I will supervise her!

Beastie Adventures, Special Events

Solo Show, Part IV – Pieces Sold

May 18, 2019May 18, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I have some wonderful news to share and a follow up to my series of posts about my current solo show at the Seattle Municipal Tower in downtown Seattle, Washington (most recent post Solo Show Seattle Municipal Tower, Part III).

The City of Seattle is purchasing three of my pieces made from recycled silks:

COLOR STORY I: FLYING TRIANGLES

COLOR STORY II: SILK LANDSCAPE

COLOR STORY IV: COLOR CHANGE

These pieces will become part of the City of Seattle’s permanent rotating art collection, like my piece that they purchased in 2016 – COLOR STORY V: ABANDONED WATER STRUCTURE:

Since 2016 this piece has rotated display through the City of Seattle’s offices. I was informed that currently it is on display at the City of Seattle Courthouse.

There are no words that would capture my excitement and the honor I feel that my pieces were selected for purchase. The whole experience has been magical. The City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture reached out to me about the solo show (which at first I misunderstood that they were inviting me to be part of a show with other artists).

I am so incredibly grateful to the coordinator of the Ethnic Heritage Arts Gallery, the Curator for the Office of Arts of Culture, and the talented person who hung my art quilts so beautifully at the Seattle Municipal Tower.

In addition to the three pieces being purchased by the City of Seattle, I also have two private collector purchases pending/in the works for these two pieces:

RECYCLED DENIM STORY III: RECYCLED ROAD

COLOR STORY VI: ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG – THE VESSEL

I am also very honored that several friends of mine want to have my art in their homes!!!!

Now I need to make more art as my available collection is dwindling (and that is a good thing!)

Postscript

This is a follow up to yesterday’s post Another Beastie Blogging Intervention: New Studio Tour, Part III.

No need for any petitions, tierneycreates Beastie and I have been in negotiations for a new space for her and Mikelet to hang out.

I’ve moved them to the cutting area in my sewing area to hang out. Though this sounds like a potentially dangerous idea in case she begins playing with my rotary cutter – see post Guest Blogger: October Quilt Retreat Part II…

Now I am just using the plastic box to store her off season clothes (her Aran sweater and hat beautiful knitted by Helen @Crawcrafts Beasties!)

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Another Beastie Blogging Intervention: New Studio Tour, Part III

May 17, 2019August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Yes I know in her post New Studio Tour, Part II, Tierney threatened to post daily until she caught up on posts. Her friend Martha (@marthaginn.blogspot.com) rightly doubted her, but Tierney was convinced it was going to happen.

Well she fell off the “blogging wagon” again so it is time for me to intervene AGAIN.

Most of you know me, but if you are new to this blog, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (when Tierney fell off the wagon) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.

I thought I would continue her series of posts about her new Studio (also known as her guest room with the dangerous carpeting potentially filled with sewing pins and needles) in her new Colorado apartment.

The reason why I am continuing this series as I want you to see where she has me living – you will likely be appalled!

Okay, since I want most of this post to be about me (because that is how Beasties are – it is all about us – just check out the blogs Crawcrafts Beasties and Tammie Painter and you will see what I mean!) I am going to begin with where I live in her studio: IN A BOX!

Yes, and I know you are shocked, she has Mikelet my miniature Miniature Schnauzer and I living in a plastic shoe box!

Most of the time I am standing up looking out like this:

But sometimes she just has me stored like this in the closet:

I hope you all won’t stop reading/following her blog in disgust! No worries, I am going to keep trying to convince her to let me (and Mikelet) wander free around her apartment as well as go on as many Beastie adventures in Colorado as possible.

I recently discovered she went to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and did not take me! If I can get Tierney back on track with blogging, she will share photos from her tour of the current amazing exhibit of Hawaiian quilts.

In case you are interested in other stuff in her studio besides me and Mikelet, here are details of some other things she has done to organize her studio.

Organizing Scraps

Tierney did tie on a color scraps to the handle of the baskets holding scraps to indicate the colors inside, thanks to an awesome suggestion from one of her readers.

Due to limited space, she had to group colors of scraps together and here is the organization scheme she went with:

Black and Gray
White and Cream
Black & White fabric scraps
Yellow, Brown and Orange
Purple, Pink and Red
Green (interestingly the largest volume of scraps she has are green scraps)
Blue, Teal and Aqua

She also created tags for the baskets which contain multiple colors of scraps such as her collections of Batik scraps, art fabric scraps (like Marcia Derse fabrics – see post Fabric Fangirl Frenzy) and shot cottons/linens scraps.

And here is a peek inside one of her crazy scrap baskets (her art fabrics scraps):

Yardage Fabrics and Coordinating Smaller Pieces

Tierney has limited space in her new apartment and is storing her fabric in tubs by color or theme in her two guest room closets. She does not really have the space at the time to pull out all her fabrics and organize them like she did in her Central Oregon home.

