Tag: quilter’s blog

Agriculture Report, Sunflowers!

Agriculture Report

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

What is an “Agriculture Report”? Well I was inspired by  @quiteayarnblog‘s ongoing series of posts titled “Agriculture Report” (and this title always cracks me up) that are actually updates of what is going on in her garden. I just had to adopt this same title for updates on what is going on in my garden/my “garden report“…

I know it is late in the season to be reporting on my garden but better late than never. My part of Colorado seems to have a short growing season and we’ve already had a freeze at night so my garden is done for the season but here is the story of what happened during the 2023 growing season.

THE PATIO GARDEN

In August I shared some photos from my patio garden where I was growing tomatoes, peppers, and herbs (I use Marigolds as natural pest control):

Well I ended up having a sort of decent harvest of tomatoes and for the first time I was able to grow FULL SIZE tomatoes instead of just cherry tomatoes. I also grew a couple Anaheim peppers. John even roasted one. I also grew a lot of basil and made pesto.

I felt like a FARMER (ha!) with my imaginarily large harvest (yes it was a little bit more than in the photo above, but not that much more). And as I mentioned John actually roasted the first large pepper I grew and added it to a salsa.

GIANT SUNFLOWER (YUP ONLY ONE)

In 2022 I grew bunch of sunflowers including a GIANT SUNFLOWER. I harvested the seeds from the giant sunflower with plans to plant as many as I could to have a mini field of giant sunflowers in 2023 (see post The Sunflowers!)

I felt so “rich” in giant sunflower seeds from this harvest I even shared some with friends.

So I planted a lot of these seeds (probably 1/2 the jar that was left from sharing with friends) and guess what:

I GOT ONE GIANT SUNFLOWER from all the seeds I planted:

And then when I went to harvest the seeds, I pull the head off the sunflower too soon and the seeds did not appear to be mature. I ended up putting the sunflower head in a paper bag upside after googling what to do when you screw up like I did, to let them mature more and dry out.

I don’t think it helped but I did go ahead and harvest what I had a couple weeks later:

So next year I’ll try and plant them and see what happens. I suspect nothing as the seeds are pretty thin and I do not think they will germinate. But I will try.

I might have to just start over again with some store bought giant sunflower seeds…

A Crafter's Life, Life in B&W, Outside Adventures!

Daily Walks – Neighborhood vs. Nature

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I mentioned in my October 6th post The House That Won Halloween, I am so happy that I can return to my daily walks and walk the distances I used to walk before my awful left ankle break in January.

I go either for a long walk through the surrounding neighborhoods, like the one I did when I discovered the extensive Halloween decorations I shared in the post The House That Won Halloween; or I go on a “Nature Walk” on the extensive trails behind the neighborhoods in the area I live.

The “Nature Walk” is a much longer walk and it is quite the different experience than walking through neighborhoods. Most of the time it is just me on the trail and all I hear is the rustling of leaves, birds, insects chirping, or the rustle of an occasional rabbit or squirrel rummaging around the foliage.

The deciduous trees are now changing color on my “nature walk” and I took some recent photos:

I really like this photo I recently took on my “nature walk”, it came out very “stylized” but I did nothing but snap the photo:

There are also lovely evergreen trees on my “nature walk”, here are is of one I edited with some filter I randomly discovered on my iPhone:

And finally, you know I couldn’t pass on an opportunity for some Black & White photography on my walk:

I do enjoy the “neighborhood walk” (faster) but it pales in comparison to the beauty and peace of the “nature walk” (longer). I appreciate having both options!

What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall: An “Upcycled” Work

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been itching to work with recycled textiles again and the other day I put together a collection of pieces to work with from my recycled textiles stash (recycled clothing, jeans, home decor fabrics):

I wanted to make a piece that is primarily recycled denim but also includes home decor fabrics in warm colors with lots of textures. I decided to revisit a piece I made in my early days of improvisational/art quilting (circa 2012/2013) where I was working with recycled silk and linen couture fabric samples – Flying Triangles:

Here is my design wall with the piecing I’ve been playing with this evening. Note it is late at night and I did not bring out the “ring light” I use for photographing pieces so the image is dark:

I am going to keep playing, I started out setting recycled fabrics in oranges in denim; and next I will use some browns and golds, and I’ll see what else feels right.

I’ll share more images in the future as the piece progresses and I’ll even take the photos with better lighting!

Upcycling: The act of taking something no longer in use and giving it a second life and new function. In doing so, the finished product often becomes more practical, valuable and beautiful than what it previously was.

UpcycleThat.com/Habitat for Humanity
tierneytravels

Bonjour Montréal (Part III)

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Time to finish up my three part series of posts about the trip my sister and I took a couple weeks ago to  Montréal, Québec, Canada. Please see posts for Bonjour Montréal! (Part I) and Bonjour Montréal (Part II) for the rest of the story.

THE VEGAN SUSHI EXPERIMENT

I love sushi but I rarely eat raw fish sushi, just the sushi rolls with smoked or cooked fish; or vegetarian rolls. Well while in  Montréal we discovered VEGAN SUSHI! One night we had dinner at Bloom Sushi and it was the best sushi I’ve ever eaten!

We sort of gorged ourselves on vegan sushi – the flavors were so amazing. (When I returned to Denver I found a vegan sushi place and John and I have since eaten there in downtown Denver twice. Who knew vegan sushi could be so delicious?)

If you are ever in Montréal I highly recommend Bloom Sushi even if you think it sounds weird to eat vegan sushi. In addition to the exquisite food the service was impeccable and the atmosphere was very zen, warm and inviting. My sister and I did not want to leave the place but it was eventually closing for the evening, ha!

NOTRE-DAME BASILICA

One morning we toured the breathtaking Notre-Dame Basilica and here are some of crazy amount of photos I took while we were inside:

Photos do not do it justice, so here is a video walk through I found on YouTube if you’d like to see more. I would say it is a mandatory tourist stop if you visit Montréal, even if you do not care for “churches”.

If you wonder what the massive pipe organ sounds like I found a video of it being played:

The outside was pretty awesome too, here are some photos from when we were on line waiting to get in (with all the other tourists!):

OTHER SIGHTS/ADVENTURES

We wandered the neighborhoods of Old Montréal, Downtown Montréal, Petite Italy, and a little of the Latin Quarter.

