It's Beacon Quilt Pattern Release Day!

My Beacon quilt pattern is now available in my shop! AND it's 25% OFF now thru Cyper Monday 12/2!!

First up, a little bit about it's name!

When you look up the definition of Beacon you'll read in it's meaning "a fire or other signal for guidance; a source of light of inspiration." It's this part that made me choose this word to name my new quilt pattern, Beacon. This year has been a very tough one for me with lots of health issues, a couple bad injuries and some personal struggles that I'm still working through, but now that I'm mostly on the other side of all of that, I can look back with gratitude for the solace quilting brought and continues to bring me. For me, quilting is something that I trust, it feels safe and therapeutic, is uplifting and motivating. So, for my very first quilt pattern on this new journey of offering my quilt patterns for sale, Beacon feels like a pretty perfect beginning!



My Beacon Quilt Pattern is a beginner friendly, downloadable PDF pattern including instructions to make a 60" throw size quilt. It's an easy-to-piece quilt made using pinwheel variation blocks with fabric placement of the background colors that creates a secondary pattern. It's chain-piece friendly making it super fast and very fun! I've already made FIVE versions, all of which I'll share in details in the days ahead, but since I chose my most recent fabric collection, Enchanted Voyage, to make my cover quilt, I'm starting with this beauty today!



All five of the Beacon quilts that I made were long arm quilted by Brooke Becker of Lady Belle Fabric & Quilting and she always does such an incredible job! I love that I can pick a digital quilting pattern from her catalog of designs and it adds another layer of design and artistry to my quilts!



I bound this Enchanted Voyage version in my North Star Shine print, a pretty peachy cantaloupe color that I love so much!



To see more variations you can follow me on my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/maureencracknell/ where I share the most these days, PLUS you can check out #BeaconQuilt to see the Beacon quilts made by my amazing testers!

I'm also so excited to share that I've been collaborating with two different shops to offer a variety of Beacon Quilt Kits!

The cover quilt that features my Enchanted Voyage fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics is available as a kit at Lady Belle Fabric, as well as additional kits for versions made using the Merry & Bright Collective by select designers including myself for AGF and the Holiday Magic version that I made for Brooke with the Holiday Magic custom bundle available only in her wonderful shop!

For those of you who snagged the Winter Woods bundle by Fabric Stork, I'll have a Beacon to share using that Winter Woods Bundle and Nuria of Fabric Stork also made her very own Beacon with Sharon Holland's new Spirited collection that is SO stunning and will be available as a quilt kit only at Fabric Stork!

But first, you NEED this pattern! So head to my shop and grab the pattern while it's on sale for 25% OFF!



After the holidays, in early 2020, I have a Beacon quilt-along planned that will be full of fun and prizes, but I wanted to offer this pattern in time for making for the holidays because it's that fast that you could totally get one done in time to gift or use!



I sincerely hope you love this pattern as much as I do! I cannot wait to see all the beautiful Beacon quilts to be made, so be sure to tag me and use the hashtag #BeaconQuilt when you share!

xo Maureen

An Enchanted Voyage GIVEAWAY with Lady Belle Fabric!

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 my newest collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, Enchanted Voyage! This bundle will include a fat quarter cut of each of the SIXTEEN prints that make up this beautiful collection!

In addition, Lady Belle Fabric is offering all of you wonderful readers 20% off your entire order! Be sure to use their coupon code: FALL20 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 Monday, September 30th! 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 here and on my Instagram for a bundle of Enchanted Voyage! This week's random winner is commenter, Jay! Please email me at maureencracknell@hotmail.com. Thank you!

xo Maureen

Hello, October!

I can't believe more than a full month has past since I last shared here on the blog. For several years now I've enjoyed blogging regularly. Starting my day with a quick blog post to share newly stashed fabrics, a project plan, a celebratory finish or exciting news has been habit for me. When so many of my personal favorite folks in this industry shifted to fast moving, visual platforms of social media and eliminated blogging from their daily routines, I completely understood but, I made a solemn promise to myself to try my best to keep up with this blog. At times it's been impossible to find a moment in the day to share what I want. Other days, the much lower engagement would discourage me from wanting to continue posting here. While on one hand I'm not quite sure how I inadvertently missed a full month of posts, I see the long list of today's to-do's before me and I have my answer. But I've missed it here, without a doubt, so it feels good to start today playing a little catch-up!

