art quilting – Page 6 – tierneycreates

(Check out Sassy’s Schnauzer Snips page for her latest musings)

Food Saving? Tierney, what do you mean by food saving? Are you gathering random food you find about town to save to eat later?

No, I am talking about my beloved FoodSaver®Vacuum Sealing System, which I affectionately call the “Suck and Freeze”!

I live in a two human household and most recipes make at least 4 – 6 servings. So I will spend a weekend day or weeknight evening “power cooking” and making up several large dishes (such as a large lasagne). When the food has cooled, I will break it up it two serving size portions and vacuum seal them and then put them in the freezer (aka “Suck and Freeze”).

So after a long day at my pay-the-bills-healthcare-work (hint: not nearly as fun as crafting), I don’t have to think about dinner – I can just pull something out the freezer and head to the studio to work on a quilt or other craft project!

More time in the studio, less time in the kitchen!

I usually keep about a week’s worth of meals in the freezer to use whenever I do not feel like cooking. Plus if I am off at a quilt retreat, I know the husband has a stash of semi-healthy meals to eat (as opposed to be being lured to fast food and frozen pizzas while I am out of town!)

My beloved "Suck & Freeze" with some lasagne servings I just prepared for freezing — My beloved “Suck & Freeze” with some lasagne servings I just prepared for freezing

Studio, What's on the Design Wall

What’s no longer on the Design Wall: The Tree Outside My Window

September 21, 2015July 13, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is a follow up to the post: What’s on the Design Wall: The Tree Outside My Window.

I found an organic branch-like/wood grain-like tone on tone fabric from my collection of Marcia Derse fabrics and placed it between the columns and then as the border.

So now the quilt top is done!

I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like once the machine quilter works her magic!

Some photos below…

NOTE: In the last photo, the quilt top looks a little askew, that is just because The Quilting Husband is trying to hold it still for the photo while the wind is blowing.

A close up of one of the blocks with the setting fabric

The Tree Outside My Window under a tree outside my window!

Quilt Top completed on The Tree Outside My Window

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Studio, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall: The Tree Outside My Window

September 15, 2015October 22, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series “What’s On The Design Wall” with an update on where I am in my design and piecing of a new piece that I first introduced in the post: “What’s on the Design Wall: Rescued Blocks II“.

I provided an update on my progress in the post “What’s on the Design Wall: Making Progress?“.

Recently, the name for this piece came to me – “The Tree Outside My Window” as I completed 15 blocks to create this art quilt.

As you will see in the photos below, this piece has FIVE images of trees in it (the post “What’s on the Design Wall: Fabric Surface Design Experimentation” discusses how these trees were created) but “The Trees Outside My Window” did not sound right on my tongue. I believe when naming a piece, it has to sound right to you when you say the name aloud.

After creating fifteen 12.5 inch by 12.5 inch blocks from: 1) 4 inch – 10 inch blocks originally pieced by a friend (“Rescued Blocks”): 2) scraps from my friend; and 3) five printed trees from a surface design workshop, I decided to piece the blocks into 3 columns of 5 blocks each.

Now I am deciding what I want to do next with my design. I am leaning towards putting a strip of solid (or solid like) fabric in between each row and then floating it in the same color as a border. Originally I was going to use a cream batik but it did not look right. Next I thought: “Ah a brown batik with texture would work”, but alas, I only had brown batik scraps in my stash.

Then my fabric stash spoke to me (which is good because I did not want to go out and buy more fabric as I am trying to use my stash)! I spotted the perfect fabric – mono color textured design yardage from my collection of Marcia Derse Riverwoods Collection from Troy Corporation. (At one point I was addicted to this amazing collection and tried to be a sample of all fabrics in this line from The Stitchin’ Post in Central Oregon.)

I am going to leave it a mystery for now which fabric from this beautiful collection I selected for the strips between the three rows and the border. You have to wait until the next post on this piece!

Here are photos from my design wall to include some close-ups:

The Tree Outside My Window (in progress)

Quality of Life

Sweet Little Moment of Happiness

August 13, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Today I had a “sweet little moment of happiness”.