We had fun visiting many little shops, neighborhood eateries and bars. Below is an example of some tasty martinis we had.

The people of Montréal were so friendly and helpful. I brought along my terrible high school French and tortured the French-Canadians with it. Nearly everyone also spoke English so we got by just fine. I did get some giggles from my attempt at communicating in French and they quickly redirected me into an English conversation, ha! I did smile when I got mistaken a couple times for a local and the shopkeepers began speaking French to me.

This reminds me of years ago when my late husband Terry and I went to Denmark (to visit a friend); and then onto Amsterdam, Brussels, and Antwerp for a little Belgium beer holiday (we were really into Belgium beers at the time). While in Belgium, Terry a Napoleonic Era history buff, really wanted to visit Waterloo (Napoleon’s last stand). From Brussels we had to take a bus and then a train to Waterloo and NO ONE along the way spoke English, it was an all French speaking region of Belgium. I had to definitely pull out the very rusty high school French.

When we got on the bus first to get to the train, Terry and I could not sit together on the bus as there were only single seats available and so he sat in back. The gentleman sitting next to him spoke to him in French (Terry knew like little to no French) nearly the entire bus ride and Terry just kept eye contact and nodded. I kept looking back and saw that the guy seemed to think Terry was his new best friend and had no clue that he was not understanding a word he said! When we got off at our stop the guy wished him well in French and Terry nodded goodbye!

I teasingly asked Terry what they were talking about and he said he did not know but the guy was very chatty and seem to think they were having a very engaging conversation!

Okay so back to my Montréal trip. Bringing out my rusty high school French (which wasn’t even French-Canadian French) brought back that memory!

The best part of the trip was just hanging out with my sister and I look forward to our next sister adventure.

I’ll close this post (and this three part series of posts) with a sign that was out in front of Le Beau Marché where we’d by our groceries, that made me smile:

A Crafter's Life

The House That Won Halloween

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I know we are still a couple weeks out from Halloween but I was walking Mike this morning (more on that later) and discovered a house in my neighborhood that is winning Halloween in my opinion! Here are the photos which of course do not do their whole spooky vibe justice:

Can you imagine being a 6-year old kid on Halloween and your parents are trying to convince you to go up to that front door and ask for candy!?!? I would be like “H*ll to the No” (why yes, I would be swearing as a 6-year old kid if asked to go up to that front door – ha!).

Image credit: Avera Health

The family that owns this house has likely spent thousands of dollars on Halloween and clearly loves this holiday! The decorations are HUGE and very high quality, nearly (low budget) movie set quality on some pieces (like I said, the photos do not do it justice).

So earlier in this post I mentioned I was walking Mike. Some of you might remember in January 2023 I had a terrible twist/fall on ice and broke my left ankle in two places requiring surgery for my complex fracture. It’s been a long road to recovery but I am now regularly walking Mike again and able to go on long-ish walks. I am so grateful as it was the first time in my adult life (January to April 2023) that I could not go on daily walks. It was a rough time mentally, physically and even “spiritually” for me – going on daily walks is everything to me.

I’ll write more about Halloween later in this month, I’ve been thinking about some sweet memories from life in Oregon related to Halloween and will share in another post.

Publications, Quiltfolk Issue 28, Special Events

Preview of Quiltfolk Issue 28 – Colorado

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I shared in the posts Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I and Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part II, I will be one of the Colorado quilters featured in the October 2023 issue (Issue 28) of Quiltfolk Magazine.

Thanks to my friends K and L, I’ve recently discovered that Quiltfolk Magazine has posted a preview for the issue and if you’d like to see it here is the link – Issue 28 Reveal.

Here is a screen shot from that link of me (Tierney Davis Hogan):

I’ve been sent the draft article to review as well as a proof of the photos to assist with captioning but I haven’t seen the complete article yet – can’t wait!

Feature image credit: quiltfolk.com

Oregon Coast Adventures, tierneytravels

Time in Tillamook (and other places)

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Before July’s trip to the Oregon Coast gets to be too much of a blur in the place, I should probably continue my story about the trip. I am going to jump the end of our trip and the road trip to return from Newport/Oregon Coast to Portland, Oregon to fly home back to Denver. Also I want to share a little quilt shop tour of the “out of the way, down the road, in the back of the woods” quilt shop we came across in Tillmook, Oregon on our way back to Portland.

If you are just joining us you can catch the rest of the story in this series of posts (scroll down when you click the link to get to the 3 earlier stories from this trip) – Oregon Coast Adventures .

Here was our route from Newport, Oregon (on the coast) to Portland, Oregon (inland). We took a different route back to Portland than the one we took to the Oregon Coast (where we went through McMinnville) in the post Oregon Coast Adventures: First Stop -McMinnville, Oregon:

Let’s talk Tillmook first, as it was the one quilt shop stop I made while visiting the Oregon Coast area. Technically it is not on the coast as it is a little bit inland but we’ll pretend like it is the coast.

I asked John if we could stop in Tillmook on our way to Portland as it’s been many years since I’ve been to the Tillmook Factory/Tillmook Dairy Co-op where the dairy products I love (seriously yummy ice cream and cheese, etc.) come from.

On our way there I saw a sign for a quilt shop – Sew Little Time and I asked John to pull off the main highway and follow it. This took us into some back roads and I was beginning to get suspicious if there was actually a quilt shop there…

(Can you see the news headlines: DENVER COUPLE DISAPPEARS LOOKING FOR A QUILT SHOP IN RURAL TILLAMOOK)

But finally there was after driving deeper and deeper into the rural area – at someone’s house!

Once I convinced myself to walk in, I discovered a lovely little shop with wonderful and very helpful staff.

This is the shop where I found the fabric to make the bag from our friends K & M who just got the new lab puppy (see post Bag to Celebrate a New Lab! ):

The had older fabric lines and a lot of “country/rural life” themed fabrics but they are a small shop in a neighborhood and likely gear their fabric selections to what people in the rural community wanted (Tillamook has a large farming community and we saw some gorgeous farms as we drove around). The staff was so warm and friendly I would stop there again even if I am not sure what I would buy there (unless I had a friend who just got a new tractor and I was making a gift with tractor fabric…). The shop does not appear to have a website but here is an article about them from the Cannon Beach Gazette – With ‘Sew Little Time’, go quilt shopping.

