quilter’s blog – Page 10

Last Thursday 5/12/16 I “hit the road” to Vancouver, Washington for a four-day annual quilt retreat with my ” Quilting Sisters” from California, Oregon and Washington. We gather at least once a year for a retreat, at Nancy’s Sew N Go Retreat.

This is post #1 of a series of posts about my quilt retreating experience!

ROAD TRIP!

Car loaded up with sewing machine, quilting paraphernalia, fabric and various projects, I got on the road early in the am on 5/16/16. Driving from Central Oregon to Vancouver Washington I found many “car buddies” along the way (see my post Repost: Road Trip for an explanation of “car buddies”).

My favorite “car buddies” were a brown Mercedes wagon and a gray Subaru that I followed for many miles on my road trip to the quilt retreat. If only they knew they had been my “car buddies” (they would have been very frightened by a wacky woman following them and making them her imaginary friends?!?!).

Music Time!

Solo road tripping is an opportunity to listen to wonderful music, rather loudly, and sing along at the top of your lungs! I had my iPhone with the “Tierney Mix” playlist loaded and hooked up to a FM transmitter that sent the music to my car radio. (Yes the classic 2001 Saturn 4-door sedans do not come with a jack for your iPhone or any modern amenities…).

The “Tierney Mix” is a very eclectic mix of music. Here is a sampling of 20 songs that played in order while I drove:

Third World Man – Steely Dan
Lovesick Blues – Hank Williams
Your Love is King – Sade
Annie’s Song – John Denver
How Soon is Now – The Smiths
Black is the Color – Nina Simone
How Deep is Your Love – The Bee Gees
Tom Sawyer – Rush
Tennessee Waltz – Patti Page
Don’t Break My Heart – UB40
Gravity – Jon Mayer
Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
Okan Bale – Angelique Kidjo
Dancing Nancies – Dave Matthews Band
Chan Chan – Buena Vista Social Club
Nights in White Satin – The Moody Blues
Like a Star – Corinne Bailey Rae
Cozza Frenzy – Bassnectar
Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
That’s the Way of the World – Earth Wind & Fire

As you can see my musical tastes are all over the place!

I am glad my “car buddies” and other vehicles could not hear me singing along!

The Road Trip Scenery

I know you are not supposed to be engaging in DWP (driving while photographing) but I assure you I only took photos while it was safe. Also there was some construction on Highway 26 (the road from Central Oregon to the Portland Oregon area) and I was stopped for awhile and took photos.

The landscape is filled with the Cascade Mountains, especially Mount Hood; lots of high desert brush; and endless farms. There is quite a climb in elevation from Central Oregon to the Portland Oregon area through the Mount Hood pass.

Mount Hood itself rises to 11,240 feet (Wikipedia) at its summit. The elevation from Central Oregon to the Mount Hood/Timberline Lodge region climbs from 3500+ feet above sea level to 6000+. Occasionally my ears “pop” on the drive from the change in elevation (but that does not stop me from continuing to sing at the top of my lungs).

It is a winding mountain road and in the winter some times it is not passable. I never drive from Central Oregon to the Portland area in the winter, though many Central Oregonians have family in Portland (and are originally from the Portland area) and drive to Portland for Thanksgiving or other “winter holidays”. Winter begins at the end of October or early November in the Mount Hood pass area due to the elevation!

Finally I arrived at Sew N Go Quilt Retreat!

NEXT POST: Sew N Go Retreating!

A Crafter's Life, Books, Music, Podcasts

Tuesday…an update

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

The past five Mondays I hiked up or walked around Pilot Butte and shared my tale.

Sunday evening, 5/15/16, I returned from a four-day quilt retreat at Sew-N-Go Quilt Retreat with my longtime “Quilt Sisters” from Oregon, Washington and California. Monday I spent recovering from my drive and unpacking (unpacking did involve trying to figure out what to do with the new fabric and quilting tools I acquired while at the quilt retreat…other quilters are bad influences!).

So I skipped Pilot Butte on Monday. I am not sure if the 2 mile walk with Terry “the Quilting Husband” and the dogs made up for it, but at least I did something besides fondling my new fabric purchases.

I will share my adventures related to quilt retreating in my posts the rest of this week, but I wanted to follow up on last week’s post The Monday, Post “Yard Bark Mulching” in which I discussed “xeriscaping” (low water landscaping with native plants) and laying down endless bark mulch.

One of the tierneycreates blog readers asked to see photos and here they are:

Xeriscaped Front Yard (with fresh hemlock bark mulch)

Another example of a Central Oregon xeriscaped yard from my neighborhood (they used rocks instead of bark mulch):

Gratuitous flower photo: My lovely irises in bloom

If you want to read more about xeriscaping check out the online publication Introduction to Xeriscaping in the High Desert.

Postscript

As I mentioned, the rest of the week I will share stories and photos from the quilt retreat I attended.

Currently I listening to the audiobook – The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh.

Parts of this book seem fairly esoteric, while other parts are deeply profound and very accessible. If you can be patient through some of the more scholarly sections (the author is a Harvard professor) you will be rewarded with timeless insights into human nature from ancient Chinese philosophers.

I feel I grow more enlightened by listening to this excellent audiobook.

The disease of men is that they neglect their own fields and go to weed the fields of others. – Mencius

the-path-9781476777832_lg — Photo credit: simonandschuster.com

Quilt Retreats, tierneytravels

Repost: Road Trip

May 11, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I prepare to head out to my annual quilting retreat with my “quilting sisters” tomorrow, I thought I would repost a story from May 2015 about my road trip to my quilt retreat and finding “car buddies”.

ROAD TRIP (May 2015)

Last May I attend the Sew N Go Retreat in Vancouver, WA (outside of Portland, OR) for the first time. I live about 3.5 + hours from Vancouver, WA and last year, I drove to the retreat with a friend who was also attending. Last Thursday I returned to the retreat, and this time I drove alone.

I was bummed, at first, to drive alone this year to the retreat. All I could think was: “3.5 + hours in the car, not fun”. I was wrong. Road trips with friends are great, however it can be quite fun to go on a solo road trip!

My husband and I both have older cars (we are all about having paid off cars) and I borrowed my husband’s car, the newer car (which is only 10 years old instead of 14+ years old like my car). My husband teases me that soon my car can be registered as an “antique”, however I do not think there is much of an automobile collector’s market for classic 2001 Saturns (perhaps there is one person in Uruguay who dreams of owning a non luxury old Saturn).

One of the drawbacks with older cars is you do not have the cool technology you have with newer cars – like a built in jack for your iPhone to allow you play tunes through the car radio. I did have an old FM transmitter powered by the car jack (formerly known in the old days as “the cigarette lighter”) and once I found a FM radio channel not used by any station, I was able to transmit my tunes through the car radio!

Armed with a package of roasted almonds, a container of blueberries, water, a turkey sandwich (I was eating healthy on the way to the quilting retreat as I planned to make naughty food choices the next 4 days) and my iTunes mixes on my iPhone, I was ready for my road trip! There is something very relaxing about listening to music alone on a long drive.

Most of my drive was pretty scenic, even if it was overcast, as I journeyed through part of the Cascade Mountain range with little traffic on a Thursday morning. There were a couple moments of what I would call “pure bliss” where it was just me, the road and my tunes. I felt light and carefree and at peace with all around me. I promised myself on the drive not to think about any life worries or concerns; not think about work; and not try to plan my life (I tend to be an over-planner). I had decided to just be in the moment on my drive.

Car Buddies

Along the highway on my trip I would find “Car Buddies“. For more years then I remember I have always been into finding imaginary “Car Buddies” when on long drives.

What are “Car Buddies”? Car Buddies are other cars that you follow for a long period of time. If you are on a one lane highway and a passing lane appears, you do not pass them, They are your buddy and you stay behind them maintaining a reasonable speed. The most appealing car buddies of course, are those who are going an acceptable speed!

