A Sweet Dreams Pillow { Tutorial } : :

Happy Valentine's Day!



Today I'm excited to share that my Sweet Dreams Pillow Tutorial is now live and available for download on Janome's Inspire project page!

This project tutorial is for my Sweet Dreams Pillow pattern, featuring my Love Garden print from my Garden Dreamer fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics and a variety of AGF Denim Studio denims and linen. I used a raw edge reverse applique technique featuring Janome's satin stitch and my Quick Quilt As You Go method to create this beautiful throw pillow that's both fun and easy to make!









I hope you love making this pillow as much as I did!

As always, be sure to let me know if you give it a go! Feel free to find & tag me on Instagram if you make & share one of your own, or you're always welcome to share the things you make using my project ideas and/or fabrics on my Facebook page Maureen Cracknell Handmade!

Happy sewing, friends!  ♡ Maureen

Arrow Stitching : :

For the past few weeks I've been working on my plan for a new Sketch Stitch quilt. I shared the fabrics I'll be using a few weeks back, my Wild & Free collection with Wanderer and Indie, two of my very favorites! Since I haven't done much of this "freehand machine embroidery" since the Fall and because I can't seem to decide on all the details, I thought it would be best to practice a little before diving in.

I started with this gorgeous Spring inspired fabric pull...



Building simple patchwork blocks in aqua, peaches & cream, and my Folk Plaid blue, a current favorite color palette!





Next I gathered up a few spools of Aurifil in coordinating colors and I started stitching up my first arrow. I love arrows, they're so much fun to draw and stitch, and are such a perfect motif to add in layers of stitched patterns!



With these beautiful threads, using a few of the built-in stitches on my Janome, in no time at all I finished my arrow and finally decided on a border plan for that Sketch Stitch quilt!



Here you can see close up of a few of my most favorite stitches to use -- A wide straight satin stitch for pops of color, a vertical triangle satin stitch for a wonderful graphic detail, and an Heirloom triangle stitch to emulate my arrowhead design.





I love how just a few simple stitches can create such a beautiful picture and remind me of how much I enjoy this kind of stitch work! Thanks for stopping to see my ➳ arrow stitching ➳ today, I'll have more to share soon! ♡ Maureen