After the quilt shop we headed to the Tillmook Factory/Tillmook Dairy Co-op and wandered around a bit and shopped in their giant “gift shop” of dairy delights!

Not for the lactose-intolerant!

Before we got to Tillamook, we stopped in Pacific City at the Pelican Brewing Company and had snack and a craft beer, then wandered along to beach.

Our flight back to Denver was in the early evening, and before we dropped our rental car back off at the Portland airport, we stopped in downtown Portland for an early dinner at Deschutes Brewery and a wander around Powell’s Books.

It was fun to take John to two places I love (Deschutes Brewery and Powell’s) for the first time!

I likely have another story or two in me about this trip so stay tuned for more Oregon Coast adventures in the future.

Fabric Scraps Obsession, What's on the Design Wall

Made Some Progress on “Strings Attached”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been busy preparing to restock by Textiles & Smiles Etsy shop and getting ready for another scrappy fabric quilting retreat at my house, I am having with a different set of friends. Below is the basket of scraps they can work from:

In between that, some road trip adventure with John, and the completion of a home renovation project (well John did most the work), I’ve managed to make a little progress on the scrappy solid color medallion wallhanging I’ve been working on – Strings Attached.

Since my previous post What’s on the Design Wall: Strings Attached, I’ve sewn all the section of the center medallion string pieced star together and done the first border:

There were so many Y-seams! It seamed like every seam (smile) was Y-seam – yikes! I got a little more proficient on Y-seams after doing so many in a row but I don’t have any great insight, tips or wisdom to impart, sorry.

Here is a reminder of what the completed quilt will sort of look like:

Fabric Scraps Obsession, ScrapHappy

ScrapHappy July 2023 – “Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White” is Done

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It’s the 15th of the month and time for my monthly “ScrapHappy” post as part of the ScrapHappy group I belong. At the end of this post I have a link to the other blogs participating in this monthly event in case you’d like to check out their ScrapHappy posts.

I finished the freeform scrappy log cabin quilt I first wrote about in this post – What’s on the Design Wall: Scrappy Log Cabin.  I pieced the blocks as a sample for the Scrap Happy Quilt Retreat I had in May. I got it back the other week from the longarm quilter, put on a binding, and earlier this week I finished sewing down the binding.

It is now hung in the wall of the upstairs guest bedroom where I have a B&W theme going on with some framed Ansel Adams posters, Black & White wall art, and B&W photos I’ve taken (on the walls not shown in the images below).

This quilt is very “scrap happy” as the quilt top was pieced entirely from my collection of black, white and gray scraps!

As promised, here are the bloggers that participate in the ScrapHappy monthly posting event, check out their blogs linked below for their ScrapHappy posts:

Kate @Tall Tales from Chiconia , Gun @Rutigt – G Adrian, Eva @bambisyr-evaj, Sue @From the Magpie’s Nest, Lynda @Life on the Farmlet, Birthe @Birthes rom, Turid @Den syende himmel, Susan @DesertSky Quilting, Cathy @nanacathydotcom, Tracy @It’s a T-Sweets Day!, Jan @The Snail of Happiness, Moira @The Quilted Snail, Sandra @Wild Daffodil, Chris @chrisknitsews, Alys @Gardening Nirvana, Claire @Claire93’s Blog, Jean @onesmallstitch, Jon @writinghouse, Dawn @DawnGillDesigns, Gwen @Deep in the Heart of Textiles/Textile Ranger, Sunny @The Adventures of Team Wil-Sun, Kjerstin @Quimper Hittys, Sue @Going Batty in Wales, Vera @lifebyacompassnotaclock, Edith @Edi’s Crafting Life, Ann @Ann F Stonehouse Quiltmaker, Dawn @myquiltprojects, Carol @Quilt Schmilt, Preeti @Sew Preeti Quilts, Debbierose @Sew Rosey, Nóilin @Paper, Pen and Mug, Viv @Where the Journey Takes Me 2, Karrin @Karrin’s Crazy World, Amo @View From Our Hill, Alissa @ Snakes & Cranes, Lynn @Tialys, Tierney @tierneycreates, Hannah @quietwatercraft

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

A Lovely Time in Loveland

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A month ago John and I decided to visit Fort Collins, CO for an overnight visit. We love Fort Collins and are entertaining the idea of moving there someday…perhaps.

On our way to Fort Collins, we stopped in the neighboring town Loveland, CO to visit John’s sister and her husband and go on a boat ride with her and her husband.

We had a lovely boat ride around the reservoir/lake area they live in (Colorado is far from the ocean but we do have rivers, reservoirs and lakes to sail on). Their adorable little dog Lacey came on the boat ride with us and had her own little bed on the boat:

After visiting with John’s sister and her husband we stopped at the Loveland Visitor Center to get John a sticker (he collects stickers to put on his toolbox) and took some photos of the awesome “Love” sign outside the visitor center:

(Did you spot John in the photo?)

Behind the “O” of LOVE, which is shaped into a heart, are “love locks” where people promising their love to each other have left locks:

You can see the theme of Loveland is “Love” and inside the visitor center they also had this sign that you could use as a background for photos:

Postscript

A Visit to Pink Door Fabrics

Before we got to Loveland, we first stopped in Frederick, CO to visit the retail store of Pink Door Fabrics, which is only open to the public 2 days a month.

Here are some photos from my wander around the retail store of Pink Door Fabrics, which is primarily an online shop specializing in Tula Pink fabrics.

I was well behaved until I got to this section of the shop:

I filled my bag really full and they did not mind!

A Year of Finishes - 2023, Quality of Life, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall: Go Boldly

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is a follow up to the June 23rd post What I’ve Been Up To and What’s on the Design Wall.

For the Quiltfolk Magazine photoshoot (see posts Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I and Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part II ), I wanted to have a quilt in progress up on the wall. The magazine editor had suggested it a day prior to the photoshoot and the quilt I had in my “UFO Stash” that came to mind were blocks of brightly colored “Crazy Curve Circles” that my friend D had given me a couple years ago (see June 2020 post Tweaks to the Tierneycreates Studio).