Project in Queue

She did buy some hanging wire shelves to keep her “projects in queue” organized:

I will try to get Tierney back on track as she still has a huge backlog of stuff to post about. I am just glad I got to take a break from being stuck in the closet!

(Not to mention she has a LOT of “projects in queue”…)

Postscript

The real reason Tierney has not been blogging as she has been goofing off and exploring the greater Denver metro area she now lives. Here she is last weekend taking big Mike on a bike ride in his backpack around the area.

I had to ask her for this photo since Mikelet and I were not invited!!!!

Beastie Adventures

Beastie Adventures – Seattle Public Library

April 27, 2019April 27, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Do not panic, Tierney is not going to drop again from blogging. It’s just that I want to share this post about my visit last week to the AMAZING Seattle Public Library.

By the way, this is the tierneycreates Beastie guest blogging on this post. If you are new to this blog you can read more about me on this post – I’m A Monster!!!.

As you saw in Tierney’s recent post, Solo Show Seattle Municipal Tower, Part III, she stopped at the downtown Seattle Public Library, known as the “Central Library” for a wander before her solo show opening.

Architecturally the library is amazing and here is a tour by the Seattle Public Library:

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know how Tierney and I feel about public libraries (they are magical places). The Central Library has 10 floors open to the public and an extensive catalogue.

Much to my disappointment Tierney did not let me ride the escalators alone (and she kept close tabs on me) but here are photos from our hour wandering about the Central Library.

Library Exterior

The Directory

Riding the Escalators!

(I think I would have been perfectly fine riding on the escalators alone but Tierney was so controlling!)

Searching for the Crafting Section

Browsing the Crafting Section

Tierney was focused on the quilting section, while I looked through the knitting books (as I was knitted and I like book about my origins).

Tierney discovered several books that she wants to put on hold at her new local greater Denver metro area library:

Yes, before you know it, she will likely continue her series of posts The Library Stack with her borrowings from her new library!

Cafe and Gift Shop

Yes, the Central Library has a cafe and gift shop which supports the library foundation!

We had a great time even if Tierney did not let me ride the escalators on my own and she did not let me try and use my library card to borrow any books (see reminded me this was not our library).

Postscript

No worries, Tierney will return to catching up on sharing stories from her recent adventures in the next post! I will not let her slack off!

Beastie Adventures, Colorado Bound

Beastie Colorado Adventure Begins

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve discovered it is going to take more than the Beastie Blogging Intervention that I posted on 04/13/19. Tierney has still not returned to blogging during her move to Colorado. So I have to intervene again and update you all. (By the way, Tierney did find my shoe before we left Central Oregon).

We are currently in phase one of our move to Colorado. All of Tierney’s stuff is packed up and traveling via moving truck, with her car in tow, to her new home in the Denver metro area. Her awesome longtime friend Jason is driving her stuff and also letting Mike her Miniature Schnauzer serve as co-pilot and ride with him! We decided that my dog Mikelet would travel with Tierney and me and not ride with Mike and Jason (he is small and could get lost somewhere in the moving van).

Now Tierney, Mikelet and I are headed to Seattle, WA for her first solo show opening (see post Solo Show Seattle Municipal Tower, Part II).

Currently we are hanging out at the airport on our way to Seattle and I discovered that the airport as a LIBRARY! It is called a…wait for it…FLYBRARY!

Is that not completely adorable (not as adorable as I am but still adorable!). Tierney’s beloved library, Deschutes Public Library, set up a couple stations in the airport for free book exchange. You can pick up a book for your flight or donate a book for someone else’s flight at the Flybrary!

Of course I had to browse some of the books and see if there was anything that Tierney and I needed for our flight.

We did not find anything for us to read so I’ve gone back to waiting in my seat for the plane ride to Seattle.

Still hoping Tierney will start blogging again, but for now I will have to fill in.

After the Seattle show, Tierney, Mikelet and I will fly to Denver to begin our new life and reunite with big Mike (well compared to my Mikelet, Mike is pretty big).

2018-06-23_11-47-12_575 — Photo from June 2018 of Mikelet and Mike riding in the car together

Postscript

Oh Tierney’s friend Jason sent photos this morning from the road trip with Mike in the moving van and he is having a good time so far napping or looking out the window.

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Beastie Blogging Intervention

April 13, 2019August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello readers of tierneycreates! You’ve likely noticed Tierney of tierneycreates has fallen off the “blogging posting wagon”. She would claim this is due to being very busy working on her move to Colorado (see her series of posts Colorado Bound). So I am going to have to take over and get a post out there.

A Little About The Guest Blogger

If you are new to this blog, let me introduce myself: I am tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster.

You can read my story and see some of my adventures in the series of posts – Beastie Adventures. Here is the post that started that series on when I first arrived to Central Oregon to join Tierney – I’m a Monster.

I was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved (well was shipped) to Central Oregon to join Tierney of tierneycreates in June 2018. I am so glad my maker, Helen of Crawcrafts Beasties (crawcraftsbeasties.com), made me a laptop so I could help Tierney with blog posts!