Sometimes if I have been with a car buddy for a long time on the road I get kind of sad for a moment when they take an exit that I am not taking. I always say aloud: “bye-bye car buddy, thanks and take care!” Yes I am weird. I have imaginary friendships and connections with other cars on the road.

Hey you never know when you are driving long distance, if I am behind you, making you my imaginary Car Buddy!

A bonus to the peaceful and relaxing road trip was that I was headed to a fun weekend. However I did not want the road trip to end – as I got closer, I wished I had a further to drive!

A Crafter's Life, Outside Adventures!

The Monday, Post “Yard Bark Mulching”

May 9, 2016September 4, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This morning I read in a WordPress blogging forum, that you should always have an engaging title to your blogpost. An engaging title will entice existing readers and potential new readers to click on the link and read the post.

What could be more exciting and engaging to read about than yard bark mulch? I am bristling with excitement just typing these thrilling words:

Y-A-R-D B-A-R-K M-U-L-C-H.

No. There is nothing even remotely exciting about putting mulch in your yard.

No worries, this post is not about yard bark mulch; it an update on what happened with this week’s visit to Pilot Butte for my weekly hike (see my previous post Monday on the “Butte”). Okay I do provide a little background on the yard bark mulch situation just so you can understand why I chose a different Pilot Butte experience today.

WALKING AROUND THE BUTTE (NOT UP THE BUTTE)

We had 6 yards of hemlock bark mulch delivered on Thursday. We were convinced (or deluded) that we could, by Saturday, get all that mulch spread around the front and back yards of our house (and still be able to walk). I guess we thought our bodies had suddenly become the bodies of athletic 18 year olds with extensive recent manual labor experience…

Several years ago we “xeriscaped” – removed our front lawn and planted native plants and grasses.

In the Central Oregon’s high desert, if you want to grow anything, you have to use irrigation. Xeriscaping allows you to use less water/irrigation to keep up your yard. We receive little rainfall in Central Oregon (hence the beautiful blue skies). This limits what will grow in Central Oregon without irrigation/watering.

Bark mulching our xeriscaped yard helps it to maintain moisture (and look more aesthetically pleasing). Every couple of years we have to refresh the mulch.

If you would like to learn more about xeriscaping and creating a low water consuming landscape you can check out Oregon.gov’s online publication: Introduction to Xeriscaping in the High Desert. (Central Oregon is known as the “high desert” as we are at 3600+ ft above sea level elevation and we have a low average yearly rainfall).

When we lived in Seattle, Washington, where there is plenty of rainfall, I never appreciated gardening. Now I live in a land where growing anything is challenging and I am fascinated with gardening and landscaping.

As a bonus to the challenge of growing plants in Central Oregon, we are a geologic volcanic landscape (No, no, no – NO live volcanos – my blogging won’t suddenly be cut off by lava flow…but we do have many extinct volcanos here).

Our soil is coarse, has a sandy texture and tends to be very sterile with minimal organic matter (OSU “Central Oregon Climate”). Central Oregon is not for “gardening sissies”!

So where am I going with all this information? Well this is all relates to what happened today during my weekly hike on Pilot Butte. I was extremely sore from laying down bark mulch over the past 3 days, that my knees told me I may not hike up Pilot Butte today.

With some tedious negotiation I was about to convince my knees (and my sore back) that they could WALK AROUND Pilot Butte.

I didn’t want to just abandon my weekly Pilot Butte experience (every Monday for the past 4 weeks) so I thought “as long as I walk around the base of Pilot Butte that would still count as doing the Butte”!

Here are photos from the ground level of Pilot Butte as I walked approximately 2.5 miles in a loop at the base of Pilot Butte. My knees are not speaking to me right now but I think by tomorrow we will make up with each other.

The Loop – I did 8+ laps around the path while listening of course to an audiobook! Nearly 2.5 miles.

The Day – another beautiful blue sky day with a couple solitary clouds here and there.

The Walk – photos from walking around the loop to give you a feel of the view from the base of Pilot Butte.

BONUS – some of our beautiful volcanic rocky and pumice soil that I get to try and grow things in!

Enjoy your week!

Books, Music, Podcasts, Quilt Retreats

My New Quilt Retreat Gadget

May 6, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s blog page Schnauzer Snips for her latest musings.

Getting excited – less than a week until I join my long-time quilting friends group, The Jelly Rollers, at our Annual Quilt Retreat!

This time I am bringing a new gadget to the quilt retreat. No it is not a new rotary cutter, or special quilting ruler. It is a 4-Port USB charger!

At a quilt retreat it can be “battle for the outlets” and/or “battle for the surge protectors”.

You have a group of quilters with their sewing machines, their special sewing lights, their portable irons, and various other quilting related devices requiring electrical power. In addition to the sewing paraphernalia that requires a power source, quilters have their laptops, tablets, and smart phone all in need of charging.

Imagine a group of people, sitting in a pod (two or four tables connected) sharing just a couple surge protectors (also imagine me saying this in my best Rod Serling, Twilight Zone host voice…) – yes, you guessed it: Battle for the Outlets!

(Live on Pay-Per-View: See quilters viciously battle for power outlets – oh the carnage!)

What I have done in the past is alternate between charging my iPhone or iPad (you need your iPad of course at a Quilt Retreat for easy access to your online patterns, sharing photos, and of course having a moment of distraction from quilting with those addictive iPad games!).

Now with my new 4-Port USB charger – no more switching out. I also have a 2-port charger (I discovered this first before learning there was a 4-port USB charger option).

These nifty devices are available from various manufacturers but my 2-port and 4-port USB chargers are by iClever (I love the name)/Hisgadget, Inc. and you can find them reasonably priced online (I got mine through Amazon.com).

You can see on the 2-port charger I have already written my name (so there is no confusion at the quilt retreat in case another quilter has also discovered this wonderful device).

Bring on the quilt retreat fun!

Postscript

I finished Arianna Huffington’s wonderful audiobook – The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time. I am now inspired to get lots of healing sleep!

I did have a brief moment of panic on finishing the audiobook as I did not have another audiobook to start. However when I returned from my walk I had an e-mail from my local public library notifying me that the audiobook I have on hold, Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg was now available for download!

Yes! Loading up the iPhone with my next listen!

(I think my heart skips a beat in anticipation and happiness when I receive an e-mail from the library with title “Library Item Now Available”)

Outside Adventures!

Monday on the “Butte”

May 2, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

If you are new to my blog, for the past three Mondays I have hiked Pilot Butte after an 8 month hiatus (see posts You Got to Start Somewhere, Monday, and Monday, Again for more background).

Today I returned for the 4th Monday in a row (I am off work on Mondays).

The Route Up and Back Down

On my previous hikes, I timed myself to see if I could return to my previous time (prior to my foot injury last fall); and as I discovered last week – eventually beat the record of a “95 & up” year old posted on the Pilot Butte Challenge board.

Today I took another approach: I did not time myself but leisurely hiked up the Butte and then back down via a different way.

Pilot Butte has in general three (3) standards routes up the Butte to the summit:

1) The Nature Trail – a groomed dirt path

2) Summit Road – a road that is open part of the year (late Spring to early Fall) for cars to drive up to the summit

3) The Summit Drive Trail – the trail alongside Summit Road

On the previous 3 Mondays, Summit Road was closed to cars. So I hiked up the Nature Trail and then walked back down via Summit Drive Trail. When it is closed to cars, you can walk in the center of Summit Drive Road or stay on the trail at the edge.

Today, Pilot Butte was reopened to cars so I tried something different: I hiked up the Nature Trail and then back down the Nature Trail.

I enjoyed, as usual saying “hello” to and smiling at other hikers as they passed. I notice a difference in “hiker friendliness” depending on what route they take up the Butte. Those coming down the Nature Trail while you are hiking up it are very friendly. Those coming up the Summit Drive Trail/Summit Road as you are going down the Butte via this route, are not as friendly. They do not make eye contact as much as they seemed more focused (or perhaps exhausted).

Both were equally rough on my knees, but I am going to adopt the Nature Trail as my new standard way down the Butte!