That instant blissful feeling that brings a smile to your face and warmth to your heart.

I stopped at my local library to pick up some items I had on hold and decided to wander the craft book section in the their non fiction book collection. While scanning the shelves I found the book that 5 of my quilts are in – Sandra Sider’s 1000 Quilt Inspirations sitting on the shelf.

I love my town library. I have loved libraries since I was a child (where I would spend most of my summers from ages to 9 – 12 in the library reading constantly). To be in a book that is in a library gave me this feeling of immortality that I cannot describe.

I am fortunate to know several incredible quilters who have nationally published books and I know this is not a book that I wrote myself, but still, can’t describe it, but it feels awesome.

(Or maybe I am just really weird…that is a more plausible explanation!)

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, tierneycreates

Quilt Sold at 40th Anniversary Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

July 12, 2015July 2, 2017 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Please see Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer blog on the Schnauzer Snips page for her latest adventures.

Today I have a huge grin on my face!

I sold my quilt, Beautiful and Bright Colorful Batik Quilt, at the July 11, 2015 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! This is my first time selling a quilt at a quilt show. I have had quilts exhibited at quilts shows but they have not been for sale in the past (note: I have listed for sale The Wardrobe Meets the Wall art quilts at gallery shows).

I had five quilts in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this year and I am so happy that this large beautiful quilt sold to someone from California who will be enjoying it in their home!

(I secretly wish I did not have to pay the 30% commission to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on the sale – ha! However I so appreciate the hard work of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show staff and volunteers who hung my quilt and handled all the logistics of the show. The commission from quilt sales helps keep our beloved premiere Central Oregon quilt show going!)

In and Out, pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe — Beautiful and Bright Colorful Batik Quilt, pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

A Crafter's Life, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

My Brush with Greatness

July 9, 2015September 16, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am fortunate to live in Central Oregon where there are many talented and nationally known quilters/quilting book authors who inspire me, such as Jean Wells Keenan owner of the The Stitchin’ Post and founder of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Last night I got to meet Quilting Greatness from outside of Central Oregon at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 40th Anniversary Ruby Celebration.

First, I got to see in person the Quilters of Gee’s Bend from Gees Bend Alabama who are descendants/children of the original Gees Bend Quilters (whose quilts were featured on the USPS Stamp Collection as well exhibited in museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art). In addition to being interviewed on stage by Jean Wells Keenan and telling their stories, they also performed several Southern Gospel tunes.

I also had the chance to chat individually with two dynamic and engaging famous quilters: Fabric designer, teacher, and quilting book author Tula Pink (I am a huge fan of her books) and Rob Appell of Man Sewing (I watch his instructional craft videos and read his blog all the time, so fun to meet him in person!). Additionally, I got to briefly interact with the famous machine quilter Angela Walters – I have a couple of her wonderful books that make accessible to regular machine quilters like me cool modern quilting patterns and techniques and it was great to meet her in person.

Studio, tierneycreates

Being Proactive: 24 New Miniature Kimonos in Progress

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This week I started a new schedule for my health care job (the job that keeps the lights on) – I work Tuesdays to Fridays and have Mondays off from work. Mondays are now a day to focus on tierneycreates – making handmade items for my tierneycreates Etsy shop and working on art quilts for The Wardrobe Meets the Wall.

In my previous post, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Crafters, I discuss my crafting goals in the context of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey’s habit #1 is “Be Proactive”. On my first Monday off in my new work schedule, motivated by revisiting Covey’s 7 Habits, I was actually PROACTIVE!

As I stated in my previous post: “Those projects will not just start or finish themselves, Tierney!” Today I worked on 24 new miniature kimonos for my Etsy shop. Miniature kimonos were the first items (besides my vintage Barbie collection) that I offered on the tierneycreates Etsy shop when I first opened it in late 2013. They ended up being more popular than I anticipated and I am adding a new batch. I may stop making them after this batch as I would like to focus on other small items for the shop.

I experimented with some new colors and combinations I have not tried before. I will finish them up with their own unique decorative button and possibly a tassel (if the tassel works with the button and color combination.

