Flower Child Journal Covers : :

I have a new Summer sewing obsession: Flower Child Journal Covers!





While brainstorming Flower Child LookBook projects that would showoff each pretty Flower Child print, fabric journal or notebook covers were at the top of my to-make list! For my LookBook projects, I like to recreate and use a combination of my own tutorials with those created by other makers in our community to share and link up to. A quick Pinterest search landed me on my friend Svetlana's blog: s.o.t.a.k handmade! Svetlana is incredibly talented and I was confident that I could trust her tutorial to be well written and easy to execute, so I gave it a go and I was hooked! Recognize this project from the LookBook?



Since this first one, I've been experimenting with my own ideas for making these journal covers and as a result my stack keeps growing! These covers are all designed to fit the standard composition notebook that are widely available, although I think I've cleaned out every store that carries them in this little town!



To add a bit of the boho flair that I love so much, I added a length of my handmade Flower Child Twine tied around a few of them. This twine is another addictive project that I shared in the LookBook! It's a wonderful, simple project perfect for keeping your hands busy when you're not able to sew. I definitely recommend that you give making fabric twine a try!




For the Journals that feature my Sisterhood print, I created a quilted patchwork panel, similar to the Journal Cover free pattern that Sharon Holland shares on her blog. The main difference in the covers that I made verses those that both Svetlana and Sharon have shared is that I quilt mine to a layer of Hobbs cotton batting and my measurements and instructions differ slightly. Below you can see all the variations I have tried so far. The options are endless!

For these two I used a modified version of Svetlana's tutorial that include a feature fabrics, a contrasting fabric for the spine of the notebook, and a lining fabric. Such a great way to show off my Flower Child Meadow print!

These Quilted Whole Cloth Journal Covers are my favorites yet! I'll be sharing a tutorial for making these on the Janome blog later this month or early next month, as part of the 2018 Sewing Camp with Janome happening ALL Summer long, where we'll share fun, skill-building projects each week that are designed specifically for children in mind. I think these journals are perfect!









And, since I already have several finished and I'm totally obsessed, I've decided to offer them FOR SALE for just $22 each! I'll be adding them to my Etsy Shop or you can leave me a comment here or email me anytime at maureencracknell@hotmail.com if you're interested!

Thanks in advance for your support and for stopping by! xo Maureen

The AGF Community Sampler!

I'm so excited to share the AGF Community Sampler with all of you today!



When Sharon and I were planning out this year's sew-along, we reached out to Art Gallery Fabrics to invite them to sponsor our event. They happily signed on as a generous sponsor, offering several bundles for us to Giveaway, and we were extra thrilled when the talented ladies who make up the AGF Team let us know that they planned to follow along and make a Community Sampler quilt, as well!

Throughout the sew-along AGF has shared there beautiful blocks using Art Gallery's Splendid Fusion collection. How could there sampler be anything but gorgeous with this colorful, pretty collection!



Each week, in addition to seeing the blocks made by Sharon and all of you who joined us, I so looked forward to seeing AGF's beautiful Splendid Fusion blocks and which of the AGF Team members would be stitching it up with the help of Meli, who took the lead with this sew-along!



It was so nice to see all these happy faces and their gorgeous blocks. For some of these ladies, it was their first time sewing a quilt block! Be sure to check out the AGF Blog to see their Sampler posts and to read a little bit about each of the AGF Team members who joined the sew-along. It was great to get to know them all a bit better throughout the Community Sampler!



Their Splendid Fusion blocks are SO pretty, it's impossible to choose a favorite!



I'm so in love with this quilt top and I can't wait to see how it looks quilted!



Happy Monday! xo Maureen

The Community Sampler Grand Finale GIVEAWAY!

Each Friday, throughout the Community Sampler sew-along community event that Sharon Holland and I have hosted together, we lined up a new, special Giveaway with one of our amazing, participating sponsors! If you happened to miss the launch of our Community Sampler you can follow this link for all the info to make your own Community Sampler anytime!