Lucky to Live Here!

As I was approaching the summit of the Butte, I met a women who was taking photos with professional looking photography equipment. I stopped and chatted a while with her – she was visiting from out of town and she was amazed at how beautiful it was hiking up Pilot Butte and how beautiful it is in Central Oregon. She said she could not stop taking endless photos!

I was overcome with a feeling of how lucky I am to live in Central Oregon!

I also walked into (I am not running up the Butte yet…) another “person of color” like myself. There are not a lot of “people of color” in Central Oregon, so it is always a treat for me to see Central Oregon getting more “colorful”!

My family who lives on the East Coast (I am originally from New York) asked me, when I had decided to move to Central Oregon over 10 years ago, why I wanted to move to a place so “culturally isolated”like Central Oregon.

I replied I was moving here to “integrate it”!

My perspective is: We are all earthlings and I enjoy living with my fellow earthlings in this beautiful place!

Another impossibly blue Central Oregon sky (with a couple fluffy clouds) as I hiked up the Butte.

Postscript

I listened to Arianna Huffington’s book – The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time – while hiking the Butte. I am enjoying it is as much I enjoyed her previous book: Thrive: the third metric to redefining success and creating a life of well-being, wisdom, and wonder.

The author shares a wonderful Ralph Waldo Emerson quote while discussing dealing with the worries that plague us as we lie in bed at night:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day and you shall begin it well and serenely.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote! I am going to keep it in mind when I go to bed each night!

A Crafter's Life

The “Downsized” Quilt

May 1, 2016May 2, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Today a thought popped into my head: “tierneycreates is a quilter’s blog, perhaps I should post something about quilting!”

The Original Plan

I completed the binding on a “log jam” (free form log cabin block piecing) quilt I am putting the in the July 2016 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) called Modern Bedtime.

It measures 63″ x 72″ which is short of a Twin size quilt and more like a large Lap size quilt.

This quilt was meant to be a King size quilt. I originally made its dimensions 98″ x 100″. I worked within the limit of the dimensions of acceptable quilts for entry into the SOQS (a maximum of 104″ on any side).

Last year the quilt I sold at the 2015 SOQS was a large Queen size quilt and I thought I would have a better chance of selling another quilt in the show this year if it were also bed size. I thought: “Maybe there won’t be a lot of large Queen/King size quilts in the show; so if someone attending the show was looking for a large bed size quilt my quilt would be available for consideration!”

Below is a photo of how the quilt started out. The original design had the log jam pieced center floating in a large khaki border. It is draped over a King size bed and you can see there is a nice drape (which I trimmed down to meet the less than 104″ on each side limit for SOQS).

The Universe however did not want this quilt to be King size (or Queen size, or Full size, or Twin size…).

Disaster Strikes!

Something very bad occurred when I pieced the border, I am not sure what exactly as I have been piecing/sewing borders on quilts for many years.

The long-arm quilter discovered that the borders where extremely uneven when she loaded it on her professional quilting machine. Not just uneven, they were “majorly wonky”! She tried to fix it but the borders were so strangely pieced she could not fix it without disassembling a large amount of the quilt.

Additionally, there were several other strange and embarrassing quilt piecing errors (I am too embarrassed to mention these).

What the heck happened? I do not make mistakes like this! I do remember that I was in a hurry to finish up the quilt to get it to her to put it in her queue of customer quilts for the SOQS (she gets very backlogged with customer quilts prior to the SOQS). I was always working long hours on a challenging work project and very tired at the end of the workday.

Perhaps I should not have engaged in “Piecing While Tired” (PWT).

Downsizing

I had a painful phone conversation with the very kind and patient long-arm quilter as we tried to figure out what could be done about this quilt. She had tried removing one of my borders and trying to fix it for me. I kept thinking: “I am so disappointed in myself, I so wanted to sell this quilt at SOQS as a King size quilt”. I wanted so badly for this quilt to work out as I had planned.

Then suddenly I decided to just let it go. I asked the long-arm quilter to just cut off the offending borders and finish quilting the quilt.

*Modern Bedtime (2016)* by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

I trimmed off the left over borders, put on the binding and have embraced the quilt as it. I am still showing it/listing it for sale at the SOQS.

Life is a balance of holding on and letting go – Rumi

Warning: Never work on a quilt while tired and stressed from work! Lesson learned!

Postscript

I am working on something exciting right now but it is a secret. It is a piece for an invitation only special juried exhibit. More to come!

A Crafter's Life, Outside Adventures!

Monday, Again

April 25, 2016December 20, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I walked/climbed/hiked Pilot Butte (see previous post “Monday“) for the 3rd Monday in a row today. I was fairly pleased with myself, as I again went up and back down Pilot Butte in 45 minutes.

However, on the way back to my car, I passed by the Pilot Butte Challenge board and noticed the records, by age group, of the fastest ascent/descent of Pilot Butte. I see in the 95 & up age range, someone walked up and down Pilot Butte in 26.51 minutes.

Yes, 95 & up. Now, my new goal is to be able to at least walk up and back down Pilot Butte in 26:51 minutes. Maybe I can even walk faster than that “95 & up” year old person someday and beat their record! Maybe someday I can even beat the time of the record holder in the “90 – 94” age group! (If I am going to dream, I might as well dream big! Ha!)

Here are some photos from my Pilot Butte hike today to distract you from the fact that my time was nearly 20 minutes slower than someone “95 & up” (maybe they were a retired Olympian or something; or maybe a space alien…).

Books, Music, Podcasts, Library Adventures

The Library Stack

April 24, 2016July 17, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post continues my series on the “stack of books” I am currently borrowing from the library…

The Latest Stack

My latest stack of books from the library is HUGE. I am not sure where to start. Should I first work on having The Ageless Body, designing my day, or checking out some Scandinavian Stitches while I love the house that I am in?

Finally, Tierney takes a clear photo (considerable clearer than last time).

I will need a HUGE pot of tea to get through this stack!

What happened: I went a little crazy browsing the shelves during my recent trip to the library (we would not have guessed Tierney). Then I discovered I also had books I had reserved waiting in the Patron Holds section of the library in my name.

I could not put down any books from the huge stack in my hand (from browsing the shelves). I did not want any book to get its feelings hurt (books are very sensitive), so I checked both piles of books out from the library !

The Prior Stack

One of the tierneycreates readers had asked to hear more about the books from the previous stack I posted. Maybe I should not just share photos of the stacks but perhaps tell you a little about the books I liked?

Here is the link to the original post: The Library Stack; and here are my thoughts on a couple of the books from my prior stack:

The Photographer’s iPad by Frank Gallaugher: I thought this book would help me take better photos with my iPad for my blog (I bet my readers were hoping the same). Paying closer attention to the title, it reads “The PHOTOGRAPHER’S iPad”. Yes, this was a book for actual, genuine, real photographers who want to use the iPad as a tool to edit their photography taken with their real cameras. I did learn a couple of tips but most of the book was way beyond my understanding of photography (basically because it involved using an actual real camera!).

Eat Well Be Well: Living Your Best Life through the Power of Anti-Inflammatory Food by Jan Tilley: This book had wonderful healthy recipe ideas and was loaded with information support why “food is medicine”.

The Complete Photo Guide to Cardmaking by Judy Wantanabe: This book made me want to return to a previous hobby of handmade card making. It was beautifully illustrated with easy to follow instructions and great design ideas!

Country Living: American Style by Country Living AND The Shopkeeper’s Home by Caroline Rowland: These two books were delightful to browse while tea-sipping. I have no immediate plans to redecorate my home but I enjoy looking at photos of well designed and comfortable interiors. My idea of a perfectly decorated home is one that you want to take a cozy nap in.

(The best compliment I ever received about my randomly decorated home was from a 3 year old who said: “Tierney your home is cozy!” as he dove into a stack of pillows he was making into some kind of fort in my living room.)