D already pieced a lot of the blocks; and I ended up piecing the rest of the sections together that she cut from the templates but had not pieced. She also gave me fabric and I made some additional blocks using the templates she also gave me.

Here is what the quilt currently looks like on my design wall – I’ve made a small version of the quilt pattern designed by Elisa’s Back Porch Designs:

There was a lot of piecing to get the whole quilt together – first the individual sections into a four patch, resulting in 16 blocks; and then sewing the 16 blocks together. I thought about making a larger quilt (I am so many blocks left over) but I just wanted to get this one done and move on to my other projects.

This quilt is part of the project A Year of Finishes – 2023, and it was mentioned in this February 15th post A Year of Finishes: Audit of Existing Projects, Part II as one of the outstanding UFOs I have in my stash.

I’ve decided to hand quilt it as a late Autumn/early Winter project, and use this dusty collection of hand quilting threads I bought at a sewing expo show in Seattle, WA early in my quilting days (2000?):

I think they are YLI threads.

So I am taking this quilt off the design wall and putting it away until the cooler weather when I’d want to have a quilt sitting on my lap while I hand quilt it.

So what to do with all the leftover blocks?

I’ve decided to make the large version of the quilt Circle Dance which includes both the larger “Crazy Curves” blocks (the one I made) and the smaller ones:

The pattern says “63 inches by 70 inches” but I think I can make it even larger with all the blocks I have left over. I will need to make the small “Crazy Curves” from the small template from the extra fabric D gave me.

I might start that in 2024 or 2025, who knows. I have so many projects in queue!

Next up on my project list is sewing on and then sewing down the binding for my black, white and gray scrappy freeform log cabin quilt – Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White (see post ScrapHappy June 2023: “Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White!”  if you’d like background on this quilt), which is back from the longarm machine quilter:

And to close out this post, here is my Human Manager, Mike (see previous post) who is irritated I was taking a photo of the quilt on my design wall and not playing with him and his bear.

A Crafter's Life, From the Archives, Special Events

From the Archives: Ladies Friendship Circle

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was randomly thinking about this memory the other day and thought I would re-post it. If you’ve been following my blog a very long time (at least since 2016) you might remember the post – The Ladies Friendship Circle (1931).

In 2013 I facilitated the completion of a quilt started in the 1930s and given as a gift to someone 80 years later (who was alive when the quilt was first started). Here is the story:

THE LADIES FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE (1931)  

82 years ago in 1931 (note this post was originally written in 2013) my friend’s MJ’s grandmother and her group of friends made a quilt top for MJ’s mother (the new baby in 1931). The quilt was never finished. MJ wanted to finish this quilt for her 82 year old mother who had kept it packed away in a chest for 80+ years and surprise her for Christmas.

After searching several quilt shops, MJ and I found the perfect backing and binding fabric at one of our wonderful Central Oregon quilt shops.  Then we had the quilt professionally longarm machine quilted.

MJ and I spent an evening sewing down the quilt binding to finish it. We were both snuggled under the quilt as we each worked on sewing down one end of the binding. MJ planned to surprise her 82 year Mother with the mind blowing Christmas gift of a lifetime – a quilt top put away since 1931 that has been turned into a quilt!

Something very special about this quilt: MJ’s Mom is the only person living from this time period of this dear group of family and family friends – so when she gets the surprise quilt for Christmas she will see the names of the long-passed very dear people she grew up with.

I warned MJ – when you hand your Mom the quilt at Christmas, it is going to be a “blow out the tear ducts moment”!

MJ presented her mother with the quilt for Christmas in December 2013 and yes there were many tears of joy. Imagine receiving a completed quilt that was started when you were a child, by people who loved you and are now are long gone.

MJ’s Mom passed away in mid 80s and I am so glad she got to enjoy this quilt before she passed.

Quilts are love (as most quilters know) and this quilt contained the “spirits” of the departed loved ones entwined in the quilt’s hand embroidered stitches. I liked to imagine these “spirits” being very pleased that their quilt was finally finished and given to the intended…even if it took 82 years…

A Crafter Needs to Eat, A Crafter's Life, Agriculture Report, Fabric Scraps Obsession, What's on the Design Wall

Bunch of Random Updates

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I had a couple brief updates and I thought I would spread them out into a bunch of brief blog posts but I am lumping them all together.

GO BOLDLY

An update on the quilt (which might end up more wallhanging size) that I mentioned in the post What I’ve Been Up To and What’s on the Design Wall, which I named “Go Boldly“:
I am now sewing the blocks together. There are 64 blocks and each need to be sewing into blocks of 4 to make them into 16 blocks to then sew together.

I am currently debating whether to make the quilt larger (I have enough leftover blocks to make 1 – 2 additional quilts or wallhangings) or leave as it is. I think I am going to just sew the 16 blocks (4 mini sections to make a block) together and then decide.

OH SCRAP – IT’S NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE

A little update on the freeform (or wonky as some say) log cabin quilt I discussed in this post – ScrapHappy June 2023: “Oh Scrap – It’s Not Just Black and White!” :

The longarm machine quilter (Sew Colorado Quilting) has finished quilting it and sent me some photos, here is one of them.

I actually picked up the quilt today from her and will do a post on it with more photos once I get the extra backing and binding trimmed (I like to do my own trimming) and decide on a binding. I am thinking about doing a “facing” on it (like you would do with an art quilt) as I plan to hang it on the wall.

COLOUR WHEEL

A quick follow up on this post The Colour Wheel Quilt is Done, about the color wheel quilt I made to use as a teaching aid when I give a workshop next year (September 2024).

By the way I will share more information about that workshop including the venue once that venue gets ready to publish its online catalogue listing the workshop. If that doesn’t happen before October 2023, then I’ll go ahead and share as I’ve shared it with the Quiltfolk article writer for Issue 28 that comes out in October so it will be publicly revealed then anyway!

I had put the quilt away until next year for the workshop but then I decided to find a place for it in my studio so I could enjoy it before then – here it is now on a wall in my studio that I rearranged to make room for it:

VARIOUS RANDOM INFORMATION

John who loves to cook, tried making Ramen for the first time the other night and it came out pretty good!

