Grit

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniatures Schnauzer’s latest musings on her blog page SchnauzerSnips.

Now that I am feeling “Grit”-ty, why not also become a “Bad#ss”?

Last week I finished the awesome audiobook, discussed in several previous posts: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016). As mentioned in previous posts, this book has inspired me to become more “gritty”. I want to have, as Wikipedia discusses “grit”, a “perseverance of effort” in overcoming of obstacles or challenges that get in my path!

51hagjiRNML._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_ — Photo credit: Amazon.com

Here is one of the closing quotes the author shares in her highly inspirational book:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.- Theodore Roosevelt

After finishing this audiobook about “grit” and being “gritty”, I dove right into listening to my next audiobook: You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincere (2013).

51OnErKGDtL._SX315_BO1,204,203,200_ — Photo credit: Amazon.com

I know I might have said in the past that other audiobooks were my favorite “self-improvement”/”self-help” audiobooks of all time – BUT – this one is it – this IS MY FAVORITE SELF-HELP AUDIOBOOK OF ALL TIME. (At least for now!)

The audiobook is read by the author who delivers her narration in a stand-up comedian style. The book is VERY entertaining.

If you could not tell by the title, yes, she does swear a bit in the book (quite a bit of “f-bombs” are dropped) but she is a definitely “keeping it real”. She shares many truths with her listener and challenges you to see the obvious truths right in front of you that you are avoiding.

She also shares many funny and poignant personal stories about her journey and growth.

I am not sure how to summarize just how awesome this book is; but I am 3/4 of the way through as I have been listening to it non-stop. If you check out the reviews on amazon.com you will see that there are 1299 customer reviews with an average of 4.5 stars!

This book is very empowering and I love how she addresses excuses that we use not to achieve what we want in life. Here are a couple gems from the audiobook:

When you hang out with whiners, pessimists, tweakers, bleakers, freakers-outers and life-is-so-unfairers, it’s an uphill climb to keep yourself in a positive headspace. Stay away from people with tiny minds and tiny thoughts and start hanging out with people who see limitless possibility as the reality. Surround yourself with people who act on their big ideas, who take action on making positive change in the world and who see nothing as out of their reach. ~ Jen Sincero

It never ceases to amaze me the precious time we spend chasing the squirrels around our brains, playing out our dramas, worrying about unwanted facial hair, seeking adoration, justifying our actions, complaining about slow Internet connections, dissecting the lives of idiots, when we are sitting in the middle of a full-blown miracle that is happening right here, right now. ~ Jen Sincero

You are loved. Massively. Ferociously. Unconditionally. The Universe is totally freaking out about how awesome you are. It’s got you wrapped in a warm gorilla hug of adoration. It wants to give you everything you desire. It wants you to be happy. It wants you to see what it sees in you. ~ Jen Sincero

There are so many wonderful pieces of wisdom in this book, many of which we already know in our hearts but keep hidden from ourselves.

I am starting to feel like I am on my way to becoming a “Gritty Bad#ss”!

Postscript

This is a follow up to my previous post Waiting for the Sunflowers – one of my readers asked me to share a couple additional photos of the two sunflower related quilts I had on the post.

Here is a better lit photo (taken outside) and a detail of the painted sunflower wallhanging I quilted (but I did not paint – it was a pre-painted panel):

And here is a photo of the entire “Ugly Sunflower Fabric Challenge” quilt, which I renamed “Cozy Sunflower Quilt” as it has a nice snuggly flannel backing to it (not very handy right now in the warm Summer but come Fall…)

Books, Music, Podcasts, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Part III

July 12, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series of blog posts of photos and experiences from attending the annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday July 9, 2016.

Tierney’s SOQS Quilts

Part of the fun (or challenge) of putting quilts in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) is finding where they are hung in the show.

In addition to the quilt, Recycled Doors, I had in the Central Oregon SAQA Doors Exhibit (see post 2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Part II) I had 5 other quilts. I was only able to locate 2 of the 5 other quilts at the show.

Terry the Quilting Husband and I stumbled upon one of my quilts in an awesome location – in front of The Nest Design Studio. The aesthetic of my quilt hung outside a home design studio was exquisite. I am honored that the SOQS staff selected that location to hang my quilt.

Modern Bedtime – designed and pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

I discovered a crowd of people looking at the quilt and I could not resist: I introduced myself as as “the artist”, answered questions and posed for photos with the quilt.

I also loitered around the quilt for about 5 minutes to introduce myself again to the next group of people admiring the quilt. I got to chat with several lovely individuals, posed for a couple more photos with the quilt, and got some new tierneycreates blog readers!