Postscript

I finished the wonderful audiobook Become Who You Were Born to Be by Brian Souza that I mentioned in previous posts.

I am now listening to an equally as wonderful audiobook The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington. Ms. Huffington is the author of Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, one of my favorite “self-help” books of all time. She is of course the creator of the Huffington Post, one of my favorite online publications.

I accept I am fairly addicted to self-help/self-improvement audiobooks but I have no plans to stop listening to them in the near future!

Creative Inspiration, WCQN

Creative Inspiration: Stories My Father Told Me

April 23, 2016August 29, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post continues my series on my sources of Creative Inspiration.

Friday Night at Barnes & Noble Bookstore: A Discovery

Life is filled with serendipitous events. Several Fridays ago such an event occurred.

A wild Friday night in Central Oregon involves hanging out at the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. I love browsing in bookstores. I love bookstores, period. They are nearly as magical as libraries (except the discoveries at bookstores are not free to take home!)

While browsing the magazine section of Barnes & Noble, I came across a magazine I had not seen before – American Craft Magazine (and I thought I knew all the magazines in the “crafting” magazine section). This magazine is published by the American Craft Council.

Flipping through this magazine I found an article on an exhibit by the WCQN (Women of Color Quilting Network). I did not know, as a woman of color, that there was a Women of Color Quilting Network! I made a mental note of the acronym and immediately upon returning home I googled the WCQN.

The WCQN , according to their website “is a non-profit organization founded in 1985 by Carolyn L. Mazloomi, a nationally-acclaimed quilt artist and lecturer, to foster and preserve the art of quilt making among women of color.”

Wow. What a discovery for me!

I contacted the Director of WCQN, Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi, to find out how I could join.

WCQN Inspiration

After several wonderful exchanges with Dr. Mazloomi, I am now a member of the WCQN. I had the opportunity to view her website, www.carolynlmazloomi.com and view her amazing art. I also spent a considerable amount of time looking at the the WCQN website, www.wcqn.org, and viewing their past exhibitions (www.wcqn.org/exhibit.html).

I was overwhelmed with inspiration to explore an additional direction in my art quilting – telling stories with my art quilt.

The WCQN art quilts poignantly share stories from a people of color’s perspective and shared experience.

Wanting to explore this theme in the future, I am inspired to create a future series of art quilts called Stories My Father Told Me.

Stories My Father Told Me

My father, Raoul A. Davis, Sr. was an amazing man. He passed in 2008, and left behind a legacy of stories and inspiration.

Born of the 4th of July, he was the son of two teachers and grew up the segregated South (Charleston, West Virginia) in the 1930s. He faced many hardships and challenges but always forged ahead to achieve his goals and dreams. He was the first black to attend Kiski School in Pennsylvania, received a bachelor’s degree from Central State University, and obtained his master’s degree from Columbia University. He also served his country in the US Army.

He served as a leader in the nonprofit sector for over 40 years. His service included working with gangs and underprivileged youth as a Social Worker in NYC; founding the Urban League of Long Island, NY; and creating the first Empire State Black Arts and Cultural Festival (today known as the African American Family Day Art Festival).

He retired as the Deputy Commissioner for the Office of General Services for the State of NY. In his retirement he volunteered and consulted for local nonprofits and community agencies.

His resume was impressive, but what I remember most about him is his stories.

Starting from my earliest memories as a child, I remember him telling me stories of his challenges growing up in the segregated South, stories of his athletic pursuits (he was an accomplished multi-sport athlete), stories about the intense hazing he received as the first black to attend Kiski Prep School, stories of overcoming shocking physical and psychological abuse in the US Army in the 1950 by his drill sergeant, and many other inspirational stories from his life.

A couple of years before he passed he decided to write his autobiography and I offered to help him by transcribing his handwritten notes and pulling them into a rough draft. It was so wonderful to read the stories I knew well from hearing in my youth; and I was honored to help him with this project.

Unfortunately my father passed before finishing his autobiography. I did take what I had and make it into a book for my sister and brother (two incredible individuals who continue my father’s legacy and inspire me daily); and for his grandchildren (one of which he did not get to meet before he passed).

I am still left with all his stories in my head and in my heart, and I think I want to share them in another medium beyond the verbal and written word: in my art quilts.

His Stories into My Quilts

I am in the early stages of thinking of how I want to translate some of my favorite stories into a textile story – will I do something abstract, or will I do a pictorial quilt (time to brush up my appliqué skills!).

An ongoing theme in all his stories is: Here is a challenge, it may seem impossible, but you can overcome it!

One of my favorite stories that my father told me, is a story from his growing up in the segregated South and a bus ride experience that embodied his outlook on dealing with racial prejudices:

As a teenage in the 1940s, I was riding on the bus and a white guy was forced to sit next to me because no other seats were available. He turned to me and growled – “I hate you, you #%%$%%!”

I calmly replied to him “Well, you would like me if you got to know me”.

We ended up having a great conversation and when we got to his bus stop, he exclaimed as he exited the bus: “Raoul, you are alright”.

My father likely did not change this man’s racist outlook on people of color, but he may have left an imprint in this man’s mind and heart to evaluate people based on their character not their color.

My father, who was also active in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and fortunate to have met Martin Luther King, Jr., believed in focusing on getting to know each other as individuals and not judging an entire group or population.

He believed change came through dialogue not violence. He taught his three children to be brave, no matter what adversity life threw at them; and to as Mahatma Gandhi said “…be the change you wish to see in the world”.

He also taught us to be proud of who we are as individuals, as a people and of our heritage, and not to listen to those who tell you otherwise.

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” – Gandhi

I would be honored to share his stories through my quilts.

Outside Adventures!, tierneycreates

Monday

April 18, 2016June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As you can see, I am playing with my blog template again. Why does WordPress give me so many interesting options for my blog template? How can I ever be happy just sticking with the same template, ha! I welcome your feedback on the latest look to the tierneycreates blog: “Chalkboard” template.

Happy Monday to you all! A couple photos and updates to share with you as follow ups to various previous posts:

Creative Inspiration: The Scents of Spring

The flowering crabapple tree is in full bloom in front of my house and unbelievably, deliciously, inspirationally fragrant. When I step out from front door I am immediately enveloped with this incredible scent of Spring and the sounds of busy bees buzzing around the crabapple tree blooms!

Update: Ohio

I appreciate all the feedback on this post. I did decide to orientate the piece vertically.

It is now with Betty Anne Guadalupe to work her quilt magic.

Twigs Gallery Show Photos

I recently learned that my piece, made from discards from another quilter’s project, We Will Not Be Discarded, has sold in the Twigs Gallery Collaboration show!

Very exciting – this is my first time selling my quilting art at a gallery show!

If you would like to read more about the story behind this piece, please see the post What’s on the Design Wall: “We Will Not Be Discarded!”.

You Got to Start Somewhere

I walked Pilot Butte again today, this time it took me 46 minutes to go up to the summit and back down, 4 minutes off my time last Monday (when I returned hiking our “mini mountain” in town for the first time after an 8 month hiatus after my foot injury).

The 360 degree views of Bend, Oregon and Central, Oregon continue to be breathtaking on another impossibly blue sky day here (we have a lot of impossibly blue sky beautiful days).

In the post You Got to Start Somewhere I shared that I listened to the audiobook Become Who You Were Born to Be by Brian Souza while hiking Pilot Butte. Today I continued my listen of this inspirational audiobook while hiking the Butte.

I wanted to share a wonderful quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson from this book which brought a smile to my face and a small tear to my eye from its beauty and truth.

What is Success?

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoy the rest of your week!

I am sure before the end of the week I will have more thoughts to share with you from all the thoughts that constantly swirl around in my head. Perhaps they will even have to do with quilting! (Smile).

Studio

Update: Ohio

April 14, 2016September 16, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is a quick follow up to my post from earlier this week: In Progress: Ohio.

My new recycled silk garment scrap piece is done and ready to go to Betty Anne Guadalupe to work her art quilting magic. It measures approximately 24″ x 14″.

