A Summer Bag for Sharon Holland's Everlasting Blog Tour!

Today I'm excited to share my project for my talented friend, Sharon Holland's Everlasting Blog Tour!





Sharon is a dear friend, who I've mentioned quite a bit here on the blog as we've co-hosted a few different events together, and she's also a fellow Art Gallery Fabrics designer. Everlasting is her seventh fabric collection, full of romantic, summer-inspired prints with a classic palette of navy, red, turquoise, and blush. It's so pretty!



I had the pleasure of sewing up a few different samples for the Everlasting LookBook back in May and for this blog tour project I chose several of my favorite Everlasting prints to make a variation of this Summer Bag using my go-to Quick Quilt As You Go and I love how it turned out!



Following the Summer Bag pattern, I used the same size blocks that are suggested only I had I to use different size pieces of Everlasting fabrics since I was working with what I had left from making the LookBook projects. Using qayg, I densely stitched each fabric to a cushiony layer of Hobbs Tuscany cotton batting with a pretty turquoise Aurifil 50wt, assembled the bag according to the instructions with just slightly wider bag straps, and then I finished with a lining made in my pretty Sun Kissed Canvas!



This pattern makes a HUGE tote-style bag that is perfect for Summer outings! The extra quilting, layer of batting, and canvas lining make this a sturdy bag while keeping it still very soft. I just LOVE how good Sharon's Everlasting fabrics are for quilt as you go patchwork!



I hope you're inspired by my stop on Sharon's Everlasting Tour! It's such an honor to be amongst this amazing line up of designers:

THE EVERLASTING BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Friday, July 12 - Sharon Holland
Monday, July 15 - Marija Vujcic
Tuesday, July 16 - Carolina Moore
Wednesday, July 17 - Dana Willard
Thursday, July 18 - Lisa Ruble
Friday, July 19 - Dritz Sewing
Monday, July 22 - Eleri Kerian
Tuesday, July 23 - Marisa Wilhelmi
Wednesday, July 24 - Sharon McConnell
Thursday, July 25 - Modernly Morgan
Friday, July 26 - Alexis Wright
Monday, July 29 - Priscilla Geissler
Tuesday, July 30 - ME
Wednesday, July 31 - Elina Temmes
___________________



xo Maureen

Aura Blog Party!

Hello, friends! I've been meaning to pop in here to explain why I haven't been blogging much so far this year. Long story short, I dedicated the entire month of January to working on my fabric collections for Art Gallery, and then the day before I was to get back to sewing and sharing here, I injured myself pretty good! I was jumping on a trampoline, came down wrong and ended up badly spraining the ligaments in my right knee and completely tearing my ACL. It's been rough! I'm on crutches and in a leg brace to heal the sprains so I can have ACL reconstruction surgery on March 21st, and then after the surgery there will be a couple of month's recovery time. Today is one month since the injury and still, the two things that bother me the most are stairs and sewing. Most of the day is spent elevating my knee and icing it because it's still very swollen.

As a way to stay creative during this injury, I set a goal for myself to make at least one bag a day. Most days I've been able to, some days I cannot and other days I have made two! This small goal has helped me stay positive and productive during this difficult time! You're welcome to join me in making a new bag anytime and can follow along on my Instagram @MaureenCracknell and the hashtag #MCHbagchallenge!

So here I am, finally back today and excited to share my project for my talented friend, Mathew Boudreaux aka Mister Domestic's Aura Blog Party!





Mathew AKA Mister Domestic is an Angles by AGF designer and Aura is his second fabric collection, inspired by a trip that he and his daughter Helena took to Hawaii!

For my blog party project I chose several of my favorite Aura prints in vibrant yellows, coral and purple and I made one of my quilt as you go flat bottom lined zipper pouch bags and I love how it turned out!



The front side is made up of 1.5" strips of Aura and the friendship braid Quick Quilt As You Go pattern that I share a tutorial for here --  Friendship Braid QAYG. This bag has a cushiony layer of Hobbs Tuscany cotton batting, a colorful zipper, and is lined with a pretty Aura print!