Art Gallery Fabrics  *  Aurifil  *  Bloc_Loc Rulers  *  Fat Quarter Shop  *  Omnigrid  *  Lady Belle Fabric  *  Dritz  *  Hobbs Batting

Today's Community Sampler Grand Finale Giveaway sponsors are Art Gallery Fabrics, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Quilt Batting & Maureen Cracknell!

Art Gallery Fabrics was started in 2004. Since then creativity, beauty, and design have been their passions, and to this day they have not changed, bringing a chic and modern perspective to the quilting industry. When it comes to designing a fabric collection AGF always keeps originality and uniqueness on the top of their list. AGF has the pleasure of working with a talented fabric designers who create enticing color palettes and artful, intricate prints that make collections that are one of a kind. Art Gallery designs modern fabrics that keep up with ongoing trends and at the same time it encourages customers to use new colors and patterns so they venture out of their usual comfort zone. Art Gallery Fabrics believes strongly in the quality of the fabric and that is transcended in their superior thread count and fine weave. This makes their premium cotton as soft and smooth you can get. You really feel the difference with just one touch!

Be sure to follow Art Gallery Fabrics on their --

Blog  *  Facebook *  Instagram  * Pinterest  *  YouTube

For the Finale Giveaway, Art Gallery Fabrics is offering TWO gorgeous ten-piece fat quarter bundles with prints from various AGF designers!

Aurifil is a wonderful thread company dedicated to developing amazing, new products based on quality and solutions. Established in 1983, Aurifil is an accomplished Italian company based near Milano, with a full- grown experience in producing superior quality threads for professional and domestic quilters. The company headquarters is the ground where new ideas generate original items, always more refined and advanced, to provide assistance to all the quilting needs through a wide range of threads in several weights & accessories. Aurifil's success is based on developing projects carefully, always looking for high quality and great style, with a commitment to create contemporary products that will appeal to everyone!

Aurifil.com  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  We hope you enjoy visiting Aurifil!

For the Finale Giveaway, Aurifil is offering the lucky winner the Maureen Cracknell Bohemian Garden Aurifil Thread Collection! This hand-selected set of threads includes TWELVE large colorful spools of Aurifil thread, in 50wt 100% cotton, in colors chosen to coordinate with my Art Gallery Fabric collections!

Hobbs Quilt Batting has manufactured high-quality batting for hobbyist, commercial, art and show quilters since 1978. They're proud to come from a family of quilters and are committed to providing the same quality Hobbs batting that provide to their own family of quilters. At Hobbs Batting, they never forget that quilts are gifts from the heart - an expression of love, commitment and caring for a specific recipient - or an expression of artistry and skill - artistry and that's submitted and judged in quilt shows and events around the word - or both! At Hobbs they're committed to doing their part to enhance our #JoyofQuilting!

Hobbsbatting.com  *  Blog  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  We hope you visiting Hobbs Quilt Batting!

For the Finale Giveaway, Hobbs is offering the lucky winner a generous $100's worth of Hobbs Batting!Queen size package of their Tuscany Silk batting! Both Sharon and I LOVE using Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting that is soft and drapes like no other batting. The luxurious feel is ideal for quilts, with it's natural ability to breath, making it an excellent choice for airy, lightweight quilts and coverlets!

Maureen Cracknell is a self-taught artist living in beautiful Potter County, Pennsylvania, a proud wife and mother, Art Gallery Fabrics designer since 2014, Crafty Instructor, Aurifil thread designer, Janome girl, and blogger here at Maureen Cracknell Handmade where you'll find lots of sewing + quilting inspiration! I love having you visit me here, receiving a comment is even better - so please do both often!

Blog  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  Bloglovin'  We hope you enjoy following along!

For the Finale Giveaway, the lucky winner will receive this 20-piece Fat Quarter bundle from my brand new Art Gallery Fabrics collection, Flower Child!




WOW!!! This Grand Finale Community Giveaway is quite the prize! Sharon and I send a BIG Thank You to all of the sponsors who have generously offered their products in our Grand Finale Giveaway and to all of the wonderful sponsors that offered amazing prizes throughout the Community Sampler sew-along!

Enter to win! 