My yellow rose bush in my front garden is finally taking off and here is one of its lovely roses:

And finally, here is Mike and his “cousin” Goose both trying to via for John’s laps (Goose won) when John was visiting his Dad the other day.

Hmm, I just realized that technically Goose is Mike’s “uncle” not his cousin – ha!

Publications, Quiltfolk Issue 28, Special Events

Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part II

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I shared in Part I (if you are just joining us, see Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I), I was invited to be part of Issue 28: Colorado in the October 2023 issue of Quiltfolk Magazine.

I had an amazing Zoom video chat the previous Friday with Dr. Sharbeon Plummer, one of the Quiltfolk Magazine writers who will write the article about me; and then a very fun photoshoot inside and outside my home with the Quiltfolk Magazine photoshoot team.

I thought I would share some “behind the scenes” photos from the photoshoot that I took while the photographer was getting set up and/or the stylist was doing her styling magic.

Inside My House

The photo above is not a grouping of quilts to be photographed together, but rather a selection of quilts the photographer wanted to do individual close up details on. The first photo in the series of images above shows some of the photographic equipment they unpacked for the photoshoot.

Outside My House (Front & Backyard)

So that’s about it for now about this incredible opportunity.

As we get closer to the release of the October 2023 issue of Quiltfolk Magazine I’ll have some type of “social media” package with a preview of photos from the article I can share as a teaser and a discount coupon to share on my blog and Instagram for followers who would like to purchase a discounted copy of the issue.

The photographer and stylist set up some really cool photos and I cannot wait to see the outcome of the photoshoot. I also cannot wait to read the article of course!

If you’d like to see some additional behind the scenes photos check out the Instagram feed of the stylist @kimberleezacek (see her “Quiltfolk” reel) as well as the IG feed for Quiltfolk Magazine – @quiltfolk – which has a reel called “Issue 28” showing the amazing road trip by the photographer (Melanie) and stylist (Kimberlee) as they travel through Colorado meeting with quilters and photographing their homes and studios (as well as the beauty of Colorado).

A Crafter's Life, Publications, Quiltfolk Issue 28, Special Events

Quiltfolk Magazine Photoshoot, Part I

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is the follow up to my recent post: What I’ve Been Up To and What’s on the Design Wall.

I was invited to be featured in the October 2023 issue (Issue #28) of Quiltfolk Magazine.

On Friday June 16 I had my Zoom interview with one of the Quiltfolk Magazine writers; and and on Thursday June 22 I had a photoshoot at my home with one of the Quiltfolk photographers and one of the stylists.

So where do I begin? How about with a little background/history?

Quiltfolk Magazine is a quarterly magazine which features interviews and stories about quilters and quilting communities in a specific US state or region.

image credit: quiltfolk.com

I’ve been reading it and subscribing to it (on and off when I feel inspired to pay the annual subscription fee) since it’s first publication in October 2016 – which featured quilters and quilting communities in Oregon, the state I lived for 14 years before moving to Colorado.

First issue, image credit: quiltfolk.com

And I’ve been working on a quilt similar to the one on the cover since 2016! This cover inspired me to try out English Paper Piecing (EPP).

(I now have around 68 rosettes done, so I am getting close to the 99 to finish the EPP quilt.)

I love Quiltfolk Magazine, I have collection of past issues and each one feels like a beautiful ode to the art of quilting.

Check out this link to see the beautiful covers on these issues – Archive – Quiltfolk.

Okay so with that background perhaps you can imagine my shock, surprise and honor to have received this e-mail from the Editor in Chief of Quiltfolk Magazine on May 24, 2023 (excerpted and text condensed):

I am writing to you today because our team is currently in the process of planning an upcoming release, Issue 28: Colorado, and we came across your name and amazing work. We would like to know if you would be interested in being featured in our next magazine issue? First, a little about us: Quiltfolk is a 164-page, ad-free, print-only quarterly publication for quiltmakers and quilt lovers. We are a travel magazine as much as we are one about quilts. We go on the road four times a year to find America’s quilt stories, covering one state per issue. I’ve attached a PDF of our most recent release so that you can see how dedicated we are to producing a first-rate magazine for the national quilt community that we love. We were founded in 2016 and have been steadily growing ever since, now reaching tens of thousands of quiltfolk across the country. If you are interested in being featured in Quiltfolk, Issue Issue 28: Colorado, (and we hope you are!) please confirm by responding to this email. Then, next steps are as follows: One of our writers will reach out to schedule an email, phone or Zoom interview with you within the next three weeks. We will also be in touch to coordinate an in-person, socially distanced photo shoot with our crew. (The photography team consists of one photographer and their assistant. Occasionally, a writer may join them.) We are currently planning photo shoots between June 19th – 28th.

I stared at the e-mail for quite a while before my brain fully registered all the words! Quiltfolk Magazine, friggin’ Quiltfolk Magazine, which I’ve loved and read for years is inviting me to be in it!

Of course I replied “Yes”!

More to come in Part II…

Fabric Scraps Obsession

Scrappy Autumnal Splendor Back from Professional Quilting

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A follow up to the post What’s On the Design Wall: Scrappy Autumnal Splendor.

I picked up Scrappy Autumnal Splendor from the longarm quilter on Thursday, I’ve sewn on the binding and I am working on sewing down the binding and then the quilt will be finished!

I got a preview sent to me by Cara @sew_colorado_quilting (IG page) who did the longarm quilting. Here are the photos she sent me before I picked up the quilt:

I was beyond excited to pick up the quilt and had to take some photos on Thursday when I first got it from her (yes I was sitting in my car, opened up the package the quilted quilt was in, and posted photos to IG, ha!)

Here is the quilted quilt on my design wall and the back of the quilt draped over the chair in my studio:

After I finished fondling the quilted quilt (ha!), it was time to finalize my decision for the binding. I decided to go with a gold fabric that had also appeared as fabric scrap pieces in the freeform log cabin blocks, but I also had some yardage of the fabric.

Then the tedious task of sewing the binding onto the quilt:

And now I am sitting around sewing down the binding to the back of the quilt. Mike the Miniature Schnauzer is keeping me company:

And moved to nest in the quilt when I took a break and left the quilt on the sofa!