Here I am using my makeshift desk:

Sometimes I have to look over my glasses to see the small text on my laptop, just like Tierney does:

2018-07-27_18-07-21_096 — Sometimes I have to look over my glasses while writing

In addition to a laptop for blogging, I also came with my dog Mikelet (a miniature Miniature Schnauzer) as well as my library card. So just like Tierney I could enjoy all that the public library has to offer.

What Has The Mysterious Tierney Been Up To?

Well Tierney has been working intensely to finish packing for her move to the greater Denver metropolitan area in the near future.

She did go from this (from the 03/31/19 post Never Stop to Think…Do I Have A Place for This?):

To this:

Some of her rooms are now actually empty:

Here’s a close up from me in the empty room but for some reason I am missing one of my shoes (did Tierney pack it?):

Tierney promises she will eventually find my other shoe!

Also Tierney has received a couple quilts back from long-arm quilting and she needs to get the bindings on:

Tango Stripe (see 10/14/18 post What is OFF the Design Wall: Tango Stripe is Done (yay!)) – on this one she put the binding on and is still working on sewing it down

Sampler Quilt – I cannot locate Tierney’s original post on this quilt but she was using it as a tablecloth and finally decided to have it professionally long-arm quilted to become a quilt. She is going to put on the binding after she moves to her new place. (Tierney promises that someday she will find the original post about this quilt and share a full photo of the quilted quilt with its binding on.)

In addition to packing and sewing down binding, Tierney has been traveling a lot and recently returned from a trip to Northern California to visit some of her quilting sisters. She took lots of photos at the quilt shops they visited and will share on a future post.

Well that’s all I have for now and I will try to work with Tierney to get her back on track with blogging (and catching up on the posts of the bloggers she follows).

I will leave you with a recent photo of Tierney and Mike (who my Mikelet was named after) and overall they are doing okay:

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Quilt Retreats, Tula Time!

Guest Blogger: October Quilt Retreat Part II

November 2, 2018August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is a continuation of the post Guest Blogger: October Quilt Retreat .

I have returned today as the Guest Blogger after I was interrupted by Halloween and then Tierney announcing the winners of the tierneycreates 5th anniversary giveaways in yesterday’s post.

Do I need to introduce myself again? This is tierneycreates Beastie. I am a monster, but the good kind of monster. You can learn all about me and catch up on my adventures in the series of posts Beastie Adventures.

Okay so now that the introduction is over, let’s return to how I was left to wander around the Quilt Retreat because Tierney would not let me help the other quilters cut their fabric, sigh.

2018-10-25_15-04-08_947 — Not allowed to actually use the rotary cutter, only teased with it!

Wandering Around the Retreat (continued)

In the last post I shared the Penguin Party blocks that 3 of the quilters were working on. Here are some other works in progress and a completed jelly roll rug:

There was also some major Tula Pink All Stars action that is a follow up to this post – Tula Pink “All Stars” Retreat (Part II), but Tierney want to milk stories from this retreat for as many blog posts as possible so that will be covered on another post (Beastie eye roll).

Quilt Retreat Food

There was all sort of interesting foods served at the retreat, a quilter could never go hungry! There was also a birthday celebration for some of the quilters and birthday cake:

And what’s under this dome?

Well it’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake! (No worries it was not served on the same evening as the birthday cake – ha!)

Inside the Quilt Retreat Center Main House

The Sew N Go Retreat in Vancouver, Washington has a quilt retreat center where all the sewing happens; it also has the main house with the sleep accommodations, living and dining rooms and a classroom. Here are some images from inside the main house which is decorated with…you guessed it – quilts!

Tierney always brings the host, Nancy a handmade gift each time she attends the retreat and here are a couple of her gifts from previous years displayed – a miniature kimono and sets of coasters:

Road Trip!

During the quilt retreat, we had to do a little road trip to a quilt shop! We went to the quilt shop Country Manor in Battleground WA.

I got to wander around the aisle of the quilt shop.

2018-10-25_12-40-34_935 — I like yarn shops better as they can lead to more Beas

The best part though was the road trip to the quilt shop, I got to ride for a while in the front on one of the quilter’s shoulders!

2018-10-25_12-13-04_598 — Road Trippin’!

Take a Hike!

You can’t just sit around and sew and eat. You have to get some exercise! Sew N Go is located in the country with lots of farms around and the quilters went for daily walks. Here are some photos from their walks:

Abbey the Quilt Retreat Kitty

As with previous retreats, Tierney visited with Abbey the Quilt Retreat Kitty.

Abbey was chewing on one of her “hot spots” on her tummy and did have to wear a “collar of comfort” for part of the quilt retreat:

That did not slow her down from trying to get pets from Tierney (I could not pet her with my limited Beastie arm motion, plus she might have thought I was a toy!)

Inside the Classroom

The large garage of the Sew N Go Retreat main house was converted into a classroom a couple of years ago. It is an impressive garage conversion! Here are a couple project going on in the classroom.

