A Community Sampler Giveaway with Fat Quarter Shop!

Each Friday, throughout the Community Sampler sew-along community event that Sharon Holland and I are hosting together, we've 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 and can join us anytime - it's never too late to jump in!



Today's featured Community Sampler sponsor is Fat Quarter Shop!

My sponsor the Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberly began her shop as a side business while still working a corporate position, cutting, packing and shipping right out of her house during evenings and weekends. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop's reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. Over the past few years a few more people have joined the staff! As a team, they continue to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more. And they will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service!

SHOP  *  PINTEREST  *  TWITTER  *  BLOG  *  FACEBOOK  *  YOUTUBE

We hope you enjoy visiting Fat Quarter Shop!

This week the Fat Quarter Shop is offering the Harvest Bountiful Fat Quarter Bundle that includes TEN fresh, earthy prints designed by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics! You can find the Bountiful collection in a variety of bundles, as individual prints and quilt kits available HERE at Fat Quarter Shop!



Exciting news!

Sharon and I are also excited to share that Fat Quarter Shop has Sharon's next Art Gallery Fabrics collection, Signature already listed as a pre-order in their shop! Note that Signature is not a part of the giveaway prize, we just had to share the news and can't wait to share more about this new collection in the weeks ahead! Be sure to follow the link to FSQ to check out this beautiful new collection!



Enter to win!

Here's how,

Since Sharon and I are taking turns hosting Community Sampler Giveaway Fridays, this week I'm sending you to Sharon Holland Design's blog to enter!

A BIG thanks to all of you who are joining the Community Sampler sew-along and to those who enter our Giveaway! Have a great Friday and weekend! xo Maureen

Tallinn Fabrics Blog Tour : :

Today is my stop on Jessica Swift's blog tour for her colorful collection, Tallinn for Angles by Art Gallery Fabrics, a division for AGF! Tallinn is inspired by Jessica’s travels through Eastern Europe and is a playful take on the picturesque Estonian villages, combined with quirky, colorful folk motifs. This collection is so much fun and I hope my pillow project inspires you to sew with Tallinn!



When Jessica asked if I would like to stitch up something with these beautiful fabrics as part pf her first fabric collection blog tour, of course I said yes! She has quite the list of talented designers who have joined in, so be sure to visit the list of makers below to see more wonderful Tallinn sewing project!



Thursday April 19 – Mathew Boudreaux | Mister Domestic
Friday April 20 – Katie Skoog | Simple Life Pattern Company
Monday April 23 – Sharon Holland
Tuesday April 24 – Eleri | Sew and Tell Project
Wednesday April 25 – Paola Baker | Love of Fabrics
Thursday April 26 – Maureen Cracknell
Friday April 27 – Alexis Wright | My Sweet Sunshine Studio
Monday April 30 – Isabelle Selak | South Bay Bella Studio
Tuesday May 1 – Cassie Massolia | Lily Shine Creates
Wednesday May 2 – Becca Plymale | Sunflower Seams
Thursday May 3 – Alisa Kutsel | A Stitch In Between
Friday May 4 – Sharon McConnell | Color Girl Quilts
Monday May 7 – Karen O’Connor | Lady K Quilt Designs
Tuesday May 8 – Sarai Schuk | Sarai’s Hobbies
Wednesday May 9 – Elise Baek | Elise & Emelie
Thursday May 10 – Jessica Swift
Friday May 11 – Gwyn LaSpina
Monday May 14 – Loni Jakubowski | Havin Sew Much Fun



For my project I used mostly prints from the Faabula colorway, made up of pretty red-orange, sky blue and navy, that to-me felt very primary and just perfect for a nursery, toddler room, library or play space for any little boy or girl!



This is a new quilt as you go pattern that I shared a few months back, Friendship Braids QAYG. I've made a quilt, holiday stockings, bags and pillows using this pattern and I plan to share a tutorial very soon! If you enjoy the Herringbone QAYG technique that I teach in my Craftsy class and use so often, then you'll love this new braided pattern!





To make this 18" square pillow I started with two cotton batting pieces measuring 10"x19" that I pieced until covered with 2.5" strips of Tallinn prints. Once my batting rectangles were completely covered with fabrics, I trimmed them up to 9.5"x18.5" and sewed them together to finish as this quick, happy pillow with an envelope style back in an AGF heavyweight denim.









