An Extra One : :

Yesterday our beautiful baby girl turned NINE! It was a busy weekday night, so we celebrated simply with a nice family dinner of her request - spicy chili, cheddar biscuits, and old fashion apple crisp! Almost every time we go out to eat she orders a side salad and a cup of chili, it's the funniest thing! There was a little bit of sewing for her birthday - a crown, of course! This year I had offered a new special Holiday Crown design and sale, and when Haila saw me sewing them up last week she asked if I could make an extra one for her birthday. Absolutely!



I love this shade of spice berry red! It's pretty and festive and is one of those colors that just looks good on everyone, don't you think? Adding in bright corals and red, dusty pink, and aqua blue made such a great color combination!



Our birthday girl loved hers and looked so beautiful!







My hope is that each of the little girls who will be receiving one of these crowns this year lights up like my girl!

♡ Maureen

Sewing Room Snapshots : :

Lately in the sewing room...















there's been a mess of Etsy crown and pillow making, Christmas music playing, felt and fabric flying, lots of coffee drinking, and so much more! Many little moments both good and bad and fun and hard, as this time of year has a way of overwhelming me every single year as I prepare for the holidays, both Kaiden and Haila's birthdays, work on my Spring fabric collection (a first for me), all while taking on as many orders as I possibly can! But I'm feeling so grateful this morning for taking the time to sew with my birthday girl this past weekend. She's NINE today!! While we both don't get as much time to sew together as we'd like, when we do we LOVE it! So today, on her birthday, I'm extra grateful for my sweet, creative girl and my overwhelming feelings of love and pride for her that fills my heart and the gaps of what I sometimes forget!

Happy Birthday Haila Grace!

♡  ♡  ♡

Winter Princess Crowns : :

This week has been another super busy one that has completely flown by! I have so much that I'm excited to share in the coming days. Fleet & Flourish, my newest fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, has begun shipping to our favorite shops! I should be receiving my yardage any day now! I have so much planned for it, I cannot wait!! While I anticipate that delivery, my focus has been on stitching up all the crown and pillow orders I've received these past two weeks. I can't tell you how much I appreciate each and every order! THANK YOU!

I've wanted to create a special "Frozen" themed Winter Princess crown for so long now, and this week I decided to whip up a small batch to offer for the holidays. With a frosty colors scheme, full of hand-stitched snowflake details, that can be personalized with an initial or number of your choosing, I think these turned out really sweet!









I have just a few left. These SOLD OUT, thank you, but if you're interested in ordering just leave me a comment or feel free to email me at maureencracknell@hotmail.com. Thanks!!

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a very special GIVEAWAY!! ♡♡♡ Maureen

Twenty Crowns : :

At the end of last week I spent two days making the twenty crowns for my Summer Princess Crown Sale! A huge thanks to everyone who ordered! This crown is one of my most favorite designs ever and is made in my very favorite color palette. Still, making twenty of anything is a pretty big undertaking, especially during these busy Summer days when sewing time is hard to come by! Is anyone else having this problem?



I broke into my newly stashed Aurifil Aurifloss Set from the Fat Quarter Shop to add my hand-stitched flower details. This beautiful quality 6 strand floss is perfect for hand-embroidery and quilting. I'm so excited to have started a new collection!



Today I'll continue the crown making until I'm all caught up with my Etsy orders! For those of you who missed out on my crown sale this time, I'm hoping to plan another with a new design, for August sometime!



I'll be back soon with something quilty to share! ♡ Maureen

A Little New : :

Before we left for our Thanksgiving vacation, I finished up and shipped out some new etsy crown styles that I wanted to share here during my sale and before too much time passes & I forget!





















My Etsy crown sale continues! Receive 20% OFF with coupon code: HOLIDAY20 -- I'll be adding these new options to my shop as I find time throughout today. We're finally decorating!!



Happy Monday to all!  ♥  Maureen 

Sewing Room Snapshots : :

Whenever I take a day off from blogging it's almost always because I'm sewing sooo much! That's been the case this week as I play catch-up after a weekend away and I work on meeting fast approaching deadlines. Since we returned home Sunday night I've been a sewing machine! I'm preparing to close my etsy shop beginning this Sunday for a little more than one week, to give me the time to finish up all orders before our Virginia Beach Thanksgiving vacation.

Because of the work week I'll be missing and how late Thanksgiving seems to fall this year, I decided to start my annual Crown Sale early!! If you've been wanting to order one, now is the best time! Coupon Code: HOLIDAY20 give's you an extra 20% off and makes these crowns a wonderful handmade, under $25, personalized/custom, special gift/stocking stuffer! My New Year's is made so much more special by all the adorable photos my customers send me after the holidays, I can't wait!!



This is a new favorite of mine -- A Camping themed crown, newly listed in my shop!



A few of yesterday's crown makings!



Besides crowns, here's a look at what's being made or is just hanging around my sewing room these days!



I made this embroidery hoop dreamcatcher one night last week, I especially loved making the stitched, felt feathers! After a little pattern tweaking I think it will make a fun tutorial to share sometime in the Winter weeks ahead of us!

There's always a fox pillow or two being made each week!



I've been very busy sorting lots of fabric scraps to include with the felt orders that come through the shop!







I started a new quilt using a block idea I dreamed up specifically for all my AMH strings leftover from my Herringbone Quilt & tutorial!



I can't wait to find the time to cut into this lovely stack of Minimalista -- a new collection by AGF In-House Studio! I have a good plan for these!!



And, I can't stop thinking about how to finish this thrifted quilt top. At close inspection it has a few holes and the hand-piecing is quite loose. A project probably best to leave for after the holidays, if I can wait that long! Isn't it beautiful?



I have Kaiden's Making Rows quilt left to finish and two more quilts yet to start & finish before Christmas, but I believe these should some together quickly. I also have so many little project ideas swirling around. These days sure are busy, but they're also fun! I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with something new to share! See you then!!  ♥  Maureen 

Crown Cuteness : :

I've been busy making Birthday Crowns! Sometimes making all these crowns can seem pretty repetitive, particularly my most popular crown style. Then other times, the variety of cute applique opportunities I receive is so, SO fun and enjoyable! These are the orders that seem to come at just the right time, giving me the relief I need from the monotony!











Today, I'm feeling caught up just enough to work on my Carnaby Quilt. I do have two, new quilt ideas completely planned out -- a solids quilt made with only Pure Elements and another with Shelburne Falls, that I can not wait to begin!

How about you, what are you working on this week?    ♥,  Maureen

Secret Garden Crown -- Finished!

I showed a peek here at a little something special I was working on for my little girl last week -- well, it's finished! And is my favorite crown yet!





I plan to offer custom orders for these in my shop soon. My new pillows from yesterday are now available in there, as well.

Happy Creating! ~ Maureen