Here's how,

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (one entry)
2. Visit and follow the participating sponsors! Just let me know that you do by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
3. My followers get a third entry! If you follow here, on Instagram, or on Facebook just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Whether by Instagram, tweet, Facebook, pin, blog, etc... (optional extra entry)

That’s 4 possible entries! Enter now through Monday, June 11th at 4pm EST! The winner will be picked next week at random and I will announce their name at the bottom of this post, here on the blog.

* Note * This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment! 

In addition, be sure to stop by my Instagram for a chance to win our Community Sampler Instagram Grand Finale Giveaway that includes the Sharon Holland Signature FQ Bundle, Sharon's Color Story Aurifil thread collection, TWO Art Gallery Fabrics 10-piece fabric bundles, and $100 worth of Hobbs Batting prize pack! How cool is that -- TWO chances to win two amazing prize packages!



A BIG thanks to all who joined the Community Sampler sew-along and to those who entered our Finale Giveaway! The lucky , random winner of this blog prize package is commenter, Beach Quilter! Congratulations!! Please check your email for a message from me!  xo Maureen  

Community Sampler Week #16

It's the final week of the Community Sampler sew-along!



For those of you that are new to my blog, Sharon Holland and I have been co-hosting this block-of-the-week community sew-along for sixteen weeks. You can visit my Community Sampler Page above in my tabs bar to retrieve all of the released PDF's to make your own Community Sampler anytime!



For the past Fifteen weeks Sharon and I have released a new PDF each Wednesday that includes a new sampler block with all of the fabric requirements and instructions needed for each, and ended last week with a PDF on finishing, that includes step by step instructions for finishing up our quilts!

This week we've reached the finale of our quilt-along and I'll link below to my Community Sampler Page, where all of the PDFs will remain for those of you still finishing up your quilts, or for those of you who are new here and would like to make your very own!



For my Community Sampler I used my Love Story fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, with four coordinating colors AGF's Pure Element solids in Grapefruit, Sienna Brick, Denim Blue and Mediterraneo. I'm so happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to have it quilted!





My co-host Sharon finished her Community Sampler quilt with quilting on her home machines and it is so gorgeous! I've been sending all of my non quilt-as-you-go quilts out for longarm quilting for the past couple of years. I could never achieve the look of a beautiful allover floral and geometric quilting pattern that I prefer, so my plan is to send my Community Sampler out to Lady Belle Fabrics who will be adding longarm quilting services to her wonderful fabric shop this month! I'm so excited!!



To prepare my quilt to send to Brooke at Lady Belle Fabrics, I made sure my quilt top was trimmed to size and I pieced together my quilt back to send for her to longarm quilt with an edge to edge quilting design. Both batting and thread options will be included in Lady Belle Fabrics new quilting service, so there is no need to send those things. Brooke has already quilted a few of my quilt tops and I'll be sharing those this month, as well as all the details with those of you looking for a wonderful longarm service to use. You're going to LOVE the quilts she recently finished for me! I can't wait to photograph them to share!

Last night Kevin and I took my quilt out for a few new photos to my favorite spot. The sun was fading fast, but I snapped a few nice, new shots and a pretty video that I'll share in my Instagram stories later today, so be sure to stop by my Instagram to see!





I'm so excited to see how our quilts will look finished! As always, when you share on Instagram use the hashtag #CommunitySampler and be sure to tag @sharonhollanddesigns and myself @maureencracknell so we can be sure to see your beautiful Community Samplers!

Using #CommunitySampler hashtag will also automatically enter you in the weekly IG Giveaway pool! Remember that your Instagram account does need to be a public account for your post to show up in the Instagram hashtag pool. But please don't worry, if you don't have Instagram or you'd like to keep your account private, we will also be hosting the same giveaway prize, alternately between Sharon's and my blog, so you can choose how and where to enter each week!



Be sure to check back here on Friday for this week's Community Sampler Grand Finale Giveaway! You won't want to miss this one!!

xo Maureen  

A Flower Child Chained Nine Patch Tutorial by the AGF Studio!