I have not decide if I want the piece to orientate this way:

Or this way:

I welcome any thoughts and comments you have on the orientation – thanks!

Studio

In Progress: Ohio

April 11, 2016April 11, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Check out Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s page Schnauzer Snips for her latest musings (and a new homemade dog biscuit recipe!)

This is an update to my 04/07/16 post, What’s on the…Table. I am making progress with my piece “Ohio” and still using the table to design it rather than the design wall (the mini recycled silk log cabin blocks were not sticking well on the design wall).

I have sewn all the 2.5″ x 2.5″ recycled silk blocks together. I decided to “float” them in a piece of taupe/tweed looking recycled silk (it has a beautiful texture, it is a tweed like woven silk).

I am still deciding what I want to do with the little 2″ x 2″ blocks I made; and how I want to float the blocks in the lovely tweed-like recycled silk.

It will be a small piece overall, it was meant to be a companion piece to Betty Anne Guadalupe’s piece, Ohio Star, part of our The Wardrobe Meets the Wall Collection.

I cannot wait to complete the piece and give it to Betty Anne to work her quilting magic/artistry!

I have some scraps left over, and we’ll see if Betty Anne is up to the challenge to try and make a third small piece from the tiny scraps! (My piece in progress, Ohio, is made from her scraps from Ohio Star, which was made from my original piecing disaster Ohio Star!)

Books, Music, Podcasts, Library Adventures

The Library Stack

April 8, 2016May 1, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series on the stack of books I am currently borrowing from the library…

If you have been following my blog, you know I am completely in love with the magical place known as the public library!

Yes it is not the best photo (or even a remotely decent photo), but if you have been following my blog, you know about my less than stellar photography skills (smile).

Hopefully you are willing to look beyond the bad lighting and poorly centered photo and see some of the cool titles I am currently reading.

I consider my library card, one of my most prized possessions!

Now, have you noticed that the book on top of the stack (if you can see it through the graininess of the photo), is The Photographer’s iPad by Frank Gallagher. I take many of my photos for the blog with my iPad, so keep your fingers crossed that I learn a tip or two from this book!

Postscript

Glorious Spring continues in Central Oregon today: here is a daffodil that fell over in the garden and made its way into my Studio to be enjoyed!

Studio, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the…Table

April 7, 2016July 13, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Congratulations to Beth T. who won the free copy of Creative Quilt Challenges from the random drawing of names from those who left comments on my Creative Quilt Challenges Blog Tour post – BLOG TOUR DAY 4: Unlikely Materials. Thank you to every who visited the tierneycreates blog for Day 4 of the tour and thank you to those who commented. I so enjoyed reading the comments and they got me inspired to keep experimenting with “unlikely materials”!

What’s on the…Table: “Ohio”

This post is a continuation of my ongoing series: What’s on the Design Wall.

However, this time I am going to share what is laid out on the table in my Studio, instead of up on my Design Wall. This post also demonstrates another example of using “Unlikely Materials” (recycled silk garment scraps) discussed in my Blog Tour post on 03/31/16.

Yesterday I posted about being inspired to create after a walk on a beautiful Spring day and inhaling the delightful fragrances of neighborhood Dogwood trees (Creative Inspiration: The Scents of Spring). Well later that day I pulled out the piece had I started a month or so ago (see post What’s on the Design Wall: Silk Squares) and got creating!

Here is the piece in progress, I am going to name it “Ohio“:

What do a bunch of miniature log cabin style patches (2″x2″ and 2.5″ x 2.5″) have to do with the State of Ohio? Absolutely nothing, but they are part of a story. An ongoing story. Here is a visual summary of that story:

1) The piece started out as my attempt to create an Ohio Star (a traditional quilt block) from recycled silk

2) I was very unhappy with the accuracy of the points on the star (although I interfaced the back of the silks, I had some challenges with accurately piecing the points). So I attempted to save the piece by reimagining the piece, slicing up the Ohio Star and sewing it into a new configuration. I was still not pleased with it.

3) I gave the piece and the coordinated recycled silk pieces I have selected to a friend. She reimagined it into a completely new piece, while integrating all the elements from the original Ohio Star into the piece.

Ohio Star (2016). Designed, pieced and quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.

4) My friend gave me the leftover scraps from this piece which included scraps from my original piecing and new scraps from additional recycled silks she used in the piece. She challenged me to make something from those scraps!

5) So, I started working on this piece over a month ago, and I am calling it “Ohio”

Right now I am just continuing to make tiny blocks (2″ x 2″ and 2.5″ x 2.5″) and enjoying the challenging of using up small pieces of recycled silk. I find it to be meditative to quietly work on small slow piecing.

Will post about this piece again when it is nearly complete.

Books, Music, Podcasts, Creative Inspiration, Outside Adventures!

Creative Inspiration: The Scents of Spring

April 6, 2016September 16, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series on my sources of Creative Inspiration, I explore in this post how certain scents inspire my creativity.

In January I posted about the austere beauty of trees in winter in the post Winter Trees. It is now Spring in Central Oregon and today on my morning walk, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of trees blossoming in Spring, especially the Dogwood Trees.

Their fragrance enveloped me on my walk and I was filled with a sense of joy, peace and a desire to go home and create something.

This is what Spring is about – creating. Dormant bulbs will now grow and create beautiful blooms; trees will awaken their buds to create leaves, nuts and fruits; and creatures such as insects now rustle and fly and in creation of new life and pollination of the flowers.

When I returned home from my walk, and opened all the windows in the house, the delicious scents of Spring wafted into the house through a soft sweet wind.

Spring is Nature’s way of saying “let’s party” – Robin Williams

Postscript

While on my walk today I listened to a wonderful audiobook – 101 Ways to Transform Your Life by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. During his discussion of one of the “101 ways to transform your life”, Dr. Dyer shared this Robert Frost poem which gave me pause for thought on this beautiful Spring day:

We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.

– Robert Frost

Maybe the “Secret” is learning to be quiet, centered, and peaceful enough to be in the moment and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us in Nature.

Inspiration is in the air and in my heart, it is time to go create something!

A Crafter's Life

The Hen and the Drake

April 2, 2016April 2, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

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

Time to take a break from talking about quilting. I am actually on hiatus from sewing for a couple days as it feels like I have been been sewing like crazy for the past couple of weeks.

The Sweet Pair in the Neighborhood

I do not know a lot about ducks, especially Mallard ducks, but every year there is an adorable pair of Mallards – a hen and a drake, that wander our neighborhood and the surrounding area.

2016-04-02_021454554_11E97_iOS — The “love birds” (the photo is a little grainy as I did not want to get too close and scare them; and if you regularly follow my blog you know I am not the best photographer!)

I’ve lived in my neighborhood for over 10 years and at least twice a day I go for a walk around my neighborhood and the adjoining neighborhoods. Every spring (and sometimes in the fall) I see a pair of Mallard ducks wandering around – a drake (male) and a hen (female). I like think they are the same pair each year, enjoying the Springtime.

Do ducks mates for life? I guess I could do some research and find out, or I could just decide the answer is “yes” (who needs “facts” when you can have my romantic imaginings?).

Here is the twist about this sweet pair, our neighborhood is not near any body of water, and it is my understanding the ducks like to be in water. There is a small body of water several miles away. Also there appears to be only one pair that wander the neighborhood. I am never clear exactly what they are doing, they just always seem to just be “chilling” in the middle of suburbia.

What About the Cats?

So what about the neighborhood cats? We already have the “natural selection convention” going on at our house with all the bird feeders that Terry-the-Quilting-Husband keeps stocked and my neighbors’ outside kitties lurking beneath the feeders. I have seen a cat or two, walking out of our yard with an unfortunate bird in it’s mouth.

60955_1414755848535_1829558_n — A neighborhood cat waiting in our yard under our bird feeders for an unfortunate bird…

When I first saw this pair (or perhaps a different pair, sigh), 8 – 9 years ago I thought: “Oh, no, the neighborhood cats are going to have a field day with them!”.