I hope you're inspired by my stop on the Tallinn blog tour! Be sure to follow along by visiting the list of makers above and on Instagram by following the hashtags #TallinnFabrics and #TallinnFabricsBlogTour!

xo Maureen

Community Sampler Week #10!

Welcome to a new block release day of the Community Sampler sew-along!



This week's release is for block number NINE of the Community sampler! For those of you that are new to my blog, Sharon Holland and I are co-hosting this block-of-the-week community sew-along, and you can visit my Community Sampler Page above in my tabs bar to retrieve all of the released PDF's so far to jump in anytime! We're so thrilled to have so many sewing with us once again!



Today's PDF is block NINE -- Double-T. For the Double-T block we're making no-waste Flying Geese and Half-Square Triangle units once again, two piecing techniques that we've already used a few times. I hope this block is an easy, enjoyable block for you. I loved making this one!



For my Double-T block I'm using four pretty prints from my Love Story collection for Art Gallery Fabrics -- Soulmate Blooms, Hugs & Kisses Fresh, Reflection of Love Deep and Darling Echoes Vert!



For this week's make two-at-a-time HSTs and no-waste Flying Geese, I used Bloc_Loc Rulers to help trim up my units and I am hooked! Have you checked these out? We gave away the ruler sets that coordinate with the Community Sampler a few weeks ago, and our friends at Bloc_Loc kindly sent both Sharon and I the ruler sets to use ourselves. These are a game-changer folks!







I'm really happy with how my Double-T block turned out! I made one change to my original mock-up, swapping out a simple blender for the pretty fussy cut floral to be my center focal print. It would have been fun to add in a fifth fabric, swapping the Fabric B cuts - Eight 3 1/8" squares to be an additional print, incase you're interested in going a little more scrappy with this one!





I'm excited to see your Double-T blocks this week! 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 blocks!

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 more info on this week's Community Sampler Giveaway with our wonderful sponsor Fat Quarter Shop!

xo Maureen  

Boho Gift Sets : :

I'm so excited to share this new batch of Boho Clutch Gift Sets!





Have you seen the brand new Splendid and Printemps Fusions for Art Gallery Fabrics? These ten-piece quilting cotton collections are new colorings of favorite prints by AGF designers, grouped together in conceptual themes that make these prints feel brand new! I love these Fusions collections and I think these two new ones are so beautiful together!



Before I knew what project I'd be making with these Fusions, I cut into this stack of prints and made a pile of flying geese units. You can never go wrong with flying geese, right?! It wasn't until the end of my geese-making session that I decided to make them into these colorful, boho bags and I love them so much, I'm even keeping one for myself and I never do that!



For the limited edition gift sets that I make, I source out special items to include that make them extra special. For these Boho Gift Sets I attached to a sturdy denim side loop a Tiered Tassel Decorative Charm from Anthropologie and inside each clutch is a Rattan Floral Covered Journal that goes so perfectly in both color and style. I love how each piece of this new batch of gift sets coordinate together!



The exterior of each clutch is made of the flying geese units and Quick Quilt As You Go in Splendid, Printemps, and my new Flower Child fabrics. The interior is made in my Garden Dreamer Canvas for extra added durability and sturdiness.



I made ten large bags in total, half with these happy yellow zippers and half with bright fuchsia zippers, that come with a pretty blue suede zipper pull. Each bag measures about 11"x12" with a 2" boxy bottom. They're the biggest zipper pouch bags that I've made yet and I've decided I prefer my bags big like this. I think these will actually fit all of my makeup, perfume, hairbrush, sun glasses, etc.. so it will be perfect to carry in my purse to keep those things organized.



Can you believe I bought these Anthro tassels before I planned to use these fabrics to make these bags? How perfectly everything came together made me giddy! And I'm all about tassels these days, how about you?





I hope these bags inspire you to sew something fun with these new AGF Fusions and my Flower Child fabrics! I've added the six Boho Gift Sets that I have left to my Etsy Shop, incase you're in need of a gift or feel like treating yourself to something handmade by me! :) I have some new scrap bundles in the shop that include some pieces of these pretty fabrics, as well!