A new batch of miniature kimonos in progress, July 2015

It felt good to be proactive and get a new load of kimonos started, even if it was tedious and tiring at times. I am still working towards to achieving my 2015 goal of having 100 items on the tierneycreates Etsy shop and the only way to achieve that is to be proactive and make stuff!

Studio, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall: Rescued Blocks II

June 20, 2015July 13, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Update: If you would like to see the completed quilt top for the abstract art quilt piece I discussed in What’s on the Design Wall: Working Through a New Art Quilt Piece, check out the post on The Wardrobe Meets the Wall blog In Progress: Abandoned Structure. It is awaiting quilting mastery by Betty Anne Guadalupe my collaborator in the The Wardrobe Meets the Wall.

If you don’t want them, I will take them…

In a previous post What’s Was On the Design Wall: Rescued Blocks I discussed the pleasures of working with “abandoned blocks“. Abandoned quilt blocks are blocks that another quilter does not want and gives to you or you find at a thrift shop or garage sale and decide to adopt!

Recently a quilter friend gave me a cool stack of batik freely pieced abstract blocks that she no longer wanted to work on in addition to a pile of coordinating scraps of fabric. I love batiks and I love her combination of colors so I was very excited to adopt these blocks! As a bonus I discovered that the trees that I printed on batik fabric during a fabric surface design workshop I took in April (see post What’s On the Design Wall: Fabric Surface Design Experimentation), appear to work well with the newly adopted blocks!

Below is the piece in it’s very early stages (I threw all the adopted blocks and my tree printed blocks up on the Design Wall in a random manner) and we’ll see how the piece progresses. You know I will post updates.

My friend who also likes working with abandoned blocks (she collects them from thrift stores, garage sales and guild meetings) and I joke about someday having an exhibit of our collection of pieces made from other’s discards!

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: Color Combinations

June 7, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series on exploring sources of creative inspiration.

In my previous post on creative inspiration, Creative Inspiration: STRONG and BOLD Color, I discussed the influence of strong and bold color in design or fabric selection for a textile art/quilt.

Another source of creative inspiration for me is color combinations. I could go into a technical discussion of the color wheel, complimentary colors, split complimentary colors, etc. but for me it is all about: what colors looking visually appealing together. I do not focus on the “why” they look good together, I focus on the “oh yeah!” those colors look good together.

While designing my recycled silk and linen art quilt, Flying Triangles (2012), I went into a “color combination frenzy”. My mind was putting together cool combinations of different recycled silk and linen scraps faster than my hands could put them up on a design wall. I so inspired by a huge palette of colors to select from and audition together.

Each pleasing combination inspired me to continue my design process.

Flying Triangles (2012). Designed and Pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan. Quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe. Photography by Jeremy Koons.

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: STRONG and BOLD Color

May 11, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post continues my discussion and exploration of my sources of Creative Inspiration. In my previous post on creative inspiration I discussed Temperature. Now I am ready to explore color as a source of creative inspiration – but not just any type of color – I am inspired by strong and bold color!

I am attracted to soft muted colors and I daydream of making a quiet modern quilt in pale blues, light creams, soft yellows and maybe a touch of light pink. However I am not inspired by these colors and I rarely used them in such a muted combination. I am inspired by the POW, the BAM, the WOW of strong and bold color!

Below is a quilt I made a couple years ago that I will call Asian Fabric Slideshow. It has no actual name but the name of the pattern is Slideshow and it is a fast and simple pattern. However, the quilt does not look like a quiet simple quilt – it is made with a very bold color combination: vibrant deep orange and bold electric green. On one hand I don’t know what the heck I was thinking when I chose this combination of colors but it looks spectacular on the wall. I get a lot of compliments on this quilt which is featured in my living room.

Asian Fabric Slideshow - pieced by T. Hogan, long arm quilting by BA Guadalupe — Asian Fabric Slideshow – pieced by T. Hogan, long arm quilting by BA Guadalupe

I remember being in a quilt shop and seeing the two main fabrics in this quilt displayed the same collection on the shelves and thinking: “wow, not sure what I am going to make yet with those fabrics but I have to make something with them!”