Quilts of Honor

Nancy the owner of Sew N Go and her friends have a Quilts of Honor (like Quilts of Valor) where they make quilts for Veterans and then present them in a special ceremony. One of the quilters volunteering on this project makes incredible embroidered labels for each Veteran’s quilt that is customized with their name. Here is a section of one of those labels:

Cool Carry All

Not sure what you would officially call this, but in the classroom were examples of an awesome carrier for quilting or other supplies that were recently made. Tierney bought the pattern to make one herself:

Back Home

I was exhausted when we got back home, it was a long weekend for a Beastie! Tierney and I took the Central Oregon Breeze bus to Portland for the retreat and back home, and it is about a 4 hour bus ride (why does she live in the middle of nowhere?!?!).

But the best part of returning back home for me, was being reunited with my dog Mikelet who was so happy to see me!

Postscript

There are more posts to come about the retreat, this time by Tierney, but she and I are going to take a little break from blogging after 31+ days straight (and you can get a break from reading these crazy musings!).

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Quilt Retreats

Guest Blogger: October Quilt Retreat Part I

October 31, 2018August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Wow we made it through 5 days of giveaways – seems like that would never end! Now finally I can tell you about my first quilt retreat.

Oh, hi there – this is tierneycreates Beastie, the guest blogger for this post. Tierney took me on my first quilting retreat last weekend and I have been patiently waiting for all those boring 5th Blog Anniversary Giveaway Posts to be done so I could tell you about my time at the retreat!

Checking out one of the quilter’s featherweight machine

So if you remember from the post, Guest Blogger: tierneycreates 5th Anniversary Celebration Giveaway, I had to travel to the retreat in a baggie, or as Helen @crawcraftsbeasties.com calls it – my “Space Suit”:

2018-10-24_18-08-06_711 — Me in my “Space Suit”

First a little background if you are new to this blog:

Yes, I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story and see some of my adventures so far in the series of posts – Beastie Adventures. I was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved (well was shipped) to Central Oregon to join Tierney of tierneycreates in June 2018.

Since today is Halloween in the U.S., how appropriate for a “monster” to be a guest blogger, right?

A Beastie At A Quilt Retreat

This October Quilt Retreat is at the same place in Vancouver, Washington, as the annual May Retreat that Tierney attends. If you’d like to see her posts about previous retreats, check out her blog post category – Quilt Retreats.

As soon as I arrived at the quilt retreat, Tierney’s quilting friends encouraged me to get into some mischief – they handed me a rotary cutter:

I was already ready to cut something, but Tierney ran over to see what was going on and told me to wait right there and not to proceed with helping one of the quilters cut their fabric:

Then she convinced the nice quilter who gave me the rotary cutter not to let me cut anything, sigh. She did let me hang out with another rotary cutter for a while (she quilter took back her rotary cutter to use) and watch the other quilters work on cutting their fabric.

She said it was better for me to just observe for now (I think Tierney has some type of trust and control issues…)

Only a wallflower cutter, never invited to the rotary cutter dance, sigh

I got bored and started wandering around to see what the other quilters had been working on (NOTE: The quilt retreat started on Wednesday but since Tierney had to work we did not arrive to the retreat until Thursday).

Wandering Around the Retreat

Here are some of the cool projects the quilters were working on.

Elizabeth Hartman’s Penguin Party

Several quilters were working on their own version of the Elizabeth Hartman pattern – Penguin Party. They were all using flannels to make their quilts so the quilts were not only going to be cute but also cozy!

In case you could not tell from the photo above, there are a LOT OF PIECES involved with piecing each penguin!

To be continued…

Oh – I just realized it is Halloween evening, and I have to go get ready to hand out candy to the tricker treaters! I hope I do not scare them, being a monster and everything (should I really scare the kids by meeting them at the door with my rotary cutter?!?!).

I will continue this post later this week as I have much more to share, and Tierney wants to do a post of her own about the retreat at some point (we are really going to milk it – maybe we’ll stretch it out to like 10 – 20 posts about the retreat..just teasing!).

Tomorrow’s post announces the winners of the 5 days of giveaways for the tierneycreates blog 5th anniversary!

Postscript

Thanks to everyone who has entered the drawings by commenting on the 5 posts:

If you have not entered – reminder you have until 11:59 tonight (10/31/18) Pacific Standard Time to enter per the instructions on each post.

Here is the post that started it all before the 5 days of giveaways were announced (and it was by me the awesome Guest Blogger!):

Guest Blogger: tierneycreates 5th Anniversary Celebration Giveaway

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Special Events, tierneycreates

Guest Blogger: tierneycreates 5th Anniversary Celebration Giveaway

October 25, 2018August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hi there, this is tierneycreates Beastie and I am the guest blogger for today’s post. Below is a shocking photo of me, but I will explain in a moment:

First a little background if you are new to this blog: Yes, I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. You can read my story and see some of my adventures so far in the series of posts – Beastie Adventures. I was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved (well was shipped) to Central Oregon to join Tierney of tierneycreates in June 2018.