So far there appears to be no problems with this pair and the cats. Mallards are not small birds, these ducks are as tall or taller than most cats.

In regards to cats, my favorite memory of this pair is from around 7 years ago when I saw a neighborhood cat stalking this pair as they walked down the center of the street. The Mallards completely ignored the cat. The cat seemed to be intimidated by them and never got that close, but still keep stalking them for at least an 1/8th a mile.

I adore these fearless “love birds”, they make me smile every time I walk by them. I wish I could ask them – “So, are you the same pair I see every year, or have your parents passed onto their offspring that my neighborhood is the place where Mallards can quietly enjoy their love?”

Studio, tierneycreates

BLOG TOUR DAY 4: Unlikely Materials

March 31, 2016April 2, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

616H5+J+f3L._SX385_BO1,204,203,200_ — Photo credit: C&T Publishing

Welcome to Day 4 of the Blog Tour in support of Pat Pease & Wendy Hill’s new book Creative Quilt Challenges (C&T Publishing, 2016).

If you are just joining the tour today on my blog, you can see the full list of the 10 participating blogs on this tour at the C&T Publishing blog post: Creative Quilt Challenges Blog Tour Kickoff.

At the end of this post I will pose a discussion question, please post a comment to automatically enter a drawing for a copy of Creative Quilt Challenges. The random winner will be selected and notified around 04/07/16.

CHALLENGE #3 – UNLIKELY MATERIALS

In Creative Challenges, Pat Pease and Wendy Hill invite readers to flex their quilt-making creative muscles by experimenting with different “Challenges”. In Challenge #3 – Unlikely Materials, Pat and Wendy invite readers to stretch their creative muscles by working with materials other than traditional quilting cottons!

Transitioning from Cotton Material to “Unlikely Materials”

Four years ago, I would have looked at you as if you were insane if you suggested I use anything other than high quality quilting cottons, purchased from a quilt shop, for my quilt-making. Then in 2012 my friend and mentor, Betty Anne Guadalupe of Guadalupe Designs invited me to work on a collaborative project involving making art quilts out of recycled silks and linen samples from garment manufacturing. These samples had been saved from the trash heap by someone working for an Italian silk manufacturer in the 1990s and stored away since then.

At first I was terrified of working with anything but cotton for quilting. Cotton is so crisp and stable. Silk is slippery, delicate, and…well…terrifying!

One of the first skills I learned when working with silk was how to back delicate silks with interfacing. The best interfacing I have used for backing silk is “French-Fuse“. I learned about French-Fuse from Betty Anne, who learned about it from another art quilter, Grace. This interfacing provides much needed stability to delicate silks and makes them easier to rotary cut and to piece.

Here is one of the early pieces I made with recycled silks – Silk Landscape:

ColorStudy2_Silk_Landscape copy.jpg — Silk Landscape (2012). Designed and pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan. Quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe. Photography by Jeremy Koons.

The Wardrobe Meets the Wall

Betty Anne and I both became hooked on using the recycled silks and linens to create art quilts. We formed a collaboration which eventually became The Wardrobe Meets the Wall: A collection of art quilts created from recycled garments, manufacturing remnants, and samples.

We have a blog, The Wardrobe Meets the Wall (we are working on evolving this into a a website, “Art Quilts by Guadalupe & Hogan”). See our page The Collection if you would like to see a samples of art quilts all made with “Unlikely Materials”.

Our collection includes quilts made from mens ties, recycled silk and linen samples, scrap wool from clothing or blanket manufacturing, recycled denim, and general recycled clothing.

Once You Start Experimenting with Unlikely Materials, You Might Get Hooked!

Betty Anne already had many years experience working with “Unlikely Materials” and before I knew it, she had me experimenting with using recycled wools and denims to create art quilts.

Here is my first experiment with working with recycled wools (from wool mens suiting manufacturing scraps and wool blanket manufacturing scraps) and denims (recycled jeans) – He Dresses Up, He Dresses Down:

He Dresses Up, He Dresses Down (2014). Designed and pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan. Quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

Basically – if you can sew with it, we will now try and make an art quilt with it. There are so many unlikely materials we have yet to try out. We enjoy recycling.

I was intrigued that in the Creative Quilt Challenge book, Pat Pease makes an adventurous art quilt with “hair canvas interfacing“. I bow my head to that level of creativity with “unlikely materials”!

(Disclaimer: We still love and support our local quilt shops and still make many quilts with traditional cottons. There are so many beautiful fabric collections to choose from and our new fabric stashes mysteriously continue to grow despite our obsession with recycled materials.)

Tips for Working with Unlikely Materials

I will not deny it – working with “unlikely materials” for the first time is scary. Here are some tips I have learned over the past 4 years. I am still learning and growing in my knowledge and comfort with using “unlikely materials”.

Do not be afraid to experiment and play: You do not have to create a great work of quilting art your first time working with a new “unlikely material”. I played with silk for a while before piecing it into an art quilt.
Check your sewing machine manufacturer’s website for tips on working with various materials and fibers.
Search for YouTube videos on working with a particular fabric and sewing tips on handling that type of fabric in your machine.
Network with other crafters that have experience working with a particular textile you are interested in trying. For example if you know a seamstress who has worked a lot with silk, you could ask her/him for tips.
Determine if a fabric/material needs to be interfaced in order to stabilize it for sewing. As I mentioned earlier, French-Fuse (which can be purchased at sites such as Annie’s Craft Store) is wonderful for backing delicate silks. It makes them so much easier to cut and piece. There are also YouTube videos on using French-Fuse.
If you are using heavy weight materials such as denim and some wools, consider pressing open your seams, and using 1/2 inch seams (like in making garments) as opposed to 1/4 inch seams. A trick that my mentor Betty Anne taught me is to run a tiny (1/8″ inch or less) seam along the front of the seams (front of your piece) to hold down the pressed down seams. This will be helpful if you have your piece professionally long-arm quilted so that the thick seams do not flip and catch the needle when being quilted.
If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up! I have had several “unlikely materials” piecing/sewing disasters (bad words were said, not suitable for repeating). Some disasters were so bad I had to put them in the trash, I could not even recycle them into another project. Speaking of recycling a disaster into another project, see the post A Very Successful Rescue! about a piece made with recycled silk that was destined for the trash but was recycled by another quilter into a wonderful piece!
Warning – your other quilter friends who only enjoy using cottons, may at first give you a lukewarm response on your pieces made with “unlikely materials”. Do not be discouraged – art is a private and personal thing and you cannot control others reactions. (I love the saying: “It’s not my business what others think of me”…or my art!). I am sure I have quilter friends who thought at first I had lost my mind working with recycled silks and linens. As you grow in your experience with working with “unlikely materials”, your confidence will grow as will your adventurous spirit.

Working on My Latest Piece with Unlikely Materials

The timing of this blog tour post is great, as I am currently working on a new piece for a group exhibit I am participating in, called “Doors” for the local SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) group I belong.

Designing the piece: Selecting the “Unlikely Materials”

I decided to use a photo of a door for inspiration, and located a wonderful collection of unique door photos on an Australian door and window manufacturer’s website Brisbane Timber .

I wanted to created a semi-realistic version of one of their doors, using recycled textiles (“unlikely materials”) and name the piece Recycled Door.

Here are the materials I selected:

Recycled Corduroy Shirt

Recycled Corduroy Pants

Recycled Tweed Wool Jumper

Bag of Recycled Jeans

Shiny Gold Home Decor Fabric

(List clockwise from top)

Recycled Corduroy Shirt
Recycled Corduroy Pants
Recycled Tweed Jumper
Unusual shiny gold home decor fabric (this fabric was given to me by the very talented art quilter, Dianne Browning, who primarily uses the unlikely materials of home decor fabrics and decorator samples in her art – you can check out her incredible art at her website Art Quilts by Dianne Browning)
Recycled Denim (from my bag of recycled jean sections)

The Piece in Progress

Below is a photo of Recycled Door in progress. If you like, for fun, you can go to the Australian door and window manufacturer’s website Brisbane Timber and see if you can figure out which door inspired this piece.

