By Trees & Water : :

Today I continue with sharing my Criss Cross Diamond Quilt photographed right here in beautiful Potter County!



The fabrics I chose for my Craftsy class version, Pat Bravo's unique Artisan fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, had us heading into the woods. The rustic palette with shades of turmeric, raw sienna, burnt umber, deep denim blues and pine looked stunning surrounded by all the trees and water. It was so beautiful!





The pattern is a repetitive block, quilt as you go style, that is the final quilt I teach in my new Craftsy class, Quick Quilt As You Go! Using a combination of easy strip piecing for quick patchwork and my method of QAYG makes this complicated looking pattern so fast and simple, it's really amazing!

I actually timed myself making this quilt, just to get an idea of how fast it truly is. After all of my cutting was complete, including the batting squares you'll need and the patchwork strips that you'll create for the criss cross part of the design, each block took me between three to four minutes each. That's without rushing, just casually sewing while watching something on Netflix, as I do. That means that this twenty block quilt top, that finishes at about 52" x 65," took me less than an hour and a half to make!



If you're following me on Instagram you can click on either my hashtag for this quilt, #crisscrossdiamondquilt, the class hashtag #QuickQuiltAsYouGo, or look back through the blog to see the other versions I've shared of this pattern. They all look completely different, just from fabric selection. My very favroite part of this pattern is the patchwork criss cross that runs throughout the quilt. Next I plan to add four strips of patchwork with smaller diamonds forming at the corners. I can't wait to get started and sharing that one!



To finish I used more Artisan for my quilt backing, Betoken in Sparks. It's such a wonderful, earthy coffee shade of brown that I love, especially against the November landscape.



For the binding I used my own Wild & Free fabric print, Woven Path. I love a good stripey binding and this denim & white print worked perfectly to frame this one out!



I have two more QAYG quilts left to share! These aren't from my Craftsy class, although if you happen to take the class you'd learn how to make these as well! One is another in April Rhodes' Bound fabrics and one is in Modern Quilt Unlimited magazine on stands now!



While I was away at Quilt Market my husband ripped up the carpet in my sewing room and while it's been a ton of work putting it all back together, it's forced me to get rid of so much that I don't need. That's a very good thing! I'll be working on an Instagram destash I plan to have later this afternoon, around 1 pm EST. If you're interested, be sure to follow me @maureencracknell! Have a great day!!

♡ Maureen