A Winter Woods Beacon Quilt!

Last Friday I released my new Beacon quilt pattern in my shop, and it's been such a whirlwind few days that I didn't yet get a chance to blog the different versions of my Beacon quilt that I made while working on the pattern. I've made FIVE already and I love each one so much that I want to share each in their very own post!

I started with the Enchanted Voyage cover quilt when I released the pattern last week and today I want to share this Winter Woods version that I made with the gorgeous custom bundle that Fabric Stork curated and since sold out of in their shop. The Winter Woods bundle included all AGF prints designed by myself and fellow AGF fabric designers. I didn't get to include all of the prints in the bundle, but many of my favorites made it in. It's just so pretty!



It was impossible not to make a beautiful quilt with these fabrics! The combination of blues, gold and low volume print worked perfectly for the Beacon quilt pattern!

You can see in this photo of my Beacon quilt blocks that I swapped the gold floral for Bonnie Christine's Wandering with Doe print from her Open Road collection and I paid careful to the direction of that print when I cut my fabrics to be sure all the adorable little creatures were facing the right way. I love looking at each block made with these gorgeous Winter Woods themed prints and picking out my favorite design details!



Once my blocks are all stitched together one of my favorite things to do is to snap that quilt top swirl pic and I especially love how the Beacon pattern looks when swirled!



I sent all five of the Beacon quilts that I made to Brooke at Lady Belle Fabric & Quilting to work her long arm quilting magic! For this version we chose an edge to edge design with a four-point star that looked to sparkle to me called Gemma and I think it's perfect for the theme of this quilt!



When I get to have a quilt finished by Brooke it adds another beautiful layer of design and artistry to my quilts, it's so special! Which is why I'm having a Giveaway on my Instagram for those of you who've purchased my Beacon quilt pattern to have a chance to have your Beacon quilted by Brooke, as well! You can enter thru today (12/4) by clicking the image below!



I bound this Winter Woods version in another Bonnie Christine print, a warm and rustic plaid from her Lambkin collection, Wooly Umber, that I love so much!





Up next I plan to share the Merry & Bright Beacon I made, a very cheery & classic Christmas version that I've decided to keep for our family! After all, I have dreamt of making a Christmas quilt for us since I began quilting nearly ten years ago!

Both my Enchanted Voyage Beacon and this Winter Woods Beacon are available for sale in my shop with Free Shipping, where you can find the Beacon PDF pattern to make your own and lots of other newly added handmade goodies, as well!

xo Maureen

A Lady Belle Fabric GIVEAWAY & SALE!

Today a have a special Giveaway to share with you all from Lady Belle Fabric!

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My sponsor Lady Belle Fabric is run by husband and wife team, Rob & Brooke! In their shop you'll find both bundles and single cuts of handpicked fabrics that are fresh, modern, and fun! Designer fabrics include many of our favorites -- Art Gallery Fabrics, Free Spirit, &  Moda, just to name a few! Lady Belle Fabric's goal is to offer the most gorgeous lines of fabric, as quickly as they can! 
   
SHOP  *  Instagram  *  FACEBOOK  *  Pinterest  
 

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We hope you enjoy visiting the Lady Belle Fabric sites! 

For this week's Fabric Giveaway Friday, Lady Belle Fabric is offering the winner Bonnie Christine's newest collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, The Open Road! This bundle will include a fat quarter cut of each of the SIXTEEN pretty prints that make up this beautiful collection!

In addition, Lady Belle Fabric is having a HUGE Labor Day SALE with 25% off  your entire order! Be sure to use their coupon code: Labor25  and to visit Lady Belle for all your fabric shopping right here --  http://www.ladybellefabric.com/

Enter to win! 

Here's how,

 
1. Simply leave a comment here in this post! (one entry)
2. Follow Lady Belle Fabric 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. 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 Tuesday, September 3rd! The winner will be picked 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! 

A BIG thanks to all who entered our Giveaway! Congratulation to Nancy for winning this beautiful prize! Please check you email for a message from me. :)

xo Maureen 

Sewing with The Open Road!

Have you seen Bonnie Christine's new collection for AGF, The Open Road? I've decided this is my most favorite collection of Bonnie's yet and that's really saying something because I'm a huge fan of her sweet, nature inspired style. Since I love this collection so much, I've lined up a special Giveaway with Brooke of Lady Belle Fabric for tomorrow and I sewed up the prettiest bag using my own The Open Road bundle yesterday in anticipation of our BIG Giveaway!



For my bag I chose twelve of the sixteen prints that make up this collection, sticking with the floral and blender prints in colors including navy, sweet pea greens, sunny yellows and peachy pinks!