Yes, Mike does need a haircut, he gets one on Tuesday; and yes his paws are green as he was playing ball today in the freshly mown backyard and “naturally dyed” his fur green!

Fabric Scraps Obsession, What's on the Design Wall

What’s On the Design Wall: Scrappy Autumnal Splendor

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Follow up to the post What’s On the Design Wall: Scrappy Gold/Brown Log Cabin – Update.

Ok one more post about this quilt before it heads today to the long-arm quilter (I decided to “quilt by check” instead of do it myself!). I decided to name the free-form scrappy log cabin quilt I started during the Scrap Happy Retreat I had in June – “Scrappy Autumnal Splendor” as it reeks of Autumn in it’s color palette!

Here is what it looks like all pieced together:

The border (and lattice) is taupe Peppered Cotton which is a version of a “shot cotton” and there was potential for fraying so I stitched around the entire quilt top 1/8th inch.

After finishing the quilt top it was time to head to my yardage stash and see what kind of backing I could piece together (I was tempted to buy yardage of a single fabric for the back but darn it I am going to use up my stash, ha!):

And here are a couple of the fabrics I found:

Here’s a little peek of the crazy pieced backing I made with bold Autumnal colored fabrics with metallic highlights!

You’ll have to wait until I get it back from the long-arm quilter to see how the back came out (anticipation…smile).

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, tierneytravels

Guest Blog Post: The Fayetteville Friend’s Studio Project, Part III

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

tierneycreates Beastie back again continuing my series of posts of our trip to Fayetteville, AR to help our friend J unpack and organize her studio and hang out with our friend MJ who joined us.

If you are just joining us here are links to the previous 2 posts:

Guest Blog Post: The Fayetteville Friend’s Studio Project, Part I

Guest Blog Post: The Fayetteville Friend’s Studio Project, Part II

In the previous post I mentioned my run in with the cat Oscar while I was taking my dog Mikelet for a walk in the backyard. Tierney moved Mikelet and I to a safe location, the porch swing, just in case Oscar decided we were cat toys.

Mikelet got pretty cozy on the porch swing and was ready for belly rubs:

Mikelet was a very good dog during our trip and mainly laid about and slept while we worked on the studio unpacking and organization project.

Here is what J’s studio looked like by day 3 of the project. Tierney had made it her mission to get J’s sewing machine area cleaned up so J could sit and it and sew!

I even found a clean spot on the cutting/worktable in the center of the room:

On Day, Tierney, Mikelet and I had to head back to Denver but our friend MJ sent us this photo of a completely cleaned off worktable!!!

Amazing!

By the time we left every box was unpacked and nearly all the boxes were broken down and moved to the garage for future recycling.

Early in our project, Tierney came across this plaque in one of J’s boxes and hung it on the wall of the studio for motivation:

I guess it worked! But what really worked was the untiring and persistent efforts of J, MJ, and Tierney (and me cheering them on) “kicking #ss and taking names” on those boxes! They were quite the RELENTLESS team!

They didn’t just unpack boxes and organize the studio, they also did some fun stuff, but Tierney forgot to bring me along so I’ll let her tell you about it in another post.

J’s new home was really beautiful. So I will just close my series of posts with some photos of her lovely home and her amazing collection of art from J’s world travels (for example the ancient Egyptian themed framed quilt is from her trip to Egypt) . Also Tierney made J a little hostess gift, one of her drawstring bags, and that is in the photos below:

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Studio, tierneytravels

Guest Blog Post: The Fayetteville Friend’s Studio Project, Part I

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello this is tierneycreates Beastie, filling in for Tierney who has just returned from a couple days in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mikelet my miniature Miniature Schnauzer and I went with her, and we consulted/helped with the unpacking and organization of her friend J’s studio in Fayetteville.

(if you are new to this blog, my story is on this post –  I’m A Monster!!! and you can see all my posts at this link: Beastie Adventures).

Tierney and J’s Central Oregon based friend MJ also met up with us there (and Tierney and I got to fly on the same flight from Denver to Bentonville, AR as MJ had a connecting flight from Central Oregon).

J had moved from Central Oregon (where Tierney and I used to live) to Fayetteville, AR and then had a major life changes and did not have the time and chance to unpack and organize her quilting/art studio. She invited MJ and Tierney to visit her and MJ came up with the idea that we could also work on getting J’s studio to the point where she could do her art again.

Here I am on my way to Arkansas – Mikelet and I traveled in Tierney’s backpack:

After visiting with J and MJ a while when we first arrived in Arkansas, we headed upstairs to J’s studio to see what we were getting ourselves into…

Oh dear.

Looking around, I realized we’ve got a bit of work to do.

Well I went ahead and set up a temporary desk in the tissue box so I could blog about our project!

Next guest post I will show our progress, but for now I will close out this post with a funny sign J had in her studio:

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Sampler Quilts, What's on the Design Wall

“Sewing-Block” Resolved by Sewing a Block!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

My sewing “mojo” was hiding somewhere for a while and I had little desire to sew. I had a “sewing-block“. Turns out the best way to resolve it was to sew a block!

I’ve been distracted from time in my sewing studio by some recent travel, visits from out of town friends, and a couple challenging recent life events. A couple days ago I knew I needed to get my back to sewing (as there is just so much fun stuff to be made) and decided returning to working on my Tula Pink City Sampler (100 Modern Quilt Blocks) would be a good place to start.

I love this book!

So I made block number 31 (I’ve already made blocks 1 – 30, see post What’s On the Design Wall: Not Losing Momentum):

got the ball rolling…

Once you get started up sewing again, things get rolling, and I was able to make also blocks 32 – 40 over the next several days (my sewing was “un-blocked”!):

10 block recently completed

Today while taking photos for this post, I discovered I did not like the gray “frame” in one of the blocks (too overpowering):

see block with red arrow

So I redid it this morning with a red “frame”:

New block frame

Now I have 40 blocks out of 100 now complete!

Only 60 more to go (oh my…)

Not sure why my photos came out so dark from my design wall, I guess it was the lighting in my sewing studio this morning.

I am enjoying working from my piles of scraps selected for the 100 block sampler, and I’ve decided to just keep the piles out until I finish all 100 blocks.