So normally I look like this:

2018-09-14_14-18-38_290 — In my hand-knit Irish cable Aran sweater!

Or like this in warmer weather:

2018-07-27_18-05-22_257 — Tierney made me a make shift desk so I could work on my first guest blog post back in July.

And often I am accompanied by my dog Mikelet:

But the reason why I am currently in a plastic bag is that Tierney of tierneycreates is letting me go to my first Quilt Retreat today. She is headed to a 4 day retreat with her quilting friends from Oregon, California and Washington state – and I get to go with her!

We decided not to bring Mikelet, we are going to let him stay at home with Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) and Big Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (well to Mikelet who is a couple inches tall, Mike is pretty big!).

I agreed that it would be safest to have me travel securely so that I do not lose my glasses or any of my other accessories (if you check out the post Beastie Adventures: Sisters, Oregon, you will see how once nearly lost my little boots when I was wandering around in a yarn paradise!) in route.

What I think is cool is I get to travel in Tierney’s messenger bag where she also keeps her laptop. Well I have a messenger bag too and a laptop (as well as a library card just like Tierney):

I am actually in this bag right now (and you might be wondering how I am managing to write this post. Well, you’ll just have to trust me that I am making it work…):

Okay, now what was this post originally about?

Oh yes, the tierneycreates Blog Fifth Anniversary Celebration!

The tierneycreates Blog Fifth Anniversary Celebration and Giveaway

Tierney’s first post was on October 27, 2013 and in two days the tierneycreates blog will be officially 5 years old!

Originally she started her blog as a vehicle for her now closed tierneycreates Etsy shop. Then she discovered she enjoyed blogging much more than she enjoyed running her Etsy shop and trying to sell handmade items online.

Tierney appreciates all her blog followers/readers and she asked me to recognize her longest, still active followers:

Bloggers

Claire @ knitnkwilt – nearly 5 years

Cindy @ A Quilter’s Corner with Cindy Anderson – nearly 4 years

Non Bloggers

Rianna (Tierney’s sister)

Michele (Tierney’s longtime friend)

Pat T. (dedicated follower)

Terry the Quilting Husband (aka TTQH)

What does Tierney love most about blogging? Connecting with creative people all over the world! Tierney and I took a look at her WordPress stats and her blog has been visited by readers in everyone continent except Antartica.

Here is a screenshot from the tierneycreates blog stats page to show all the countries around the world from which people have visited her blog:

Screen Shot 2018-10-24 at 9.34.31 PM.png — Yellow to red = visitors from these countries

As you can see, besides Antarctica (which is not even tracked by WordPress) no one in Greenland cares for her blog!

For 2018, the top 10 countries for visitors to the tierneycreates blog are:

On behalf of Tierney, thank you so much to those creative people in these countries and to all people in all countries who spent the time to visit the tierneycreates blog during the past 5 years!

Tierney is very surprised that she made it to 25 days so far of daily blogging posts in honor of the 5th anniversary without pulling any posts from her archives. That is a lot of new ramblings! Over the next 5 days she will announce FIVE GIVEAWAYS in honor of her 5th Anniversary. Tomorrow’s post announced the first giveaway.

Here are the general guidelines and overall plan for the upcoming five days of giveaways:

Each day will feature a different giveaway and all items will relate to a tierneycreates blog post over the past 5 years.
One winner will be selected for each giveaway.
In addition to each of the giveaways a handmade little wallet will be included (see post Little Wallet Madness.) will be sent to the winner (so there will be two gifts).
Special instructions will be provided each day on how to enter the drawing (no worries, nothing complicated but there will be an activity related to commenting on the post).
Readers in any country are eligible, and like last year’s 4th anniversary celebration, Tierney will mail items to the winners at her cost in any country (note – you will have to use the Questions/Comments form to privately send Tierney your mailing address so she can get the item to you!).
There will be one special 6th giveaway announced at the end of the month.

Tierney and TTQH will use the same process as last year to randomly select names (see post Announcing the Winners of the tierneycreates Blog’s 4th Anniversary Giveaway), except unfortunately Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer passed away in December 2017 so it will be only Mike the Miniature Schnauzer officiating from the firm Schnauzer Associates, Inc.

Well I am off on the “road to retreat” and I am so excited about my first quilt retreat with Tierney and her quilting friends (and you know there will eventually be a blog post or two about it). Hopefully they won’t accidentally sew me into any of their projects.

And honestly, I cannot wait to get out of the plastic bag

– tierneycreates Beastie.

Thanks everyone for 5 years of reading these ramblings and musings – Tierney

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger: A Monster Needs Her Sweater

September 15, 2018August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster.

Tierney of tierneycreates.com has invited me to return as a guest blogger for another post.

If you are new to this blog (welcome new readers, glad to have you join us!) you can read my story and see some of my adventures in the series of posts – Beastie Adventures. I was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved (well was shipped) to Central Oregon to join Tierney of tierneycreates in June 2018.