(The thread at the lower right hand of the piece is orange thread – I think it needs to be quilted with orange thread to repeat the strong orange accent in the piece.)

Are You Ready to Experiment or Have You Already Experimented?

Now it is time for you to weigh in on your experience with using “Unlikely Materials” or whether you are interested in experimenting with “Unlikely Materials” in the future in your quilting projects.

Please comment below and all comments will be automatically entered into a drawing for a copy of Creative Quilt Challenges.

The random winner will be selected and notified around 04/07/16.

The Creative Quilt Challenges Blog Tour continues tomorrow, Friday April 1, at BOLT Fabric Boutique, boltneighborhood.com. Thanks for joining me on the blog tour today!

“When you are scared but still do it anyway, that’s BRAVE.” – Neil Gaiman

Studio, tierneycreates

Getting Ready for My “Blog Tour Stop”

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Tomorrow the tierneycreates blog is a stop on the “Blog Tour” for Pat Pease and Wendy Hill’s new book Creative Quilt Challenges (2016).

When I join the tour on 3/31/16, I will discuss Challenge #3: Unlikely Materials from this wonderful book.

616H5+J+f3L._SX385_BO1,204,203,200_

The Blog Tour opened on Monday 3/28/16 and here are the other “blog tour stops” posts to date (if you would like to read them prior to the tierneycreates Blog Tour stop tomorrow 3/31/16).

Blog Tour Stops to Date:

C&T Publishing – Creative Challenges Blog Tour Kick Off

Tales of a Stitcher – Creative Quilt Challenges by Pat Pease and Wendy Hill

Sandra Clemons – Book Review Creative Quilt Challenges

Upcoming Posts:

Thursday, March 31: Tierney Hogan, tierneycreates.wordpress.com

Friday, April 1: Gina at BOLT Fabric Boutique, boltneighborhood.com

Monday, April 4: Yvonne, quiltingjetgirl.com

Tuesday, April 5: Kristin Shields, kristinshieldsart.com/blog

Wednesday, April 6: Paula Marie, paulamariedaughter.com

Thursday, April 7: Teri Lucas, generationqmagazine.com

Friday, April 8: Wendy Hill, wendyhill.net/blog

You can enter to win a free copy of Creative Quilt Challenges at the C&T Publishing blog (a Rafflecopter giveaway)! Giveaway ends 4/4, and winner will be announced on the C&T Publishing blog.

See you tomorrow for the tour stop at tierneycreates!

Here is a little something lovely I found in the garden today: my first opened tulip (Spring arrives a little later in Central Oregon)!

Studio

A Very Successful Rescue!

March 21, 2016March 22, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is a follow up to my February 2016 post Surrendering My Piece to “Rescue” in which I shared my frustration with an “Ohio Star” type block I was piecing with recycled silks. I abandoned the piece due to “major creative blockage” and my friend adopted it.

Betty Anne Guadalupe, who adopted my abandoned piece, took it apart and completely reimagined it!

I gasped (and nearly fainted) when I saw the wonderful reinvention she did with my humble beginnings!

Here is what I gave her:

A “hot mess” by Tierney Davis Hogan (ha!)

Here is what she created:

Ohio Star (2016) by Betty Anne Guadalupe

The piece measures 18” x 23” and is made with recycled silks and wools. If you look closely you can see sections of my original piecing. Betty Anne integrated all of my original piece in her piece! This piece will be in our show at Twigs Gallery this Friday (see my post The Collaboration for more details on this show).

I think this is a very successful rescue!

As I discussed in the post What’s on the Design Wall: Silk Squares, I am now working on a piece made from her leftovers from her piece! More to come as this new piece develops…

Studio

“When Studios Attack”

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Do you remember the cheesy TV specials on the Fox Network in the 1990s (and maybe early 2000s) with titles like “When Animals Attack”, “When Good Pets go Bad”, and other ridiculous titles?

I am not sure if the Fox Network will ever revive these TV specials, but I do have an idea to pitch to them for a future special: “When Good Studios Go Bad”…

When You Do Not Want to Enter the Room

Early this year I posted photos of where I do my “tierney-creating”, in the posts Inside the Studio and Inside the Closet (these titles sound like TV Specials themselves, but I think there would need to be a bit more spicy drama in these stories for a TV Network to want to air them.)

My studio space is approximately 10 feet by 12 feet and I try to keep it tightly organized at all times, as I have a small space to work in.

Yesterday after a crazy day of my healthcare-industry-pay-the-bills-job, I went to our monthly Central Oregon Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) meeting and then to dinner with friends. I also picked up two completed quilts from my long-arm quilter. Prior to leaving for the SAQA meeting, I was frantically busily sewing last minutes labels on the quilts for a collaborative show which openings Friday 3/25/16 (they had to be delivered to the gallery ASAP).

When I got home it was late, and I was very tired mentally and physically. I placed the quilts from the long-arm quilter in my studio; visited for awhile with Terry the Quilting Husband, Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer, and Mike (also a miniature schnauzer but not as highly opinionated); and then headed to bed.

I had decided to take Friday off from work (today) and to take a class at a local quilt shop. However, I was too tired last night to do the required pre-class cutting before bed and figured I would deal with it in the morning… (are those not the famous last words of a procrastinator?!?!)

I overslept this morning, got up in a panic, stumbled into my studio to deal with all the pre-cutting before my 10:00 am class, and found this scene:

Now to many people, this does not look too bad. To me – this was like a terrifying Fox Network TV Special about something attacking something it should not, or some thing going very very very bad. I seriously did not want to walk into the room.

I could not even locate the instructions for the class of what I needed to pre-cut. I had actually sort through most of the stuff lying on top of other stuff to find what I needed. The photo does not look as bad as it looked in person.

We all have different ways we deal with clutter, and many are comfortable with clutter. Clutter freaks me out. It shuts down my creative process and makes me not even want to enter a room.

I made it on time to the class today and had most of my fabric pre-cut. When I returned home, I cleaned up the studio and promised myself to not let my studio become a Fox TV Network Special again!

Library Adventures

The Library Stack

March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my new ongoing series with a snapshot of what crafting, quilting, cooking, gardening, decorating, self-improvement, etc. books I currently have on loan from my local library.

Here is the stack (soon to be returned though, I have finished with them and it’s time to get a new stack!):

I took this photo a week ago and there is one book that was in the stack, but not in the photo, that I have just finished and I highly enjoyed: Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed (2015).

Cheryl Strayed is the author of the book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2013), a wonderful book and a wonderful film (even Terry the Quilting Husband enjoyed the film and he dislikes films about “finding yourself”.)

Her latest book Brave Enough is a collection of quotes from her other writings.A couple quotes really stayed with me after reading them and I wanted to share:

“You can’t ride to the fair unless you get on the pony”

“Hello, fear. Thank you for being here. You’re my indication that I’m doing that I need to do.”

“Forgiveness doesn’t just sit there like a pretty boy in a bar. Forgiveness is the old fat guy you have to haul up the hill.”

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: Books I Own

March 14, 2016September 16, 2018 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Continuing my series on sources of my creative inspiration, today I explore a couple of books in my personal collection that inspire me to create.

Unconventional & Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000 (Roderick Kiracofe, 2014)

512wLhSFv7L._SX434_BO1,204,203,200_ — Photo credit: Amazon.com

This inspirational book was a gift from a quilting colleague. I have read it cover to cover and refer to it when I need inspiration. I even keep it on display at my house at the top of one of my bookshelves, to remind me that everyday people have beautiful art inside of them.

This excerpt from an Amazon.com review, summarizes how I feel about this book:

Artistic, joyful, visually and emotionally awakening

Beautifully designed and written from cover to cover, Unconventional and Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000 is a piece of art in and of itself. The collection of quilts in the book look like modern paintings and poetry created through stitches. Each quilt is made for personal use with most humble materials; it makes you wonder about the personal story of its maker. Like any other form of modern art, it allows you to make your own interpretation through the fabrics they used or the pattern they followed.