The back is a simple striping of the same fabrics that I chose for the front. This collection is so good for quilt as you go patchwork!



I hope you're inspired by my stop on Mister Domestic's Aura Tour! It's such an honor to be amongst this amazing line up of designers:

MISTER DOMESTIC’S AURA BLOG PARTY

Monday February 11: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
Tuesday February 12: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs
Wednesday February 13: Sharon Holland
Thursday February 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Saturday February 16: Sarah Maxwell of Fearless with Fabric
Sunday February 17: Natalie Santini of Hungry Hippie Sews
Monday February 18: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
Tuesday February 19: Isabelle Selak of South Bay Bella Studio
Wednesday February 20: Elizabeth Chappell of Quilters’ Candy
Monday February 25: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle
Tuesday February 26: Monica Tetteh of That’s Sew Monica
Wednesday February 27: Nicholas Ball of Quilts from the Attic
Thursday February 28: Lucy Brennan of Charm About You
Friday March 1: Robbin Flockhart of Sew Farm Quilter
Saturday March 2: Evie Jespersen of EV Quilts
Sunday March 3: Kelly Liddle of Jeliquilts
Monday March 4: ME of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Tuesday March 5: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
Wednesday March 6: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
Thursday March 7: Angela Wolf of Fashion Sewing with Angela Wolf
Friday March 8: Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter
Saturday March 9: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
Sunday March 10: Emily Dennis of Quilty Love
Monday March 11: Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio
Tuesday March 12: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
Wednesday March 13: Jennifer Strauser of Dizzy Quilter
Thursday March 14: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
Friday March 15: Brittany Jones of Brittany J Jones
Saturday March 16: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
Sunday March 17: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Monday March 18: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts
___________________

I hope to finish up a second bag just like this one for tomorrow's bag of the day, and I'll be sending these two off to Mathew & Helena!



xo Maureen

Loved to Pieces Blog Party!

Busy, busy, July was quite the month! In my last blog post I shared how happy I was to be back in this space and I had a major backlog of news and projects that I was planning to share. But the day after that last post, my husband woke up early and knew right away that things weren't right after not feeling well with flu-like symptoms for several weeks. He had Bell's Palsy, temporary face paralysis on the right side of his face and we learned shortly after that, that he had two tick-borne diseases, Lyme and Babesiosis. He's been taking the appropriate medications and today he's doing much better and is back to work. So here I am, excited to share my project for my talented friend, Mathew Boudreaux aka Mister Domestic's Loved to Pieces Blog Party!





This year Mathew joined the Art Gallery Fabrics family as an Angles by AGF designer and released his very first fabric collection, Loved to Pieces. Inspired by his daughter Helena's love for flowers and his love for paper piecing, Loved to Pieces is florals meet EPP geometrics in an array of blues with touches of vibrant pinks and subtle greens. It was an absolute joy to sew with! So much so that I couldn't stop. With everything that had been going on in my life I didn't want to commit to a big project that I couldn't finish in time to share as part of this blog tour, so I started by making one of my favorite go-to makes -- one quilt as you go flat bottom lined zipper pouch, and then I made nineteen more!





The front side of each bag is made with 2" strips of Loved to Pieces and the friendship braid Quick Quilt As You Go pattern that I've been experimenting with more recently, that I hope to share a tutorial for soon. Each bag has a cushiony layer of Hobbs cotton batting, a colorful zipper, a fuchsia faux suede zipper pull and is lined with a Loved to Pieces print or coordinating solid for a really nice finish!





Each bag measures a generous 9"x 9" and reverses to a striping of  Loved to Pieces prints. I made sure that both colorways of this new collection are used for each bag. This collection is so good for 
scrappy patchwork!





The zipper colors I chose were inspired by the blues and greens in this pretty collection. I added a silk tiered tassel charm to this one and I love it!