I’ve been making a bunch of small scraps while cutting the fabrics for the 6.5 inch by 6.5 inch blocks and I plan to stuff pincushions like I did in this post – Stuffing it the Eco-conscious Way!

I plan to continue working on the blocks for the sampler and maybe whipping out a pincushion or two between sets of blocks if my tiny pile of scraps gets larger than my little basket for tiny scraps.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Trip to North Carolina: Quilt Shop Wander

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

The week before last, we returned to North Carolina for a week for my partner John’s business conference trip. Our previous trip to North Carolina was in August 2021 and here are the two blog posts from that trip: Wilmington, North Carolina in Black and White and Wilmington, North Carolina in Color.

We needed to return to Wilmington, NC for his work conference, but first we stopped for an evening and 1/2 a day in Raleigh, NC which I’ve never visited before. I will share a little about our trip to Raleigh in an upcoming post, but for this post I wanted to share photos of the quilt shop we stopped at during our drive from Raleigh to Wilmington, NC on Sunday January 30.

For a quilter, besides the thrill of returning home to fondle your new fabric purchases or completing a major quilting project, is there anything more awesome than wandering around a quilt shop you’ve never visited before? For me, it is one of life’s true pleasures!

I may not buy something at every quilt shop I visit but I love seeing the “creative potential” of the fabric, patterns, samples quilts, etc.

So for you, here is my wander around Cary Quilting Company in Cary, North Carolina:

And here is the very patient partner John, waiting while I wandered about the shop:

Hope you enjoyed that virtual wander, sorry you could not fondle the fabric with me!

The staff was very friendly and the wonderful woman who rang up my purchases (I bought a pattern), gave me this wonderful pin as a gift to welcome me to the shop and to North Carolina:

It can be worth chatting with friendly people in quilt shops!

Postscript

Before we went to the quilt shop, we stopped for an amazing seafood lunch at a Farmers Market in Raleigh called the State Farmers Market.  We ate at this friendly and amazing fish fry/seafood fry place called N.C. Seafood Market. 

Oh my goodness. We are “landlocked” in Colorado and do not get much access to fresh seafood (unless a Colorado restaurant has a system to fly in seafood fresh each day), so we were in “seafood heaven” at this place. 

The food was very reasonably priced and tasty is an understatement. It was so good that on our way back to Raleigh (we flew home to Denver via Raleigh) we stopped there again for lunch (and they recognized us and welcomed us back)!

I did not take any photos, I was just too excited! But here is a photo that I downloaded from Google Images from the restaurant to give you an idea of what our platter looked like:

Hmm…suddenly I am very hungry…

Next couple of posts I will share more about our trip to North Carolina.

Knit and Crochet Away!

The Itty-Bitty Hat and Fun Surprises in the Mail

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am covering two topics in this post:

  1. How the knitted hat I made from yarn I discovered in my stash turned out too small (follow up to blog post Hot Mess of Yummy Yarn); and
  2. The two awesome packages I discovered in my mail upon returning from vacation in Northern California.

THE ITTY-BITTY HAT

It been a while since I’ve knitted a hat and I appeared to have forgotten that I have to alter the pattern I use in order to accommodate my head (I have a lot of hair and perhaps a larger than average head).

Here’s the yarn I started with that I re-discovered while tidying up my yarn stash (two skeins intertwined):

Here is the hat in progress – I love getting to the double point needles section of knitting the hat:

And here is the itty-bitty hat (too small for my head):

The hat is cute and I guess will be enjoyed someday by someone with a smaller head!

I do have leftover yarn from the first skein and I’ve already began knitting another hat (this time with the pattern modified for my head) with the end of the first skein and then into the second skein. So I’ll see how that one comes out and if I can model it for you (or if it will also become a gift…).

FUN SURPRISES IN THE MAIL

Speaking of gifts, I recently returned from a long weekend visiting friends in Northern California (and while I was there I nearly finished knitting the first too small hat). When I picked up my mail on return to Denver, I discovered not one but TWO awesome surprises in the mail!

SURPRISE ONE was from my blogging buddy in the Netherlands Emmely @Infectious Stitches filled with delicious Dutch treats:

She also included a handmade artist roll for my colored pencils – I can do some coloring on the go!

Just starting to load my pencils on to the roll

Emmely recently released/published a new foundation paper piecing pincushion pattern and I got to be a pattern-tester on it. You can check out her blog post about it – New Directions: Pattern tester makes!. I did not post about it because I was not over excited about the boring version I made of the pincushion and I want to make a better version before I post about it. I do not like foundation paper piecing so we thought I would be a good tester. Turned out it was easy (and a very well written pattern) and I whipped through making a (boring color choice) pincushion. The other pattern tester and Emmely made beautiful pincushions (as you will see if you check out her post I have linked above).

Oh and in case you are curious, I’ve already opened some of the Dutch treats (yum).

SURPRISE TWO in the mail was a wonderful collection of fabric scraps from my blogging buddy Chela @Chela’s Colchas y Mas.

I know I will figure something fun to make with these fabric someday!

It was a nice way to return from “holiday”. I will share some of my adventures in Northern California in a future post or two.

Guest Blogger, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Guest Blogger: What Happens at Dog Camp, Stays at Dog Camp

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer that manages Tierney and her partner John (who I will refer too as “the humans”), guest blogging for this post.

I borrowed Tierney’s laptop to write my post

I heard the other guest blogger that lives in my house, the tierneycreates Beastie, was going to be posting soon and I wanted to get my post in before hers. She is the one with that fake schnauzer “Mikelet”. I cannot believe the humans named him after me.

Only one real schnauzer in this house!

But we don’t need to discuss our guest blogger rivalry, I do not want to interfere with your enjoyment of my excellent post.

So if you’ve been following my female human’s blog, you’ve noticed that she’s been up to a lot of traveling since late Spring. You might wonder what becomes of me when she and the male human go out of town (or into “storage”, see post “Human Storage” and Airport Lore).

Well I go to Dog Camp.

A couple years ago the humans found a family who only watches small dogs (the best kind in my opinion) at their home; and they live near us.