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: Temperature

May 5, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I wanted to return to my series of posts exploring my Sources of Creative Inspiration. In the previous post in the series, I explored Creative Inspiration: Quilting Mentors. This time I want to explore “Temperature” as a source of creative inspiration. Temperature? Like the outside weather temperature or the temperature of the room you are crafting/quilting in? Or like if you are “running a temperature” because you have a fever? No. When I refer to temperature, I mean the temperature that the color combination in a piece evokes in you. Does it make you think of a chilly winter day or a hot summer day? Does a grouping of colors give you the sense of cool and relaxing or warm and vibrant? Example: if you think of a palette of light blues and light creams you might naturally think of “cool”. While deep reds and oranges together in a grouping might make you think “warm” or “hot”. Last year temperature inspired a piece I created called It’s Getting Quite Warm In Here. As you see below the piece has a lot of red, orange and yellow in it, as well as sharp edge/points representing small flames. I was planning for it to be part of a series I planned to call: So How is the Temperature? where each piece would give you a feel of a range on a temperature scale: freezing, cold, cool, warm, hot and burning. Now that I revisit this piece with this post, it might just continue on with the series (so many ideas swirling around in my head).

It’s Getting Quite Warm in Here (2014). Designed and pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.

It’s Getting Quite Warm in Here (2014). Designed and pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

A Crafter's Life, Studio, tierneycreates

Look Look I am in a Book (Part II)

March 27, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In my posts Look Look I am in a Book and Oh Wow! I shared my excitement of having several of my quilts selected to be in a book about quilting inspiration called 1000 Quilt Inspirations: Colorful and Creative Designs for Traditional, Modern, and Art Quilts by Sandra Sider. Well the other day my copy of the book arrived in the mail and I was…overwhelmed. Quilt images from 300 artists from 20 countries were selected for this book – and I am one of them!

I am a wanna-be art quilter and I dream someday of “quitting my day job” or at least moving to a part-time version of my health care industry day job and focusing most my energies on tierneycreates and creating. Being in this book feels like a step towards that dream. One of important things I did to advance on this path is to join SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates). Through SAQA I found about the call for entries for this book as well as call for entries for other shows I have entered (and been accepted to). I was also very inspired by an article in the SAQA Journal by Carol Ann Waugh on “Becoming a Professional Artist”. I wrote Ms. Waugh to thank her for this incredible article which outlines the steps to become a professional art quilter!

After the initial “intense floating” around the house (and around town on my errands) over seeing sections from five of my quilts in this book in person, I settled back to earth and thought about: “why am I really excited to be in this book?”

I am fortunate to know and interact with several real professional art quilters who have authored their own art quilting and/or traditional quilting books, been in endless shows as well as featured in many books. I greatly admire them and their art, however I realized that is not my goal and not why I was primarily excited about being in this book.

What is most exciting about being in this book is that something that I created might inspire someone else to create. A quilter in Des Moines, Iowa who is looking for color or design inspiration might be leafing through the book and come across my pieces in the book and go – “Aha – that is it!”. What an honor to provide inspiration to someone you never met and will likely never met. I am fortunate to have been inspired by so many talented people I have never met. It is all about sharing our inspiration and hopefully inspiring someone else to take chances, risks and be bold & fearless in their quilt creations!

Below are photos of the quilts that are in the 1000 Quilt Inspirations book. Much thanks to Betty Anne Guadalupe of Guadalupe Designs for her wonderful professional long arm quilting on four of the five quilts that got accepted!

Random not so Random, Flying Triangles, Silk Landscape and Color Changes – images from these quilts (#0246 – #0249) are featured in the book 1000 Quilt Inspirations

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: Fabric

March 25, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A quilter walks into a quilt shop and see fabric. The quilter does not just see fabric, a quilter sees INSPIRATION! In the post “Creative Inspiration: Family” I introduced a series of posts exploring my resources for creative inspiration. This post discusses another important source of my creative inspiration: FABRIC.