Just after my last post, when my Autumn Vibes LookBook was just about to be released, I got sick with a bad sore throat that quickly turned into pneumonia,  again. I had tons to share, but I was much too miserable. Project plans and posts came to a halt, and honestly those couple of weeks are a complete blur to me. So let's start there, have you seen my Autumn Vibes LookBook?

I'm excited to officially invite you all to browse through it's sixty-eight pages filled with beautiful sewing projects perfect for Autumn Vibes! From small patchwork to 90" square quilts, you'll find all the inspiration you'll need for Autumn Vibes sewing!



I made quite a few seasonal inspired projects, that I haven't yet had a chance to blog in detail, that I'm really looking forward to sharing more about in the days ahead. Between now and Thanksgiving I'm going to try my best to get through them all, since so many will make the perfect décor or hostess gift for the holiday!



In other news, Art Gallery recently launched a series of brand new Color Master products! It was such fun to be surprised by AGF with our Designer Palette's, did you see the announcements?



I'm so excited to share that AGF has created a collector’s box of fabrics like no other! Each Designer's Palette includes a hand-picked selection of fabric just perfect for makers to use for their creative projects. Each palette is a colorful, unique group of AGF’s signature quality cotton paired with an original and collectible box made exclusively for them! Color Master Designer’s Palette include some of the very best of each designer’s fabrics, in groups of ten prints available in two choices: Fat Quarters or Half Yards, as Bundles or Boxes!

The Maureen Cracknell Edition No. 1 includes ten pretty prints from Nightfall, Garden Dreamer and Flower Child that together creates a pretty color palette perfect for your sewing needs. I have plans to create a project or two with these select prints in mind, so stay tuned for that!



Lastly, today I need to share what I'm right in the thick of these days -- Quilt Market sewing! In just a little more than a week I need to complete, photograph and display all the samples I've been busy stitching up with my next collection due out this December, Sun Kissed! Although I'm not able to attend International Quilt Market in Houston, I'm putting together a studio display to showcase this line and I'm so thrilled with how it's coming together! I've been sharing little peeks when I can in my Instagram stories, so be sure to follow me there to get a first look at this upcoming collection. It's so much fun!



There's so much more I'd love to share today, but not to overwhelm you, I think that's a good start to my blog return. I hope you're as excited about these announcements as I am! The backlog of projects I have to share is in the dozens, so be sure to stop back on Monday when I'm planning a fresh start to a full week of blogging. I'll have to organize a Fabric Friday Giveaway for old times sake!

xo Maureen

Boho LOVE!

Happy Monday, friends! In addition to blogging about the Community Sampler sew-along, I'm going to try my best to keep up with sharing here all the other things that get made each week!



Last week I finished up several new projects, more zipper pouch bags and a special dreamcatcher for my Goddaughter Sylvia, all made using my favorite boho fabric combo -- Love Story & Indie Folk!



A few months back when Love Story and Indie Folk both arrived, the first thing I did was cut a half yard bundle of each into a variety of strips measuring one to two inches by the width of the fabrics, and I piled them high into a larger woven basket in my studio. From this basket I have made dozens and dozens of these boho zipper pouch bags. It's amazing how far these strips have stretched!

Three of the zipper pouch bags from last week's new batch got a fun, red, wooly pompom zipper pull and I love this new added decoration! The front side of each bag is my herringbone qayg that will be my go-to pattern for making the bags I sell. It's by far my favorite pattern to use for these kind of projects.



The reverse side is a simple stripe including several Love Story prints from the Enamored colorway, full of pretty peaches and coral, aqua and teal, and white and black!



A couple of the bags were finished with a red or baby blue suede zipper pull instead of the pompoms, which I love just as much. In additional to the new zipper pull options, I also added a side loop of an Anna Maria Horner Renaissance Ribbon!



The colors and pattern of this Postage Due Ribbon go perfectly with the boho style of these new bags!



