Red & Blue & Something New : :

My Diamond Weave quilt top is done! It was such a fun project and block, one I know I'll want to use again to create one of the alternate patterns I shared. You can look back through my posts about this project by clicking  HERE. I tried my best to share all the details for those of you who'd like to make one of your own! Yesterday I did some last minute shifting to balance out the darkest shades of blue & coral red, before sewing all thirty-six blocks together, and I'm really happy with how it came together!



While I worked on this quilt throughout the last week or so, sewing with shades of red and blue became quite the theme. These recent Fox Pillows are the first I finished using Fleet & Flourish and should be arriving to their new homes any day!









Now I'm ready to start something new! This time I'll be using my Fleet & Flourish purples with AGF Pure Element solids in Cabernet, Verve Violet, Mauvelous, Empire Yellow plus some newer colors I'm really excited to add in -- Turmeric and Aurora Red.





I'm sure more prints from my stash will join the mix, while I work on my plan. There's nothing quite like the excitement of starting something new!

What do you think of this color combo?

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!

♡  ♡  ♡

Welcome, December : :

Each December, I spend my days busy making things to sell for holiday gift-giving. This year I started with new a Holiday Fox Pillow and Personalized Crown design!









I have a few pillows and crowns still available, if you're interested just leave a comment or email me at maureencracknell@hotmail.com. I'm also having an Etsy Sale (20% off with Coupon Code: Cyber20) and Crown Giveaway HERE, in case you missed it!

We've been slowly decorating the house for the holiday, with various handmade & kid-made garlands hanging from each entryway, placing the decor and traditions we've collected here and there throughout our house. It feels magical and extra special this year. My favorite thing is to listen to the kids, as they pull out each decoration from the boxes, sharing all that they remember about each little thing.







This is and will be a beautiful season full of celebration and the love all around us, of that I am certain!



Wishing you much joy and excitement as this season begins! ♡ Maureen

Holiday Fox Pillow Making : :

In between making Etsy crown orders, I've been busy working on new little fox pillow design with pretty holiday flower crowns to offer in a special sale!

I loved making these Flower Crown Fox pillows last Spring and thought a holiday batch would be something fun to try!



Doesn't she look sweet?



I didn't go too crazy with the holiday theme so these can be enjoyed all year, as a pillow cover or mini quilt!



I'm making a batch of ten in my most-loved color combination of felt choices -- dusty pink, minty aqua blues, teal, buttery yellow, mustard, smoky blue, dark berry, peach and coral!



For the pillow backs I'm using different Wild & Free fabric prints, and for the bindings, just leftover bits from all my quilt projects. I love how this first one turned out!



I'm hoping to finish up the others soon, using a different background color for each, and plan to have a pop-up sale right here or on Instagram soon! If you're interested in one, please feel free to let me know in advance either in the comments or via email. The special holiday sale price will be $38!



Happy sewing!  ♡ 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   

More Flower Crown Foxes : :

This weekend I finished up a new batch of sweet Flower Crown Fox Pillows for my little Etsy shop! One framed with my Luminous Field print and two with more Wanderer and Wild & Free patchwork, which I can't seem to get enough of these days! I love combining these two collections!!

I'm planning to add these pillows, along with several others and possibly a few quilts to my shop later this week. My sewing room is overflowing with inventory at the moment and each item was made to sell. It's just so difficult to put a price on handmade items. Do you feel that way? I feel that pricing is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make as artists. I've read so many powerful articles over the years on the value of a handmade work, posts encouraging us to see exactly how much our creations are worth, as well as dozens of breakdowns on how to formulate the cost. In the end, I rarely can settle on a fair number equivalent to something handcrafted, knowing how much love and heart and soul I put into it.

Do you sell your work? Have you done a cost break-down for any of your handmade items? I'd love to read your thoughts on this, please feel free to share!
  
♡ Maureen    

A Flower Crown Fox Pillow : :

While finishing up a batch of Etsy crown orders Saturday morning, dreaming of spring, I got the idea to give my little fox pillow design a pretty crown of flowers. So many of my very favorite projects begin with a plan to simply merge two separate patterns, and this newest one makes me so happy!



Doesn't she look sweet?



Her flowers are made in my most loved color combination of felt choices -- dusty pink, minty aqua, buttery yellow, smoky blue, dark berry, with leafy, sage greens!



For the pillow back I quilted up two pieces of scrappy Wanderer and Wild & Free patchwork for an envelope style closure!



The bindings are leftover from my Endless Summer quilt in Meadow and my Autumn Sun quilt in Sweet as Honey. I always make extra large rolls of quilt binding to have on hand to add to my pillows. It adds such a nice, neat, & special finish!



Today I'm finishing up three more, using a different background colors for each, and plan to pop them in my Etsy shop soon!



Happy Monday!  ♡ Maureen