Alas, the quilt did not sell. I might have priced it too high and it was not bed size as I had originally intended (for that story, please see the 5/1/16 post The Downsized Quilt). However, I am happy to have it back at home. It now rests on the back of the chair in my cozy reading nook.

Terry the Quilting Husband’s SOQS Quilts

The 2016 SOQS was Terry’s first time showing his quilts. He was part of the Special Exhibit: Made by Men. Here is a link to the Bend Bulletin article on the Made by Men Exhibit, which featured 27 quilts made by male quilters from 4 different states:

Sisters quilt show highlights men’s quilts

Terry tried to play it off but I could tell he was pretty proud having his five (5) quilts hanging in the special exhibit.

I dragged him over to several groups of people who were admiring his quilts and introduced him as “the quilter”. It was very endearing to listen to him answer questions on how a quilt was made and his design process!

DSCN3459 — Colorful Modern Squares – designed & pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

DSCN3455 — Charming You – pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

DSCN3457 — Cozy Flannel Shirts – designed and pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

DSCN3456 — Squares Gone Wild – designed and pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

DSCN3463 — Cozy Flannel Snuggle – designed and pieced by Terry Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

Two (2) of his quilts sold – Cozy Flannel Shirts and Charming You. He already has two quilts in queue for the 2017 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show!

POSTSCRIPT

I continue to listen to and enjoy the excellent audiobook – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016), read by the author, first mentioned in my 07/02/16 post Grit.

The author discusses the famous “Bricklayer Parable” in regards to “job” vs. “career” vs. “calling“. Here is a paraphrasing of that parable:

A man comes upon three men laying bricks for a church being built.

He asks the first man: ‘What are you doing?’ The first man replies: ‘I am taking bricks and piling them one on top of the other and putting cement in between them.’

He asks the second man: ‘What are you doing?’ The second man replies: ‘I’m building a wall that will form the outside structure of a large building.’

Finally he asked the third man: ‘What are you doing?’ The third man replies: ‘I am building a house of God.’

All three men are performing the same job but they all have different perspectives on that task – “a job” vs. “a career” vs. “a calling”.

So far (and I am over 1/2 way through) this is, in my opinion, a truly inspirational five (5) star audiobook.

Books, Music, Podcasts, tierneycreates

Getting Gritty (Coasting with the Coasters)

July 7, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s blog on her SchnauzerSnips page for her latest musings…

Showing Some “Grit”

After posting on Saturday about having “Grit” (powerful motivation to achieve an objective) I figured I better get “Gritty” and work on getting my tierneycreates Etsy shop restocked.

So I had a “power crafting holiday weekend” and made 17 sets of vintage beer coasters.

Tied up with a beer ribbon and ready to gift to the craft beer enthusiast

They are now listed on my tierneycreates Etsy shop and I am very pleased and relieved. Now onto the stack of other projects for the shop. Perhaps someday I can return to having 90+ items listed on my shop instead of my recent low of 25 items.

I have been working on better photography on my Etsy shop items. Below is an example from my “photo shoot” for the vintage beer coaster listing:

Once I get some additional smaller items onto the shop, I would like to focus on building my collection of modern quilt table runner offerings.

I have decided to no longer try to sell quilts on my Etsy shop and instead focus on offering reasonably priced smaller items. I removed all the listings for quilts made by me or by “Terry the Quilting Husband” on the tierneycreates Etsy shop. We plan to show and offer those quilts at the 2016 Sisters Outdoor Show.

It is challenging to sell quilts online. If you are a quilter you know how much work goes into making a quilt – time, effort and financial investment. It is difficult (at least for me with my questionable photography skills) to show online how lovely a quilt is in person. A great example is I sold a quilt at the 2015 Sisters Outdoor Show that I struggled for a year to sell on my Etsy shop – which was listed for quite a lower price on the Etsy shop. In person the quilt was spectacular (based on feedback I received) but you cannot always capture the specialness of a quilt with an online photo.

Interestingly potentially customers have contacted me on an Etsy quilt listings to ask me if I am willing to negotiate on the price of a quilt. It appeared they were looking for mass produced department store prices on my quilts.

Additionally, and this might be a topic for a future blog post, I am temporarily burned out on making lap and bed size quilts. I am interested in focusing on making table runners or small wall hanging size quilts instead.

Naturally I have more ideas in my mind that hours I have available to work on projects (don’t we all?) and I still have that pesky pay-the-bills full-time job in the healthcare industry (and they don’t let me quilt while working – ha!)