I really like Dog Camp because they throw the ball for me as much as I want, there are lots of fur people my size there, and they give me special treats with my meals such as mashed sweet potatoes and chicken.

But what I really like are all the cute little female dogs to hang out with there. I am a single (and yes neutered) guy and I like hanging out with the girl dogs, what can I say.

Now personally I believe that: “what happens at dog camp, stays at dog camp”, but the lady who runs Dog Camp, keeps taking photos of my exploits and sending them to the humans! Is there no privacy??!?!

Since the humans already know, I thought I would share some of the photos and video from previous dog camps. I sort of have a thing for cream-colored girl dogs and here are a couple of my girlfriends from previous dog camps:

But sometimes the girls go a little crazy over me (which is understandable) as in this incident below captured by the female human that manages Dog Camp:

Ladies – there is enough of me to go around – stay calm!

But that is enough, I have to keep some secrets from Dog Camp.

My male human is trying to help me fend off the girl dogs by going incognito with some shades for next time:


A Crafter's Life, Agriculture Report

Awesome Surprise Treats in the Mail!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Usually my blog post stories are running a couple weeks behind (at least) in what is currently going on in my life. My @tierneycreates Instagram is more up to date. Well this blog post is actually current with my life like my Instagram.

I returned home from nearly a week in Wilmington, North Carolina with my partner John (who was on a business trip) and guess what I had in the mail?

A YUMMY surprise all the way from South Africa!

My longtime blogging buddy Mariss (@fabrications) back in June sent me the goodies pictured above which included two of her handmade pin cushions, and 2 months later they arrived!

In addition to the pin cushions, I was surprised with some amazing Nelson Mandela fabric!

Bet you do not see this everyday!

Of course it is too precious to use, so maybe I will just frame it. Okay, okay, maybe I will use it in a project some day…maybe…

I’ve been blogging for nearly 8 years and I’ve met some pretty incredible and talented people from all over the world. Several of those people have been so generous in sending me treats in mail over the years. I’ve sent out treats also of course. You all know who you are and I so appreciate you!

And I am going to be putting together some special treats for Mariss in the near future (for their 2 months+ journey to South Africa)!

Postscripts

One of my blogging buddies @quiteayarnblog has an ongoing series called “Agriculture Report” whose title always cracks me up because it is an update of what is going on in her garden.

In the same vein, I thought I would share my own “Agriculture Report” and share what to me is some exciting news: 

  1. I was able to grow enough basil to make Pesto
  2. I was able to grow enough tomatoes to make ONE dish

You might be wondering: “why is this exciting” or “why is this news”?!?!?

Well after living many years in places such as Seattle and Central Oregon where growing “crops” was not that challenging (especially not in Seattle where it seemed like you could just throw seeds on the ground in passing and you’d have a bumper crop of whatever), I’ve been living in Denver, Colorado where growing things is challenging. We have a short growing season. 

Last year I tried my first patio garden on the upper deck with meager results. This year, and perhaps it was because we had an unseasonably large amount of rain, I had good (well for Denver) results!

Here is my “bumper crop” of basil (enough for ONE batch of Pesto):

And here is my “bumper crop” of Roma and Cherry tomatoes (enough to make ONE dish):

Now it could just be me because when I first moved to the Denver area I took Mike the Miniature Schnauzer to a groomer near Boulder, Colorado and she had an amazing garden. I might just need to learn how to garden here!

Then I can provide better “Agriculture Reports” in the future (smile).

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Now it’s time for Part II on my 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop Adventures, which started with the post Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I.

Our first Colorado Quilt Shop Hop adventure began in Fountain, CO and in this post we have made it to Pueblo, Colorado for the second leg of our adventure.

But first let’s talk about this:

This is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer working a quilt shop staff member at Stitcher’s Garden in Pueblo, CO for treats! Curiously they happen to have a bag of doggy treats in the back stockroom and Mike was fed many of them!

It was very warm during the shop hop and we wanted to bring Mike the Mini Schnauzer on the road trip but not leave him the car, so it was backpacking into the quilt shops for him!

All the shops were “dog-in-a-backpack-friendly” and I think he gained a couple pounds from treats during the shop hop!

Luckily there we some nice local town parks or scenic walks that my partner John could take him on if I needed some extended time in any quilt shop. Mike enjoyed riding around in the backseat of the car with this cozy blanket and the cooler filled with our sparkling waters, soda, and snacks for roadtripping. (He just wished he had opposable thumbs so he could open the cooler when he wanted and grab his own snack!)

The first quilt shop we visited in Pueblo was Stitcher’s Garden and here are some photos from that shop so you can have a virtual shop hop experience:

Did you see the Batik fabric cowboy boots in one of the above photos? Those made me laugh! They were not wearable but they would be a funny decorative/storage item for your quilting room! And did you notice the giant bag of treats the quilt shop staff member had in her hand while she was petting her new friend Mike?!?!?!

So far our quilt shop hop was going well until….

After our visit to that first quilt shop in Pueblo, CO, my understanding was that we had one more quilt shop in Pueblo on the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop but when my partner John put the shop’s name “First Stitches” into his Google Maps the directions said the shop was in Canon City, CO. So we listened to Google Maps instead of our COMMON SENSE and headed out 41 miles to Canon City (do you see where this is headed…not in the right direction…).

The staff at the First Stitches quilt shop were warm and friendly and when I asked for them to punch my Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop ticket (which gives you credit for visiting each shop) they said: “Oh we are not participating in the shop hop, our ORIGINAL SHOP in PUEBLO is participating”.

Oh my.

So we drove back to Pueblo, tried Google Maps again and found the correct shop.

But, I had a lovely time at the wrong shop and here are photos from the First Stitches quilt shop in Canon City, CO:

I even bought some beautiful Ruby Star Society butterfly fabric at the unnecessary-stop-quilt-shop. John felt bad about the accidental side trip but it was just as much my fault as his for not using that thing called COMMON SENSE and double checking the Rocky Mountain Shop Hop quilt shop list!

After going to the correct shop which I quickly ran into, go my shop hop “passport” stamped and ran out because at this point we were so hungry, we went to the Riverwalk in Pueblo lunch, which was more beautiful than I anticipated.

I’ll save that and our next quilt shop adventure along the shop hop for my next post.