Have you ever browsed in a quilt shop and been strongly drawn to a particular bolt of fabric or to an entire collection? You do not have a project in mind for this fabric but you know you just absolutely positively have to have the fabric (or a sample of each fabric from the entire collection) as it inspires you to make something with it (eventually)! However, every quilter knows this is the primary source for an out of control fabric stash, eh?

Fabric/Textiles are a major source of creative inspiration for me. When I find interesting and unique fabrics they inspire me to create something that honors their beauty. Last year I was fortunate enough to be given a small collection of African textiles from someone’s estate. I was overwhelmed with the richness and colors in these textiles. This inspired me to create a piece, called African Windows, to showcase these fabrics. I used a basic “attic windows” pattern concept where shadows are created by piecing a darker solid fabric (in this case black fabric) strategically to create the illusion of a window.

Below are photos of my quilt African Windows (2014) which was long arm quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe of Guadalupe Designs.

African Windows (2014). Pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Studio, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall: “Log Jamming”

March 21, 2015October 22, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled to take a quilting class called “Log Jam“. Log Jam is an innovative way to rapidly create scrappy log cabin quilt blocks. If you are a new quilter or not a quilter, a “log cabin” block is a quilting block made by starting with a small center square and building consistent standardly sized strips of fabric around the center square. The log jam concept throws the requirement of consistency sized strips out the window. “Log jamming” makes the log cabin style quilt block construction process laid back, casual, scrappy and fun! When making a log jam quilt you can use a specific palette of scraps, solid colors, or random scraps to make the piece very scrappy.

Unfortunately only three people registered for the class (myself and two of my friends) and it this did not meet the threshold to hold the class. The quilt shop was so wonderful and let us use their classroom anyway and hold our own class (two of my friends had taken the class before). So we spent 6 hours having a blast “log jamming“. The “log jam” method involves the kind of quilt block making you can do while chatting and giggling with friends – it is fun and less structured. We ended up being very silly and singing songs while we were working on our log jams. I even modified Bob Marley’s song “Jamming” to “Log Jamming”!

Now the 27 blocks I made log jamming are sitting on my design wall. I am trying to decide what I want to do with these blocks: maybe a table runner for my series of my Modern Quilt Table Runners on my Etsy shop or maybe one quilt with the blocks set into a solid background or floated. Every quilter should find space for a design wall – it helps to lay your pieces out to see where you want to take them!

If you live in the Central Oregon area, the Stitchin’ Post has a wonderful Log Jam class that my friends and I highly recommend you take!

Shows and Exhibits

Color Story IV: Color Change to be exhibited at the Pacific International Quilt Festival, October 16-19, 2014

September 17, 2014September 27, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post originally appeared on the Improvisational Textiles website on September 17, 2014.

Color Study IV: Color Change (2012), part of the Color Stories Series, was accepted into the Pacific International Quilt Festival.

Color Story IV: Color Change (2012) by Tierney Davis Hogan. Quilted by Guadalupe Designs. Photographed by Jeremy Koons.

The Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) will be held October 16 – 19, 2014 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

According to the show’s website the show contains a “collection of over 800 quilts and works of wearable and textile art” and is the largest quilt show on the West Coast.

Shows and Exhibits

Color Story III: Random not so Random selected for its first juried show

August 27, 2014September 27, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post was originally published on the Improvisational Textiles website on August 27, 2014 and is now moved over to tierneycreates.com

One of my recycled silk art quilts from my Color Stories Collection – Color Story III: Random not so Random, was selected to be shown at NEW DIRECTIONS ’14, Barrett Art Center’s 29th Annual National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition. The distinguished juror for New Directions ’14 was Lynne Warren, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Color Story III: Random not so Random was selected as one of 82 works by 74 artists from a total of 653 eligible entries from 202 artists nationwide.

New Directions is a premier national exhibition of contemporary art in all visual art media, showcasing the current work of established and emerging artists from across the United States working in a varied array of medium and genres.

The New Directions ’14 exhibit will be on display from Saturday, September 27, 2014 through Saturday, November 8, 2014 in the historic Barrett Art Gallery 1850’s townhouse, located at 55 Noxon Street, Poughkeepsie, New York.