One bag has been filled with goodies and will be offered in a special Giveaway today on my Instagram, one I'll be sending to Mathew as a thank you/congratulatory gift, and the remaining eighteen bags will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop! Each bag in my shop will come with a surprise freebee gift and a small scrap pack of leftover Loved to Pieces 2" strips! I also have ten silk tassel charms available if you'd like to add one to your bag purchase, just be sure to let me know on Etsy when you order!



For today's special Giveaway prize I'm offering everything shown below -- a Loved to Pieces flat bottom zipper pouch bag with a silk tiered tassel charm, a six-piece bundle of Loved to Pieces prints, a spool of fuchsia Aurifil 40 wt perfect for hand piecing, an Omnigrid ruler, Dritz seam ripper, vintage needlecase kit, fabric quilt labels, a variety of EPP papers from Love, Patchwork & Quilting magazine and Dritz, plus a notepad, quilters graph paper notebook and sticker set from Art Gallery Fabrics!



Can you believe that everything shown here fits inside one of my bags!



I hope you've enjoyed my stop on Mister Domestic's Loved to Pieces Blog Tour! It's such an honor to be amongst this amazing line up of designers:

• Monday July 16: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
• Tuesday July 17: Sharon Holland of Sharon Holland Designs
• Wednesday July 18: Angela Wolf of Angela Wolf Pattern Collection
• Thursday July 19: Brittany Jones of Brittany Jones
• Friday July 20: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts
• Saturday July 21: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
• Monday July 23: Meghan Buchanan of Then Came June
• Tuesday July 24: Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft
• Wednesday July 25: Cristy Stuhldreher of I Love You Sew
• Thursday July 26: Kate Basti of Quilt with Kate
• Friday July 27: Courtney Davis posting at Melly Sews
• Sunday July 29: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
• Monday July 30: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
• Tuesday July 31: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle
• Wednesday August 1: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
• Thursday August 2: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
• Sunday August 5: Brett Lewis of Natural Born Quilter
• Monday August 6: Karen Tripp of The DIY Addict
• Tuesday August 7: Tracy Martin of Tracy Bug Creative
• Wednesday August 8: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
• Thursday August 9: Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
• Friday August 10: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs

I hope that we all inspire you to sew with Loved to Pieces!

Be sure to visit my Etsy Shop if you're interesting in ordering one of my Loved to Pieces Bags and be sure to visit my Instagram today at noon EST to enter my special Loved to Pieces GIVEAWAY!



xo Maureen

Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living Blog Tour & GIVEAWAY!

When my dear friend, Sharon Holland invited me to join the blog tour for her first quilt book Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living (Landauer 2017) I was so excited, and today I have the pleasure of sharing a bit about this beautiful book with all of you!

The friendship Sharon and I share is so special! I'm fairly certain we text each other at least once a day. Mostly to share our creative plans and to ask for or offer one another advice, which I've come to both treasure and depend on. Our friendship gave me quite the behind the scenes look at the process and work Sharon poured into Utility-Style. I learned just how talented Sharon is, she's incredible, truly. The end product is proof, Utility-Style is an amazing collection of quilts that are meant to be used and loved. Sharon is just as conscious about how she envisions using each project, as she is to creating amazing quality patterns, furthering the quality of this book. She shares not just sewing patterns, but inspiration with beautiful photography of how to use each project throughout your home. To me, Utility-Style feels more like a lifestyle book and I love that!

Before I share the pretty Flower Child quilt Sharon made using the Goose Chase pattern from Utility-Style, I chose two favorite images from the book to showcase just what I mean above about the way Sharon presents each project with stunning, creative photography. I find each page of her book enchanting, down to every last detail. What is particularly special is how this book shares such a sense of Sharon's warmth and personal handmade style, that's both inspiring and attainable for any quilter.





One of the things I love most about the patterns that Sharon created for Utility-Style is that I'm reminded of the infinite possibilities of just one pattern. The quilt I'm showcasing today is the perfect testimony to how many ways one quilt pattern can be translated to something completely new by a change of prints and color. In her book the Goose Chase pattern is made using a combination of vintage and new fabrics to create a timeless quilt.