I continue to enjoy the audiobook Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016) and I am finding lots of inspiration to keep moving forward on my goals!

POSTSCRIPT: VARIOUS RAMBLINGS

When I ride my bike or go on a walk a million ideas seem to pop into my head of things I want to share on my blog. I thought I would do a mini “brain dump” in the “Postscript” section of this post:

In a previous post, Good Listens, I shared my favorite podcasts. Recently I have added several new favorites to my list:
- While She Naps with Abby Glassensberg – a crafter and craft business focused podcast by blogger Abby Glassenberg who has a wonderful blog by the same name. I am currently listening to podcast episode #53 which features an excellent interview with Sherri Lynn Wood (author of my beloved The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously).
- Let’s Know Things – an engaging podcast by Colin Wright exploring and discussing different topics. He has a very relaxing voice and his topics are well researched and presented.
- Chris Hogan’s Retire Inspired – I occasionally listen to Dave Ramsey’s podcasts on managing your finances and Chris Hogan is a protege of Dave Ramsey. Chris Hogan’s style is more appealing – he is warm and hysterically funny financial coach.

All of these podcasts are available for free on iTunes. I might discuss them in more depth in a future post.

You may wonder what become of my “Pilot Butte Walks” that I posted about in several posts in April and May. Well they are still on hold for now (first due to my knees, then due to hot days) but I am going bike riding several days a week now in the am before work. I bike ride in the back of an adjoining neighborhood where I discovered an empty block (new house construction that was halted) in which I can safely ride around and around the block listening to podcasts. I try to ride for at least the length of a 30 or 40 minutes podcast before heading home.

The Here and Now Habit by Hugh Byrne – I discussed this audiobook in several previous posts (see Listening and Reading and The Guest House). Well I felt that I got all I could get out of it and did not finish it. That of course is the beauty of free public library audiobook downloads. It grew repetitive after a while and I felt like it was time to move on.

I think that is enough “brain dump” for now. Thanks for reading my ramblings. It is time to go to bed and hope I continue to be infused with “Grit” to attack all the awaiting fiber projects!

Books, Music, Podcasts, tierneycreates

July 2, 2016July 17, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Just started listening to a fantastic audiobook (well fantastic so far) – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016).

The audiobook is read by the author (I love when an author reads their own audiobook) and explores the role of GRIT in the journey to success (however you define success).

Wikipedia describes “grit” as:

…a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal or end state, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. This perseverance of effort promotes the overcoming of obstacles or challenges that lie within a gritty individual’s path to accomplishment, and serves as a driving force in achievement realization.

Whenever I think of the word “grit”, I think of the movie True Grit (original 1969 and remake 2010).

This movie was based on a novel by Charles Portis (1968). This movie was about a teenage girl hiring a man with “true grit” to capture the man who killed her father. It is a story of dogged retribution for a wrong, as well as a story of valor and courage.

In the audiobook Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, the author does not discuss hunting down people who do you wrong (could you imagine reading a self-improvement book that focused on that topic, ha!) but explores “natural talent” vs. “hard work and perseverance”.

I am early in the audiobook but I am fascinated by the author’s anecdotal examples of individuals who society or schools wrote off as low aptitude and low achievers who went on to achieve great things due to their efforts, hard work, and perseverance. The author also shares how one teacher believing in one child that no one else believed in can make a huge impact on that child’s life and future. Teachers are higher life forms in my opinion and the lives they positively impact have an impact on society as a whole.

More later on this audiobook as I continue my listen…

Postscript

Speaking of “grit” (or my imaginary grit), I have been hard at work making items for the tierneycreates Etsy shop. I am taking a break from working on art quilts and instead focusing on making fun items for people to enjoy in their homes or give as gifts. I am working on make a bunch of the Vintage Beer Coasters (see the post Quilt Retreat Weekend: The Projects for the story of how I made 9 sets at a quilt retreat and left with retreat with 0 sets as the other quilters bought them all as gifts!)

Postscript Postscript

Do you remember the days of writing letters (on paper!) and adding a “P.S. P.S” after your initial “P.S.”? Well here is one more thought before I close this post:

I continue to enjoy all the blogs I follow by other creative individuals. I wanted to mention one blog post I recently really enjoyed from the blog Dewey Hop in which the blogger discusses interesting finds in the Economics section of the library, discussion of those finds and some wonderful humor:

Economics

The blogger, Feisty Froggy, is blogging through the entire Dewey Decimal system of the local public library in order; and shares favorite finds in each section. If you have followed my blog for a little while, you know about my love of and obsession with the public library.

I look forward to Feisty Froggy’s next post on the next library section!