A Monster Needs Her Sweater

Since arriving in Central Oregon from Dublin Ireland in June, I’ve worn my T-shirt as my regular outfit, but recently the weather has dipped in Central Oregon and it is now in the 30s F (-1 C) in the morning and evening and only reaching a high of the 50s – 60s F (10 – 16 C) during the day.

Brrrrrr!

I finally told Tierney that I needed to change to my sweater that Helen of Crawcrafts Beasties (crawcraftsbeasties.com) made me. Tierney was using it as decoration in her sewing room and I said ENOUGH with it being used as decoration – I need it on MY BODY!

Frustrated, I took my T-shirt off and insisted I get my sweater put on (I need help getting dressed due to my unusual physique).

As you can see, Tierney said Beastie nudity was not appropriate on her blog and edited the photo to cover any special bits.

Not wanting to put up with a nearly naked Beastie running about her house, Tierney agreed to help me put on my sweater:

Then she helped me put on my satchel (which contains my laptop and library card – two very important items!) and my knitted hat (just in case the sweater was not enough to keep me warm…):

I asked if we could go outside so I could see if I would actually be warmer with my sweater on when walking my dog Mikelet:

Success! I am much warmer!

Now I am ready to take my dog Mikelet on a walk in the Central Oregon pre-Fall nippy weather (but it turned out I do not need my hat yet):

We had to retake the photo as Mikelet was checking out something in the distance, maybe a beetle or something.

Postscript

If you would like to check out the adventures of other Beasties, check out these two blogs:

By the way, Autumn is Tierney’s favorite season and she does not mind the chill in the air and the rapidly approaching end of summer.

“To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall.” – Ann Patchett

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger: Monster Musings

July 28, 2018August 13, 2020 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster.

The regular blogger Tierney, appears to be too distracted lately to write a blog post, so I told her I will take care of getting a post up this week. She did help me take photos since I am not very good at selfies due to my limited arm range.

Here I am ready to start a long overdue blog post:

But first – if you are new to this blog (welcome new readers, glad to have you join us!) you can read my story and see some of my adventures in the series of posts – Beastie Adventures. I was born in Dublin, Ireland and moved (well was shipped) to Central Oregon to join Tierney of tierneycreates in June 2018.

I am so glad my maker, Helen of Crawcrafts Beasties (crawcraftsbeasties.com) , made me a laptop so I could help Tierney with blog posts!

So what have I been up to? Well as you know, just like Tierney, I have locs in my hair (you may know these traditionally as being called “dreadlocks” but the current term is LOCS, as there is no “dread” in them!). Like Tierney, I am always wondering how to style my locs and sometimes I get lint in them as Tierney does with hers.

Tierney and I were playing with different hairstyles and she french-braided my hair:

2018-07-27_18-47-13_191 — French-braiding attempt

The cool thing about Tierney’s attempt at french-braiding (let’s be honest, she is not going to win any “French-Braiding Awards”) is that my adorable ears get featured:

My ears are normally hidden with my hair flowing free but here they are – popping!

Although I enjoyed showing my adorable ears, after a while the french-braid felt too tight and we returned to my regular hairstyle:

While writing you, my miniature schnauzer Mikelet (named after Tierney’s dog Mike) began staring at me and I suspected he wanted to go for a walk:

I was pretty sure he wanted to go for a walk when he got insistent:

I wanted to put the final touches on this blog post, so I told him to wait.

He got bored waiting and wandered into the living room.

Realizing he probably really needed to “go potty”, I went to the living room to get him for a walk before finishing my blog post and found him hanging out with “Big Mike”:

Big Mike’s beard was looking a little messy so Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) began combing it while Mikelet looked on:

Mikelet wanted his beard combed also (he wants to do everything Big Mike does), so TTQH attempted to also comb his beard:

Finally, with a freshly combed beard, Mikelet was ready to go on his walk:

Postscript

Tierney is not totally goofing off. She is still working on an art quilt for a special exhibit in which she cannot share photos until the curator announces the show.

But she did finish the little appliqué pillow she mentioned in this post – Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2018, Part II: Visiting Crafters.

It was her first attempt at wool appliqué and next time she plans to do better stitching, but it was a practice piece.

Mikelet however appears to really like the pillow as I found him hanging out with it on top of the bookcase (how the heck did he climb up there?):

Beastie Adventures, Quilt Shop Tours, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Beastie Adventures: Sisters, Oregon

June 24, 2018June 25, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

After a moderately successful trip to the public library, I figured the tierneycreates Beastie (see Beastie Adventures) and her dog Mikelet were ready to a day trip to Sisters, Oregon.

The annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show is approaching (July 14, 2018) and I needed to drop off a Sponsor Quilt for the show.

Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) thought we might as well make a day trip out of it and bring Mike our miniature schnauzer. I thought we might as well also bring the tierneycreates Beastie and her miniature schnauzer Mikelet!

(I will have two quilts in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this year and I will share more about that in another post.)

