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

A New Dreamcatcher Pillow : :

With the welcoming of Fall came a stretch of rainy overcast days, with dark and cozy mornings perfect for all the sewing I've been doing, but not so great for picture-taking. I've been trying to share little snippets of all the things I've been making for Quilt Market, taking just quick iPhone snaps for Instagram and Facebook.



But since I've never been a fan of reposting Instagram photos into the blog, I best get my act together and start taking good photos before sundown, rather than hoping to each morning before I post. Starting today!

This next pillow features a "sketch stitching" I recently did of the dreamcatcher motif found in my Fleet & Flourish Gentle Mantle print. It must be preparing for Quilt Market, the excitement of releasing a new fabric collection, or a combination of both, that brings this kind of creativity out of me. Just like last year, recreating my favorite designs with fabrics and colorful stitching is at the top of my to-make list!





To begin I simply traced a plate with a Hera Tool, marking a center circle onto a new AGF solid in Turmeric basted to a layer of cotton batting. With black Autifil thread I traced the circle and from there stitched out the rest of my drawing, before adding in the rest of the colors, decorative stitching, and details. This kind of embroidery is all freeform and is all about fun! Although I had my original dreamcatcher sketch close by to reference, it's not exact, and that's good. I love having the freedom to make little changes as I sew!









The theme of Fleet & Flourish and my Quilt Market space is Romantic Bohemian. To me that means lots of layers and textures, colors and prints, lace and embroidery. I hope this pillow represents that well!





I'll be back soon with more Fleet & Flourish finishes! Thanks for stopping by!! ♡ Maureen

Pillow Sale : :

Today I plan to add these new pillows to my Etsy Shop for a little early Spring update! I always have such fun stitching up new pillows, but this time I especially loved dreaming about the Spring season - full of color, light, and sunshine!

Thank you for looking, and for your interest in and support of what I do! ♡ Maureen   

A Dreamcatcher Pillow : :

Ever since I made and shared my first Dreamcatcher Pillow I've been eager to make another. At the end of last week I finished up a new one and I have plans to create & sell many more! This pillow design is so fun for me to make! It embodies perfectly the spirit of my Wild & Free collection, and I love that I get to combine so many of my favorite techniques to create each one!



This one started with a Woven Path print Dresden as my dreamcatcher center. I really love making Dresdens and I don't take the time to nearly enough! Next came a batch of whimsical, hand drawn & cut feathers from the Sun Tracks print and a few other Art Gallery fabrics that I thought had great feather potential. I used HeatnBond Lite by ThermoWeb to attach each feather to my pillow top fabric and was ready to start stitching!



I snapped this photo to show how the first stitches look from the batting side of my work. Once I add the colorful, decorative stitches it starts to look a little messy, but at this point you can see how nice and neat!



Once my Dresden and feathers were sewn in place, the fun begins of adding in layers of detail. I especially love how my Aurifil thread, satin stitch beads turned out. Look how pretty!



I finished my pillow cover with a quilted Sun Tracks fabric back and Ripple River binding left over from my Emmy Grace quilt!



I stuffed it with a 20" insert and added it to my pile of finished pillows that I'm hoping will grow a little more before I offer them for sale!



I wish you all a most wonderful start to your week!  ♡ Maureen   

A Low Volume Canvas : :

I've been feeling an extra creative push with these Quilt Market projects, making sure to highlight my collection in each one without having much fabric to work with has really forced me to think outside the box. I'm down to just the itty bitty scraps now and my sewing time is running out fast! A few weeks ago when I pulled from my stash my entire collection of low volume Art Gallery fabrics I had a new quilt project in mind, but this idea was quickly pushed to the side along with all the other plans I have waiting for when my yardage arrives. Then yesterday, even though I have two quilts yet to bind & a bench still to reupholster, I decided to cut this low volume quilt idea of mine down to an achievable Euro pillow size and I got to work!



In no time at all I had my low volume canvas!



To make it quick, I used my quilt as you go method of sewing the fabrics right to the batting in narrow panels, just as I do for my Herringbone QAYG quilt pattern, but stacked as I did for my Endless Summer quilt. Scrap friendly and super fast!

My plan for this was always to sketch stitch out a dream catcher, with Wild & Free feathers, and layers of decorative stitches! Since my canvas is pillow size, rather than the dramatic quilt size I originally hoped for, I simply began by tracing a large dinner plate with a Hera marker for my starting point.



From there I sketched out a simple dream catcher shape for me to build upon with lots of sketchy stitching, hand cut feathers, and colorful Aurifil!



This is the last photo I took right as the kids were getting home from school!



I was able to finish it up once they were in their beds for the night, and I'm so happy I took the time for it. I'll be sure to share photos of it finished soon and I can't wait to try this one again -- quilt size!

♥  Maureen

A Quilted Dreamcatcher : :

I've always been drawn to the beauty of dreamcatchers. To each meaningful handmade component, from the hoop to each bead embedded in the webbing. Around two years ago, just about the time I started to seriously consider deigning fabric, I found this big beautiful vintage quilting hoop at a local thrift shop and decided that day that it would become a dreamcatcher inspired sign for my very first Quilt Market booth, for my very first fabric collection. That may sound a little crazy, but it's true! And although this first Limited Edition collection of mine is quite different than what I was envisioning back then, I'm so thrilled to see projects like this one materialize, just as I hoped, so many months later!



Just as I do for any sketch stitch piece, I began this project by basting a square cut of Creme De La Creme solid fabric to a scrap piece of batting to stabilize my embroidery. Using the satin stitch in multiple widths and stitch lengths & a variety of Wild & Free friendly Autifil 50wt I stitched out my collection logo front and center!



Next came the real fun of adding my quilting to resemble the magical weaving of a dreamcatcher and the many strands of Wild & Free fabric scraps, selvage ends, and other Art Gallery Fabrics that I've used to create all the projects I've been working on for this Quilt Market booth!





I'm so excited to have this special sign to bring with me to Houston, and I can't wait to share more of all the things I've been busy creating these past couple of weeks!



Thanks for stopping by today!  ♥ Maureen