Thanks so much for stopping by! xo Maureen

Flower Child is HERE!

I'm so happy to see Flower Child arriving to shops! Before I share how excited I am about this new collection I have to ask, did you happen to see that Art Gallery Fabrics revealed my next collection, Autumn Vibes on their social media pages this past Friday? If you happened to miss it, you can find it here -- Autumn Vibes Reveal on Instagram

AGF and I would both love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a comment for them on Instagram! I'll be sharing more about Autumn Vibes soon. I've already started sewing samples with my strike offs for Quilt Market next month!



I'm always a ball of nerves around a fabric collection reveal - the days just before and after are such a mix of emotions, anticipation and excitement! This time I was a bit distracted from my usual nervousness because simultaneously my brand new Flower Child collection has been arriving to shops!



When asked to describe this new collection I wrote, "Hidden amongst Mother Earth’s beauty lives the Flower Child. A colorful world filled with lush meadows, wild bouquets & the spirit of the flower child painted with fuchsia, blush pink & teal." This is perhaps my most colorful collection to date! I've fallen in love with sewing with it, it just makes me smile and happy and my BIG hope is that you'll feel that, too!

In Flower Child Quilting Cottons there are the standard twenty prints divided in two pretty colorways. This time I'm excited to have five new Garden Dreamer Knits and one beautiful Rayon!

Quilting Cotton: Festive Burst Palette

Quilting Cotton: Warm Charm Palette



Garden Dreamer Knits + Rayon:



With each new fabric collection, comes a free quilt pattern designed to pair perfectly with the quilting cottons that I have designed. This time I'm thrilled to share my first collaboration with Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts! Sharon is the queen of sewing curves and even has her very own Classic Curves Ruler that she offers to help others make curved piecing quilts quickly without templates. What could be more fitting for these Flower Child fabrics than to make a quilt made of flowers! I'm completely in love with the Flower Crowns quilt pattern that Sharon designed and I hope you'll want to make one!!



Be sure to check with your favorite online and brick & mortar fabric retailers and ask for Flower Child! I'm currently compiling a list of retailers that you can find on "My Art Gallery Fabrics" page (see above) with direct links to each shop who's carrying Flower Child. I'll be sharing many more images, project inspiration, giveaways and Flower Child sewing here and on my social media accounts in the weeks ahead. Be sure to follow along to see what I'm stitching up, and please remember to share your own Flower Child makes with the collection hashtag #FlowerChildFabrics!

I can't wait to show you the LookBook a little later this month/early next month and I REALLY can't wait to see all of what you'll create with this new collection!!

Have a great Monday! xo Maureen 

A Community Sampler Giveaway with Hobbs Batting!

It's Community Sampler Giveaway Friday!





Each Friday, throughout the Community Sampler sew-along community event that Sharon Holland and I are hosting together, we've lined up a new, special Giveaway with one of our amazing, participating sponsors! If you happened to miss the launch of our Sewcial Bee Sampler you can follow this link for all the info and can join us anytime - it's never too late to jump in!



Today's featured Community Sampler sponsor is Hobbs Batting!

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 this week's Community Sampler Giveaway, Hobbs Batting is offering a lucky winner both here and on Instagram $50 worth of their wonderful batting! Sharon and I both love the quality of this batting, especially Hobbs line of Tuscany battings that includes Silk, Wool and Cottons that add a soft, luxurious feel to any quilt!



Here's how,

1. Simply leave a comment here in this post! (one entry)
2. Follow Hobbs Batting on Facebook or on Instagram! Just be sure to let me know you do by making a separate comment here for an extra entry! (optional extra entry)
3. Sharon's and my followers get a third entry! Just let me know that you do 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, April 23rd!! The winner will be picked at random and I will announce their name at the bottom of this post here on the blog!

Our Giveaways are always open to EVERYONE, anywhere! Just please remember that if you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, to include your email address in your comment!

A BIG thanks to all joining the Community Sampler sew-along and to those who entered our Giveaway! This week's blog winner is commenter, Charlene S! Congratulations, please check your email for a message from me!

xo Maureen