It's no surprise that I'm a huge Art Gallery Fabrics fan! I'm one of their full collection designers and I love this job more than I could ever share. But before becoming a designer for AGF, I was a huge fan of the brand. Their fresh modern fabrics, the beautiful quality of their substrates and their fun marketing style is so special. In my opinion, Art Gallery brings something truly unique to the industry that I'm honored to be apart of. I hope, like me, that you feel that there's something exceptional about what AGF offers!

A peek of my personal AGF studio stash...



What you may not know is that there is a team of women who work for a division of Art Gallery Fabrics know as the AGF Studio. This group of ladies are so, so talented! They're the ones who keep up the AGF Blog and social media accounts, who plan and implement the amazing International Quilt Market booths, who create projects for our collections and Lookbooks, and so much more! Over the years that I've been an AGF designer, I've been able to become friends with many of them and I hope if I share more of their work here, that you will enjoy getting to know them, too!

AGF at Spring International Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon May 2018...



Today I want to share with all of you an AGF Studio tutorial for a Chained Nine Patch quilt block featuring prints from my Flower Child collection -- Sisterhood, Sprinkled Petals Sun, Blooming Ground Luscious and Pixie Dust Glow!



On Art Gallery Fabrics YouTube channel you can find a huge collection of quilt block video tutorials, called the AGF Quilt Block Collection. Be sure to visit both the AGF Blog post where Meli, a super sweet AGF Studio designer, shares all the details behind this most recent addition to the collection, HERE, as well as the YouTube video for this pretty Flower Child fabrics block!



If you give this block a go, be sure to add the quilt block collection hashtag #AGFQuiltBlockCollection and my collection hashtag #FlowerChildFabrics when you share! We can't wait to see!



Happy sewing, friends! xo Maureen

Dixie Belle Paint: LOVE in Drop Cloth!

A couple of weeks ago I introduced Dixie Belle Paint Company as a new sponsor here on the blog! I'm so excited to be working with them by sharing the before and after projects that I'll be creating for both my sewing studio and home, and I hope these posts inspire you to give this paint a try. I am completely obsessed! Ever since my first Dixie Belle paint project, I've been collecting things to paint and I'm excited to share my newest project today!



So, how many of you love to go thrifting or keep your eye on the local classifieds and forums for used furniture and collectables?

I'm guessing that many of us quilters share this passion, too! Thrifting has always been a hobby of mine, but it wasn't until I discovered Dixie Belle Paint that I started looking at badly beat up old furniture and could imagine how pretty a piece could be with just a quick paint job. Today's pedestal table project is a perfect example! I discovered it on the local Facebook Marketplace for just $40, but with mismatched wood-stained leaves, chipped veneer and lots of dings and stains, the only way I could imagine bringing new life to this old table is with Dixie Belle! Just check out the before of this one...





Pretty bad, right? I knew right away that I wanted a clean and bright shade of white for this project and while I was searching through Dixie Belle's most popular paint colors, I saw their Drop Cloth at the very top. I decided to give this color a try and I'm so glad I did!





One of my favorite things about taking on these new paint projects is that my daughter helps me, because Dixie Belle is non-toxic with no VOC's and is so easy to use. Honestly she might be better at painting furniture than I am! When we paint together, I typically share on my Instagram stories, so be sure to follow along. We have a lot of fun and with Summer vacation just beginning, it's the perfect time for Haila and I to make these before and after projects a regular habit!

This photo shows the table at my studio just after we had finished up our painting...



Such a huge difference, we are so proud! The Drop Cloth Chalk Paint color easily covered up all of the table's flaws, but we made sure to leave a little of it's character showing through.

I'm so excited to have a white table in my studio now to photograph things on! I love color and I love natural wood, but more and more I love the clean look of things photographed against a white background. Especially when showing off new fabrics, so this table is the perfect addition to my sewing studio!





I hope this project inspires you to tackle a before and after paint project of your own. I'm so amazed at how a newly painted piece of worn out furniture can completely transform a space!

Thank you so much for stopping by today to see what I'm up to, it means a lot! xo Maureen