The Drive to Sisters

TTQH recently got a new (well, a new used, 2016) car so we got to ride in “air conditioned luxury” to Sisters. No TTQH did not get a luxury car, it is just that his previous car was a 2005 Ford Focus with no air conditioning. We only had manually rolled down windows if we wanted to attempt to cool down in heat!

It got a little crowded in the passenger seat as tierneycreates, Mikelet and Mike all wanted to be in the front passenger area with me. At one point tierneycreates and Mikelet moved to the dashboard for a better view of the road:

Mike and Mikelet got along well when supervised and Mike shared his view out the window with Mikelet:

Mikelet is to the left of Mike, he sort of blends in with all that gray fur together

The drive to Sisters was beautiful, punctuated by the Three Sisters Mountains:

When you get into Sisters, the mountains are visible everywhere, as shown in the photo below of a Farmstand/Nursery we stopped at for a wander:

And pretty much everywhere you drive/look in the area such as in this neighborhood next to downtown Sisters:

An independent woman, tierneycreates tried to walk Mikelet around Sisters on her own, but at times she agreed to be carried as with her tiny legs she is a bit slow:

Big Mike asking tierneycreates and Mikelet to hurry up

The Stitchin’ Post

I’ve been to the amazing Stitchin’ Post quilt shop a zillion times and since the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show drop off location for quilts was in another building, I was going to skip a visit to the Stitchin’ Post this time.

However I caught tierneycreates peeking into the shop when we walked by it:

So I agreed to take her in and show her around.

Of course, as a Beastie, she couldn’t help being mischievous and before I knew it I was trying to keep up with her and all her wanderings.

I tried to show her around the fabric, such as this beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabric display:

But soon of course I found her in the yarn/knitting section the moment I was not watching her:

When we took this photo, I noticed one of her boots were missing!

I had to backtrack to all the places I’d seen her hanging out and finally we found her boot in the back of this display of yarn:

We talked about her being more careful in the future with her boots!

As we left the Stitchin’ Post, tierneycreates insisted on a photo with the iconic sign:

Paulina Springs Books

After the Stitchin’ Post we wandered over to Paulina Springs Books, a wonderful little indie bookstore (I love Independent Bookstore – check out my 12/23/16 post on Independent Bookstores) off of the main downtown street in Sisters.

Mike and Mikelet checked out the Dog Book Section:

In case you do not see him in the photo, Mikelet is next to the book *Unconditional: Older Dogs, Deeper Love* by Jane Sobel Klonsky

There were several authors at the bookstore for book signing (I think it was a special event) and tierneycreates and I stopped and visited with writer Julie O’Neil, author of the book Living Without Walls: One Woman’s Journey from Fear to Wonder in the High Sierras.

Julie is a world traveler and on her way next to Honduras to work with children. I got a signed copy of her book for my world traveler friend Michele.

Julie was gracious enough to let tierneycreates be in the photo, though my Beastie friend forgot to look at the camera, I think she was checking out a shelf in the distance to browse.

Sure enough, the moment I turned my head, she headed over to a shelf that caught her attention – books about Oregon.

I understand her curiosity about Oregon. It is her new home after all as she recently moved here from Ireland!

The Biscuit Scam

It was at Paulina Springs Books that Mike learned a very neat trick: be cute inside of shops and you will get dog biscuits. Even though Mike can be a little grumpy (he is territorial with anyone coming near his beloved TTQH) he still charmed the staff at Paulina Spring Books and next thing we knew they were feeding him dog biscuits.

This happened at several more shops, to the point that Mike started pulling TTQH towards the front door of every shop we passed hoping we would go inside and he could score another biscuit.

In Mike’s defense, he is very cute and who would not want to give him a biscuit?

Time for a Break!

After a late morning/early afternoon of wandering around Sisters, it was time to stop for lunch. We found this place:

The staff was very nice and brought water out for Mike and Mikelet while we were waiting for our pizza to be ready.

Mikelet however was a little challenged accessing the water bowl:

But he was absolutely fascinated by the pizza:

We were not too sure about tierneycreates and “adult beverages”. I gave her a little sip of my local microbrew and she started to kick her boots off…

We decided Beasties and alcohol are not the best mix and we had her stick with water.

After lunch, and a stop at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show quilt drop off warehouse, we headed back home (in glorious air conditioning!)

Postscript

Had to add this one – a random photo of the tierneycreates Beastie on a glass horse outside an art gallery in Sisters, Oregon.

Beastie Adventures

Beastie Outing: Trip to the Library

June 15, 2018June 22, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Okay next post I am going to finish up sharing stories from the annual May quilt retreat with my Quilting Sisters, but I cannot resist sharing another post about my new tierneycreates Beastie that I introduced to you in the 06/13/18 post I’m A Monster!!!.

Last post we left off with my new tierneycreates Beastie getting ready to head to my beloved public library with her new library card:

As my library does not allow pets inside except for Service Dogs, her miniature schnauzer Mikelet had to stay at home. We could have snuck Mikelet inside the library since he is only a couple inches high but I didn’t want to encourage her to break any rules! (Also she left her knitted hat at home as it was a warm day.)