The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously (Sherri L. Wood, 2015)

61hHBZn9RuL._SY498_BO1,204,203,200_ — Photo credit: Amazon.com

I originally borrowed this book from our local library in Spring 2015. After an hour or two with this book, I had to purchase it and add it to my collection.

“Improve Is…Setting Limits to Expand Horizons” – Sherri L. Wood

I think this book is the seminal guide on quilting improvisation. It is not a pattern to follow quilt book, but a guide on strategies to allow yourself permission to be free and initiative in your quilt design. The author provides wonderful exercises to try out your improvisational skills. These “Scores” are intended to help art quilters gain confidence in their “improv” skills.

This also features work by other art quilters (in addition to the author) to include a very talented Oregon Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) colleague of mine, Marion Shimoda.

Hope you have a creative and inspirational week!

A Crafter's Life

Terry the Quilting Husband Update

March 12, 2016December 2, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

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

Five (5) of Terry the Quilting Husband’s quilts have been accepted into the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) for the 2016 show on Saturday July 9, 2016. He will be in the special exhibit, ManMade featuring quilts made by men.

One of the quilts he will be showing at SOQS is named Cozy Flannel Snuggle and has a special story.

Cozy Flannel Snuggle : The Story

Terry was very determined and ambitious as a new quilter that he could “mass produce quilts”. He thought why make blocks for one quilt, when you can make blocks for THREE quilts? He took my flannel scraps and did just that – chain pieced (for days and days it seemed) enough blocks for 3 large lap size flannel quilts.

Terry is the youngest of 7 kids and his Mom and two sisters are quilters. When we told his Mom and sisters in 2014 that Terry had become a quilter, I think they thought we were “pulling their legs”. We suspect they thought he was just helping me with a couple tasks here and there on my quilts, not actually making his own quilts!

So in early 2015, Terry surprised his Mom for her 96th birthday, with a quilt made by her youngest son!

She and Terry’s quilting sisters were very surprised and impressed. One of his sisters sent us a wonderful photo of Mom Hogan snuggled with her Terry quilt and her newly adopted little rescue dog (Terry’s sisters adopted for their Mom a senior rescued shelter dog for companionship).

Terry’s Mom received the first quilt he ever made on his own. He figured, since she brought him into the world, she should be the recipient of his first quilt!

The photo of Terry’s Mom and her dog all snuggled in the quilt, inspired the name of the quilt “Cozy Flannel Snuggle”. In addition to the one Terry gave to his Mom, we kept one of the three quilts ourselves and the last of the three Terry is showing (and selling) at the SOQS so someone else can have the snuggle experience! (Perhaps Terry was right about “why make one quilt, when you can make three?”)

(NOTE: This story was originally very briefly mentioned in the first post about Terry the Quilting Husband – This is the Story of a Quilting Husband)

Screen Shot 2016-03-11 at 10.27.40 PM.png — Cozy Flannel Snuggle (2014). Designed and pieced by Terry Hogan. Quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.

Postscript

I will have four (4) of my quilts in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this year, but mine will be mingled in the “general population” of quilts at the show (smile).

tierneycreates

Why Etsy?

March 11, 2016March 11, 2016 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Why do I have the tierneycreates Etsy shop? In this post I share what motivated me to originally open the tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles Etsy shop; and what motivates me now.

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Original Motivations

I originally opened the shop as a part-time business in December 2013 to:

Justify all the money I had spent over the years on fabric and sewing/quilting supplies.
Motivate myself to spend more consistent time creating and sewing with the fabric and supplies I own (to decrease my fabric stash).
Provide support (and justification) for future fabric and supplies purchases.

As you will see later in this post, my current motivations for having an Etsy shop now expand beyond those original reasons.

I selected Etsy over selling on eBay as a selling venue, as Etsy appeared to be a friendly venue and forum for connecting those who have handmade items to sell with individuals who are seeking handmade items!

Etsy Shop Challenges

One of the challenges I faced when opening the shop, was that I work full-time.

I read in one or two of the Etsy Seller Forums, that you need to have an adequate selection of items in your shop to attract and interest customers. For example – if you only have like 10 items in your shop, potential customers will look briefly at your shop and move on.

So I decided that until I could find the time to make more handmade items, I would supplement my handmade items with selling a small selection of fabric yardage and pre-cut fabrics (like “jelly rolls” and “fat quarters”). Then plan was to “bulk up” my Etsy shop with additional offerings, so potential customers would not just pass me by (as a sad empty looking shop, ha!)

Well, If you want to see why I would never open a quilt shop (much respect to those who do) see my post from June 2015 – Adventures in Retail. I could not believe how cumbersome and stressful it is to try and cut fabric yardage for a customer; or to create sets of fat quarters.

I always panic that I will “short” a customer on yardage, so I have been very generous in my cutting. I would likely have very low profit margins as a quilt shop owner – ha!

Additionally, I never fully appreciated those sweet little sets of fat quarters I see in quilt shops, until I tried to make them myself. I now bow in respect to those who work in quilt shops!

Learning to properly package and ship items when they sold was another learning curve I had as a new Etsy shop owner. I can now package and ship items in my sleep (I did develop a process and have a section of my laundry room set up for packaging). Eventually I taught “Terry the Quilting Husband” how to handle packaging and shipping and he helps with the least fun part about an Etsy sale.

Current Motivations & Inspirations

It is now 2016, and my motivations for having the tierneycreates Etsy shop are different from my original motivations.

One of my primary reasons I continue to manage my shop on Etsy (as it is still not a “quit your day job” kind of business) are the CONNECTIONS I have with customers. I have enjoyed many Etsy conversations with fellow quilters who have purchased fabric and with customers who have purchased my handmade items.

It is very exciting to me that fabric I sold someone gets to go into their project, or that something I made is going into someone’s home or as a gift to someone they care about. As a bonus, a positive review on Etsy from a customer is such a huge treat! I feel like I am living my tierneycreates tagline, “fusing textiles and smiles”.

I have considered from time to time – “why continue with the Etsy shop, it is extra work and you already work many hours in your full-time health care job?” Then I remind myself it is a fun hobby and the non-monetary rewards I receive from having the shop.

Speaking of customers – I met this wonderful woman through an Etsy transaction and I now follow her blog and consider her a new long distance friend – Martha’s Blog.

Here is the fabric she purchased from my shop (the entire remaining bolt, it is now sold out):

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AND – here is what she did with it (which blows my mind and makes me so glad I had the fabric available to sell her!):

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Here is a link to the post about this amazing quilt which was part of a her quilting guild challenge – Shapely Challenge Revealed.

I would have never imagined using that fabric in such a creative way. I am very inspired!

The Future

I am debating if in the future, once my current selection of fabrics are sold from my shop, whether to keep selling special fabrics.

On one hand, I really enjoy seeing what people make with the fabric they purchase from my shop and connecting with other crafters. On the other hand I am too small an operation to purchase fabric at the wholesale rates that a quilt shop would and there is a very small profit margin on the fabric I sell (it covers the gas to get it to the post office to ship, ha!).

However buying fabric to resell, does help finance any fabric I keep for myself from a beautiful bolt of fabric. If I do continue to sell fabric, I will only sell fabrics I want to use in my own projects.

Another option would be to sell fabric already in my personal fabric stash, but I have worked hard over the past couple of years to donate to charity thrift shops any fabric I do not absolutely love or do not have planned for any future project (see my post The Fabric Purge).

Also, I would not want to sell on my Etsy shop any fabric that I would now pause and think: “what the heck was I planning when I bought that?!!?!” I bet all quilters have fabrics in their stash that look like they were on hallucinogens (or other mind altering substances) when making their original purchase.

So that is the current story on this Etsy shop journey, thanks for reading. So far being an Etsy shop owner has been a fun, challenging and wonderful experience!