A while back I stashed a fifteen yard roll of Dritz 1 1/4" Cotton Belting in Natural that's been so great to have on hand for the drawstring style bag with handles that I made yesterday and for several tote bags I've made since I discovered this product. If you're into bag making, I highly recommend stashing some, too!



I've made a few of these drawstring bags with handles this month, but this is the first I've been able to photograph to share before I gift or sell it. I simply cut a 2.5" x 18" strip from each 1/2 yard cut and I used my Quick Quilt As You Go technique with a layer of Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Batting to piece together the front and back of the bag. I did add additional wavy quilting for some soft texture using a very pale minty green Aurifil. So pretty!





To make the drawstring ties I used a long scrap of AGF's Lovey Dobby cotton denim in Evening Lakeview which pairs really nicely with these The Open Road fabrics, especially the one navy print I included.





I'm sure I'll be making many more of this style bag to fill my new studio gift shop space with products as I prepare for opening. I think these make a great gift and will be perfect for carrying those portable knitting, crochet or epp projects, don't you think?

I hope this project inspired your own The Open Road sewing! Be sure to stop back here tomorrow and to visit my Instagram for two chances to win this amazing collection!

xo Maureen

Inspired Patchwork : :

I made half a dozen of these pretty patchwork pillows a few weeks back, but I've been so busy making since then that I'm just now finally sharing them here!



Each print that I pulled from stash to stitch up these pillows was inspired by a beautiful Swan Patchwork cushion by artist, Carola van Dyke. I completely fell in love with her lovely combination of color and the sketch stitching style of her applique that I often use myself. And, since I prefer my pillows to come in pairs, I decided to try my best to make my own patchwork pillows to match!





Right away I thought of AGF designer, Bonnie Christine's collection Hello, Ollie that's full of sweet swan motifs. From there I chose prints completely based on Carola's sense of color and in the end most of my stack included Bonnie Christine prints. A very happy discovery!



I even added my own sketch stitched applique swan to each pillow!



I've been using a variety of Hobbs batting for mostly all of my projects since they sponsored the Sewcial Bee Sampler. For this pillow I used their wool batting and it's extra squishy, which I love! Because it's a natural fiber I can use it for quilt as you go, which is how I made my pillow tops and finished my envelope style pillow backs.







I plan to keep a few of these Swan Patchwork pillow sets and to add a few to my Etsy shop soon. I really love how they turned out!

xx Maureen

Pretty New : :

Happy September 1st!

This week I enjoyed folding and photographing my newly stashed Lambkin collection by fellow AGF designer, Bonnie Christine. Bonnie has such a such a beautiful, sweet style that I really admire. Each print had me sighing and wishing my kiddos were small again. Lambkin is the first collection that would have been perfect to sew with for all three of my children when they were littles!



For Haila -- Pretty Twiggy, Keeping Watch Mist, and My Darlings in these soft peachy pinks would have matched her little girl room perfectly!



Jacob, my camping and forest loving boy would have loved Valley View Echo and Keeping Watch Dim! And for Kaiden, who loves birds and used to LOVE bugs and beetles just as much, Wind Observer and Little Entomologist!



These were also the days when for a little while I would knit just as much as I sewed and would have loved a little knitting bag in Lambkin Sir Wooly. It would have made the most perfect bag for carrying around my wool hat projects!



If you think these are as perfect and pretty as I do, you can find Lambkin newly available at Lady Belle Fabrics, Fat Quarter Shop and Fabric.com! I'm sure I'll have a Lambkin project or three to share soon, as well. I think I'll surprise my ten, thirteen, and fourteen year olds with pillowcases to remind them of those years when we still held hands when we crossed the street, and spent our days picking wildflower bouquets and looking under rocks. I'm sure they will tease me when they discover them on their beds, but I guarantee they'll use and love them!



This week I also added a Dahlia and Brown Eyed Susan to my collection of sunflower family pencil sketches. I can't begin to describe just how much I'm enjoying drawing like this again! There was a time when it was all I did, every chance I had. Those were the days before parenting, knitting, sewing, blogging and designing. I didn't realize how much I've missed it. It's become such a nice addition to my creative time and I'm really hoping to stick with it. Perhaps these will be available on future fabric designs or maybe in some other form. Either way, it feels worthwhile to give drawing some time again during my work days.



And since I have a preference for even numbers, I'll have to add at least one more to my collection. Any suggestions?



xo Maureen

An Hourglass Quilt Top : :

This weekend we made time to photograph two new quilt tops and I'm so excited to share both of them here on the blog this week!