My blogging buddy, Tammie @tammiepainter.com also has a Beastie (she even took hers to Ireland to meet her Beastie’s maker Helen @crawcraftsbeasties.com) and she warned me that Beasties can be mischievous!

At the Library

The tierneycreates Beastie thought the Book Return area in the library’s entry was fascinating.

However before I could slip my books into the book return, she started reading them:

I promised her I would pick up new books for us to read together, so she closed the book and helped me put it in the return slot (she had to be careful not to fall in the slot herself):

Trying not to fall in while returning books

I took her to the Holds Section for books that library patrons have reserved. As I was trying to locate my holds, she thought it was a cool place to explore:

I convinced her to leave the other patrons’ holds alone and we headed to the Self-Checkout area to scan my books.

She pulled out her Beastie library card, ready to scan it for the books:

I had to gently explain to her that we needed to use MY library card instead to check out the books I had on hold:

I thought she had accepted this as she tried to figure out the keypad to help me enter my account PIN:

But then I found her trying to get her Beastie library card under the scanner and make it work:

After some discussion, I got my books and a movie scanned with my library card and checked out:

A new little stack of library books (and a movie)

The “Holds” and “Checkout” area are downstairs in the library when you first walk in, so I thought I would give her a tour of the upstairs library. She tried to work her way up the stairs but finally agreed that I could carry her.

When you are only 6 inches tall, steps can be daunting

When we got upstairs I took her to one of my favorite sections – the quilting book section:

While I was flipping through a quilting book, she wandered over to the next shelf to the left and up – to the knitting books!

I think she wanted to learn more about how she was made…

As I was leaving the section, I next found her over at the Library Catalogue computer trying to reserve her own books!

I think she had a great time on her first outing even though she could not check out her own books. She had me stop and take her photo by this poster on the way out of the library:

She did stop and visit with some of the Deschutes Public Library’s awesome staff who took a photo of her and put her on their Instagram (@deschuteslibrary):

Beastie Adventures

I’m A Monster!!!

June 13, 2018June 21, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

(I am interrupting my planned post to share someone really exciting that arrived in the mail.)

Yes, I am a Monster. Literally. A Beastie Monster!

Blogging for the past 4.5 years has given me the opportunity to connect with people all over the world. I actually now have readers in every continent except Antarctica (hey Antarctica blogger peeps where are ya?).

I have many blogging buddies in the U.K. including the awesome person who made me into a Monster – Helen of Crawcrafts Beasties (crawcraftsbeasties.com) in Dublin, Ireland. Helen makes amazing custom knitted monsters (the cutest monsters ever) known as “Beasties”.

After following her blog for a while and following the adventures of various Beasties, especially Paddy & Plunkett, I knew I needed my own tierneycreates Beastie.

Monday’s postal delivery brought the tierneycreates Beastie all the way from Ireland!

Here is one of the photos of me on my blog that obviously Helen used as inspiration:

Here was the original drawing Helen sent me to approve earlier this year:

And here is my dreadlocked tierneycreates Beastie, with her little knitted hat and her miniature schnauzer:

She is approximately 6 inches tall, nearly 6.5 inches with her hair and hat!

The tierneycreates Beastie has some serious dreadlocks, very creatively done with wool:

She also has a nifty QUILTED BAG with her laptop (so she is ready for blogging) and Beastie Library card inside (because if you have followed my blog for more than a couple weeks you know about my love of my local public library!):

Her miniature schnauzer “Mikelet” (the tiny version of Mike) is ready for his walk:

But first he has to check out the very cute little tierneycreates felted booties:

In addition to her adorable boots, the tierneycreates Beastie also has for colder weather a little hand knit cable Irish Aran sweater!

I must have giggled for an hour after opening the package on Monday not to mention the time playing with her and arranging her in various poses:

She is ready for her first outing: a trip to my public library to try out her library card (hopefully the bar code on her library card works).

It’s time for my own Beastie Adventures!

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Outstanding (Beastie) Blogger Award

Nominations & Questions

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The Mail Order Groom

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The Studio Needed An Official Name

New Layout

New Closet

Tierneycreates Beastie’s New Home

Project That is Sort of In Progress

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tierneycreates Studio Tour

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Organizing Scraps

Yardage Fabrics and Coordinating Smaller Pieces

Project in Queue

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Library Exterior

The Directory

Riding the Escalators!

Searching for the Crafting Section

Browsing the Crafting Section

Cafe and Gift Shop

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A Little About The Guest Blogger

What Has The Mysterious Tierney Been Up To?

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Wandering Around the Retreat (continued)

Quilt Retreat Food

Inside the Quilt Retreat Center Main House

Road Trip!

Take a Hike!

Abbey the Quilt Retreat Kitty

Inside the Classroom

Quilts of Honor

Cool Carry All

Back Home

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A Beastie At A Quilt Retreat

Wandering Around the Retreat

Elizabeth Hartman’s Penguin Party

To be continued…

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