For my Flower Child Quilt Market booth Sharon used several prints from the collection and this same pattern to create a quilt that became one of the star projects in my display. The large HSTs and placing of bright solids present so perfectly the colors and a few of my favorite prints in this next collection of mine, due out in April 2018. It was exciting to see how the Goose Chase pattern worked equally well for the vintage style of the original quilt and for my brand new collection that's more trendy and modern.

I'm so in love with this quilt!



Signed copies of Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living can be purchased by US residents directly from Sharon in her new STORE and you can also get the book through Amazon!

Before I end with a special Utility-Style for Everyday Living GIVEAWAY, I want to share and invite you all to follow the rest of the tour for more project inspiration and chances to win this amazing book!

Monday 12/4  Heidi Staples - Fabric Mutt

Tuesday 12/5  Amy Friend - During Quiet Time

Wednesday 12/6  Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Thursday 12/7  Amber Johnson - Gigi's Thimble

Friday 12/8  Karen O'Connor - Lady K Quilts Designs

Saturday 12/9  Kori Turner-Goodhart - Olive Grace Studios

Sunday 12/10  Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Monday 12/11  Sarah Maxwell - Designs by Sarah J

Tuesday 12/12  Jessica Swift - Jessica Swift

Wednesday 12/13  Lisa Ruble - Love to Color My World

Thursday 12/14  Cindy Wiens - Live a Colorfullife

Friday 12/15  Eleri Kerian - Sew and Tell Project

Saturday 12/16  Anjeanette Klinder - Anjeanette K

Sunday 12/17  Stephanie Kendron - Modern Sewciety

Monday 12/18  Christopher Thompson - The Tattooed Quilter

Tuesday 12/19  Susan Playsted - Hopewood Home

And now, I'm so thrilled to be able to offer a copy of this book in a special GIVEAWAY to one of my readers!

Enter to Win!

Here's how,

Just leave a comment below and you'll be entered into the drawing! This giveaway is only available to US residents due to shipping costs. (So sorry international readers -- you know we love you!) I'll choose a random winner on Friday, December 8th!

A big thanks to all who stopped by and to those of you who entered my Giveaway! The lucky winner is commenter, Linda Williamson! Please check your email for a message from me!

Thank you, Sharon. Thank you for creating such a beautiful book, for your endless inspiration and encouragement, for your continued friendship and for trusting me to share with while on your journey. 

xo Maureen

AGF Quilt Block Tour of Makers ~ A Love Story Moroccan Pillow!

Several weeks ago I was invited to join the Art Gallery Fabrics Quilt Block Collection Tour hosted by my friend, Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts!



I was asked to choose one block from AGF's collection of quilt block YouTube video tutorials to make and share as a finished project today. I chose one of my favorites from the bunch, the Moroccan quilt block!



The Moroccan block is perfect for fussy cutting from a favorite fabric and instructions include two fun techniques -- the a make eight at a time half square triangles and flying geese using the corner triangle method. I chose to make my Moroccan block using several pretty prints from my brand new Love Story collection!



For my Moroccan block I began by fussy cutting a floral cluster from Love Story Soulmate Blooms to be my center fabric and framed that print in Compassion Ruby. Next I made my HSTs and flying geese units using Love Story prints -- Reflection of Love Light,  Soulmate Blooms in teal and Flower Stamp Charm. I LOVE this pretty combination of reds, peach, aqua & teal!



Once my block was complete I added a 3" border in Daring Tribal Sunset to turn my Morrocan block into a pillow!



I basted my pillow top to a layer of Hobbs cotton batting and added lots of quilting using an Aurifil 40wt in Light Beige.

I'm so happy with how my Love Story Moroccan pillow turned out!

My Love Story collection should be shipping to stores any day! I hope you check out the Art Gallery Fabrics YouTube Channel for the Moroccan quilt block video tutorial that I used today, along with lots of other beautiful quilt blocks! Be sure visit the rest of the makers who've joined the AGF Quilt Block Tour to see what each of these talented sewing gals have made!