First up, a scrappy hourglass quilt featuring Bonnie Christine's latest collection with AGF, Hello, Ollie!



Hello, Ollie is the very first certified organic cotton fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and the quality is absolutely amazing! These truly are the softest, most luxurious organic fabrics I have ever used. Hello, Ollie is a beautiful mix of soft & delicate hues with fun pops of color, and is packed full of sweet feathered creatures and garden blooms!



When this collection arrived we were in the thick of Summer break, where a week would quickly go by with little to no sewing time for this mama to three. In an effort to begin a new Hello, Ollie quilt with very high hopes that I might actually finish it up, I settled on one of my go-to pattern favorites for producing a pretty but speedy quilt using the hourglass block. The "make four at a time" method I use makes for quick work, and in no time I had all the blocks needed for a generous throw size quilt top!





There's a beautiful maple farm about forty minutes from our home that happens to have pond where two swans actually live. The moment I finished this quilt top I've been waiting for the chance to photograph it at this perfect spot, and then a week ago when we ventured there for brunch I completely forgot about it! I'm still kicking myself for that one, but this pretty tree shot from Saturday almost made me forget about it. It's my favorite photo from the bunch!



Isn't it dreamy! When it comes to photographing these light, feathery quilt tops the slightest bit of wind can make it impossible to take photos while my husband holds it steady. Seeking out special trees like this one and the split rail wood fencing we're so lucky to have throughout the areas surrounding my hometown are perfect substitutes!



I plan to back this quilt with a sea of swans using Bonnie's Swanlings Bevy in Nightfall print!



And, once it's completely finished I promise to find my way to those swans!

You can find this beautiful Hello, Ollie collection newly available at Fat Quarter Shop, Llama Fabrics, and on SALE at Lady Belle Fabric!

♡ Maureen  

Quilt Top Progress : :

Over the weekend I shared a couple of photos on my Instagram and Facebook page of my Hello, Ollie Hourglass quilt top all finished! Full of elegant swans, sweet birds, and delicate garden blooms -- this quilt top is up there with the prettiest I've ever made. The combination of these colors & print designs makes it both completely adorable, but equally sophisticated, Haila & I may have to share this one! I can already picture it, one of us at each end of the couch with this beautiful quilt draped over us!



In an effort to keep up momentum and with the pace I was able to create my Hello, Ollie quilt top, I immediately made plans for the newest bundle to arrive at my door, April Rhodes' Observer collection due in stores early this month!



I wanted this quilt plan to be just as enjoyable as the hourglass blocks I had just been working on, something uncomplicated and fun! I decided on large half square triangle units, measuring 8" each, pieced to showcase the four main colors that make up this collection -- khaki, mustard, dusty blue, and dark navy, arranged in a pattern that would highlight the shibori, hand-dyed look of this gorgeous collection!



I used the HST method for making eight at a time, providing plenty enough for a generous throw size quilt top, with a pile of trimmed Observer HSTs to spare for pillow making!





Today's sewing time is going to be spend sewing the rest of this Observer top together. Two newly complete quilt tops in just one week, after a Summer of backpack & pillow making feels pretty great!

How about you, what are you working on these days?

♡ Maureen  

Hello, Ollie!

Sometimes a new fabric collection arrives at my door and it's so good, I have to cut into it right away! That was the case with AGF designer Bonnie Christine's newest collection, Hello, Ollie! This is the very first Art Gallery Fabrics certified organic cotton fabric collection and the quality is absolutely amazing! These truly are the softest, most luxurious organic fabrics I have ever used. It's so exciting!



My favorite Hello, Ollie print is Dabbling Swan, which I set aside to admire a little longer with a different project in mind. For the remaining, beautiful eighteen prints, full of sweet feathered creatures and garden blooms, I couldn't wait to see them come together in a pretty, patchwork project!

It's been awhile since I've had the time to begin a new quilt top, and I definitely didn't want to start one only to struggle to find the sewing time needed to see it progress. After a little thought, I quickly settled on making an hour glass quilt. The "make four at a time" method I've always used for making hour glass quilt blocks produces fast results, and in no time I had all the blocks needed for a generous throw size quilt top!



These hour glass quilt blocks began with a stack of  7" charms squares,



sewn together into four-patch quilt blocks,



and after a little more sewing & cutting, emerged sixty-four 9" hour glass blocks!





Now, all that's left to do is arrange them into a harmonious pattern and to sew them together. I can't wait to see this finished and to share it here just as soon as it's done!

You can find Hello, Ollie available soon at Fat Quarter Shop, Llama Fabrics, Lady Belle Fabric, and The Intrepid Thread!

♡ Maureen