A few weeks back, my super creative little niece/Goddaughter Sylvia told me over the phone about a terrible dream she kept having about vampires. She asked if I could make her a special dreamcatcher using fabrics to match the other things I've made for her that decorate her room. Today this dreamcatcher should be arriving to her in Hawaii and I can't wait to hear how she likes it!



I ordered enough dreamcatcher supplies to make a few more that will likely end up in my Etsy shop! I'll be back later this week to share which fabrics I'm using for my next set of zipper pouch bags and how those are coming along, so be sure to stop back!

xo Maureen

Personalized Quilt Banners : :

Last week I shared in my Instagram Stories this fun personalized quilt banner project that is so perfect for this Alphabet painted letter panel by Bari J for Art Gallery Fabrics! This print is a must have for your fabric stash -- from simple monogramed tea towels to alphabet quilts and everything in between, my ideas for this print are endless!





To make these little letter quilts I mostly use up scraps -- batting scraps, fabric scraps and quilt binding scraps. I start by trimming up natural fiber batting rectangles to measure around 9" x 11". It's important to use natural fiber batting such as cotton, bamboo, silk or wool anytime you qayg so you can use a hot iron and press right onto the batting. Next I spray baste or use a little glue to stick each fussy cut letter to the center or slightly off-center to each batting square. Then using a variety of fabric scrap strips I use Quick Quilt As You Go and the log cabin style to make each letter quilt. I finish by backing each, attaching the backing fabrics by adding a little quilting, and then I finish with machine quilt binding. Easy and fun!



For the Quinn banner I made and shared in my stories last week, I combined each letter with a variety of my own painted florals and new Love Story prints!



This sweet banner is for my niece to match her big sister Sylvia's banner that I made for her Birthday party this past Summer. I'm excited for the girls to have these to hang in their bedrooms and to hang on special occasions that celebrate each of them!



To attach each little letter quilt I used a long length of leftover Soulful fabrics binding. I used pins to hold each letter quilt in place and sewed to attach, making sure to catch the inner edge of the binding on both sides.



On both ends of the banner I made a simple loop for hanging. I love how this Quinn banner came together!





For Sylvia's banner I used mostly scraps leftover from pillows I had made in Sew Caroline's Chalk & Paint collection for AGF, along with scraps from my own collections, Wild & Free and Fleet & Flourish!





I hope these personalized quilt banners inspire you to sew with these fun fabrics! I'm so behind on sharing here all that I've been sewing these past couple of weeks. I look forward to playing catch-up over the holiday!

xo Maureen

A Sewcial Bee Giveaway with Lady Belle Fabrics!

It's Sewcial Bee Giveaway Friday!  

Each Friday, throughout the Sewcial Bee 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!

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl     Lady Belle Fabric      Needle in a Fabric Stash      Dritz      Knotted Thread    Needle and Foot   Thread Cutterz   Stash Builder Box    Hobbs Batting

Today's featured Sewcial Bee sponsor is Lady Belle Fabrics!

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, Cotton + Steel, Free Spirit, and Moda, just to name a few! Lady Belle Fabric's goal is to offer the most gorgeous fabric as quickly as they can! 

Shop  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  Pinterest  We hope you enjoy visiting Lady Belle Fabric!

For this week's Sewcial Bee Giveaway, Lady Belle Fabric is offering the winner an eight piece fat quarter bundle including prints from my Fleet & Flourish, Nightfall, Garden Dreamer and  my new Soulful collections for Art Gallery Fabrics! This pretty bundle is also available for purchase and would make a wonderful quilt! Look for the Summer Nights Maureen Cracknell Mix Up Bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics in the Lady Belle shop!

In addition, Lady Belle Fabric is having a wonderful SALE with some amazing deals on Art Gallery Fabrics! ALL Bundles are 20% OFF and Christmas Bundles will be 25% OFF for their Christmas in July SALE! Visit Lady Belle HERE --  http://www.ladybellefabric.com/

Enter to win! 

Here's how,

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (one entry)
2. Follow Lady Belle Fabrics on Instagram and/or Facebook! 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, July 17th 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! 

A BIG thanks to all joining the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along and to those who entered our Giveaway! Congratulations, Karrie S, on being this week's winning commenter!

♡ Maureen