November 13 ~ Color Girl Quilts @colorgirlquilts
November 14 ~ Karen O’Connor @ladykquilts
November 16 ~ Amy Friend @duringquiettime
November 17 ~ Kate Basti @katebasti
November 18 ~ Yvonne Fuchs @quiltingjetgirl
November 19 ~ AnneMarie Chany @genxquilters
November 20 ~ ME @maureencracknell
November 21 ~ Sharon Holland @sharonhollanddesigns
November 22 ~ Lucy Brennan @charmaboutyou

Happy Sewing! xo Maureen

A Bountiful Sewing Day -- Bountiful Holiday Blog Tour!

The Bountiful Holiday Blog Tour started November 1st, organized by my good friend Sharon Holland to get you inspired for holiday sewing with her beautiful Art Gallery Fabrics collection, Bountiful! Sharon + Me + ten wonderful, talented designers have joined the tour to share fast, fun, inspiring projects! Here's the list of names and dates so you can catch up,  join us and follow along!

11-01  Mathew Boudreaux  Mister Domestic

11-02  AnneMarie Chany  Gen X Quilters

11-03  Brooke Sellmann  Silly Mama Quilts

11-06  Blair Stocker  Wise Craft Handmade

11-07  Silvia Sutters  A Stranger View

11-08  Peta Peace  She Quilts A Lot

11-09  Sharon Holland  Sharon Holland Designs

11-10  Heather Andrus  Quilt Story

11-13  Maureen Cracknell  Maureen Cracknell Handmade

11-14  Anjeanette Klinder  Anjeanettek

11-15  Alexis Wright  My Sweet Sunshine Studio

11-16  Katie Skoog  The Simple Life Company

I couldn't decide on just one Bountiful project to make and share today, so last week I had myself a Bountiful sewing day! I went to my studio early and spent the entire work day sewing with this pretty collection. My to-make list included a variety of pillows and bags and I'm so happy with each of the things I was able to make!

Each of the four finished projects I have to share today started with cutting several 1.5" x wof strips from the dozen or so Bountiful prints I had in my stash. First up is my Bountiful Shine Pillow -- a mini remake of my Soulful QAYG!



For this 18" pillow I separated the Bountiful blues from the coral and yellow prints to create this pretty diamond pattern that looks to radiate from the center!



For my second pillow project I used more of the same narrow strips to create one of my Herringbone qayg pillows, adding in AGF denims and keeping like colors together to create a pretty rainbow order pattern!







Using up the trimmed away length scraps from my two pillow projects, I stitched up two Bountiful zipper bags in the perfect size for art supplies or cosmetics. The pattern used for this first one again is my herringbone qayg pattern with a fun yellow zipper and tassel detail.



This Bountiful bag reverses to an identical pattern on the back side. I picked up a dozen or so of these tassel keychains on clearance when I was shopping last Spring and they have been perfect for adding to my new zipper pouch obsession!



This next bag and final Bountiful project is a larger size bag with boxy corners perfect for carrying larger items such as notecards and markers or a hair brush and hair accessories. I love using up scraps when making these zipper pouches & bags and experimenting with different quilt patterns & sizes. They are so much fun to make!





I LOVED my Bountiful sewing day! If you haven't yet added this collection to your stash, you can find it available in my sponsor's shop Fat Quarter Shop, Lady Belle Fabrics and Fabric.com + Sharon has organized two Giveaways for the holiday tour -- one on her blog Sharon Holland Designs at the end of the tour, thanks to Fat Quarter Shop: Bountiful Harvest Giveaway, and one on Instagram for sharing maker's posts of your favorite tour projects. Pop over to Sharon's IG for chances to win there!

Be sure to visit Quilt Story to see the pretty Bountiful dress she made and to stop by Anjeanette Klinder to see tomorrow's inspirational project! I can't wait!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my Bountiful projects! xx Maureen