Autumn Winds, Coming Soon!

This month my new Autumn Vibes LookBook will be released, and I am very excited! Today I'm popping in to share a quick peek of the free companion quilt pattern for my Autumn Vibes collection, Autumn Winds!





This quilt is so special to me because it was designed by friend, AGF sister and sampler sew-along partner, Sharon Holland. It's full of HSTs, patches & flying geese and is just so perfect for Autumn Vibes. I love every single piece of it!

The Bloc Loc 2.5" Half Square Triangle and Bloc Loc 2"x4" Flying Geese acrylic rulers shown in these photos have changed my life, I love them so much! Incase you're not familiar, Bloc Loc rulers have a groove that locks the ruler into place so that it doesn't move during trimming, making the tough job of squaring up easy, fast and accurate. For this Autumn Winds quilt, and other quilt patterns and projects heavy with 2.5" HSTs and/or this size flying geese, these rulers truly are a timing saving, useful tool to have as part of your ruler collection.





I hope you'll join me in making an Autumn Winds quilt for yourself. I can promise that this quilt is beautiful, and that you'll feel pretty darn proud of yourself when you're finished!





My hope is that this quilt pattern peek will inspire you to start stitching with Autumn Vibes!

xo, Maureen 

An Observer Quilt Top : :

This past Saturday we took a daytrip to one of our most beloved places to visit, Allegany State Park. Knowing we'd likely hike our favorite trail, the Bear Caves, where the kids love to explore amidst the hemlock forest and naturally formed caves, I brought along my newly finished Observer quilt top!



The forest backdrop was the perfect place to photograph the Earthy colors, pretty indigo and natural tie-dye look of this collection!





This quilt top pattern is simple, made up of large HSTs (half square triangle units) measuring 8" each. I arranged them in a layout that would showcase the four main colors that make up this collection -- khaki, mustard, dusty blue, and dark navy, and I love how it turned it out!





It was so much fun to watch the kids journey through the woods and to see Kevin climb the giant trail boulders hoping I'd get a cool shot from below!





I'm waiting for more Observer fabrics to arrive so I can finish it up, I can't wait! In the meantime I'll have to come up with a clever name for this new quilt pattern, any suggestions? I hear this beautiful collection is due to arrive in stores next week, so be sure to keep an eye out!

♡ Maureen

Quilt Top Progress : :

Over the weekend I shared a couple of photos on my Instagram and Facebook page of my Hello, Ollie Hourglass quilt top all finished! Full of elegant swans, sweet birds, and delicate garden blooms -- this quilt top is up there with the prettiest I've ever made. The combination of these colors & print designs makes it both completely adorable, but equally sophisticated, Haila & I may have to share this one! I can already picture it, one of us at each end of the couch with this beautiful quilt draped over us!



In an effort to keep up momentum and with the pace I was able to create my Hello, Ollie quilt top, I immediately made plans for the newest bundle to arrive at my door, April Rhodes' Observer collection due in stores early this month!



I wanted this quilt plan to be just as enjoyable as the hourglass blocks I had just been working on, something uncomplicated and fun! I decided on large half square triangle units, measuring 8" each, pieced to showcase the four main colors that make up this collection -- khaki, mustard, dusty blue, and dark navy, arranged in a pattern that would highlight the shibori, hand-dyed look of this gorgeous collection!



I used the HST method for making eight at a time, providing plenty enough for a generous throw size quilt top, with a pile of trimmed Observer HSTs to spare for pillow making!





Today's sewing time is going to be spend sewing the rest of this Observer top together. Two newly complete quilt tops in just one week, after a Summer of backpack & pillow making feels pretty great!

How about you, what are you working on these days?

♡ Maureen  

A Diamond Weave Quilt : :

Today I'm so very excited to share my finished Diamond Weave Quilt! This is the very first quilt/sewing project I started this year, back in the early days of January. My fabric rolls of Fleet & Flourish had just arrived and I was completely wonderstruck with all the possibilities before me. Traditional quilts, particularly those made up of half square triangles, had really been catching my eye at the time, so I decided to begin there, with lots of HST making! I didn't have a solid block plan in mind when I began cutting & piecing, but that's the beauty of making HST units ~ the options are truly endless!



Once I committed to a block design, after making several, I shared a couple of posts here including a few different quilt pattern options asking for opinions on which layout you all preferred. It was really nice to receive so much wonderful feedback and to have the time to share so much of this quilt's process, after being so occupied with designing my next collection & those busy holiday weeks. I definitely didn't think it would take this long to get it completely finished & photographed, but we had such a beautiful, fun day hiking, exploring, and taking pictures together this past Monday, I think it was worth the wait!



Once my thirty-six block quilt top was all pieced together I sent it off to my friend Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting to add an allover floral stitched pattern design, she always does such an amazing job!



For the quilt back I stitched together one large piece of my Fleet & Flourish Thriving Threads in Deep, denim colored ditsy floral.



You can see how pretty the quilting looks against all that blue from the backside of my quilt below!



For the binding I used my Gentle Mantle stripe in the Land colorway, full of the same blues, aqua, peach, & reds that make up this quilt!





Throughout the rest of this week I plan to work on putting together a tutorial for this quilt pattern to share at Janome.com soon! I know you're all going to love making a Diamond Weave Quilt of your very own and I can't wait to see!



Thanks so much for stopping by today!  ♡ Maureen

HST Pillow Set : :

I decided to finish last week's Nightfall & HST blocks into a set of pillows!



For a minute I considered making two more blocks to add to the pair I had already finished. This pattern would certainly make a beautiful & eye-catching center for a new quilt! Since each of the blocks I made contains just six 3" squares of my Nightfall prints to thirty HST's, I was concerned the prints would get lost in the sea of half square triangles, and so pillows were the perfect choice to keep the focus on the prints!



These pillows are for Quilt Market next month in Salt Lake, where I'll showcase my new fabric collection Nightfall, due in stores this August!



The HST's are made using Art Gallery Pure Element solids in some of the colors I picked for the new line ~ peachy pink, moody blues, aqua, navy, yellow, and eggplant.



In addition to all these solid quilting cottons, I'm really loving the combination of Nightfall with AGF's new line of denim! The colors of this collection work so perfectly with all of the solid smooth denims. I don't think there has been a single project that I've made for Quilt Market since they arrived that didn't incorporate denim in some way!



For this set of pillows I added a narrow border of linen to each block to bump the size up to finish for 20" pillow forms. I backed each pillow in the heavier weight Evergreen Slate and for the binding I used a lighter weight, the darkest shade of the solid smooth, Wicked Sky. This color and Cool Foliage are my current competing favorites! If you plan to buy Nightfall, I highly recommend you stash some of these denim colors, too!



I can't wait to see these pillows in my booth at Market in just a few weeks! I finalized my big plans last week and now I just have to get everything made! The sewing project on my to-make list for today is inspired by my dragonfly Nox Iridescence print, I hope to be back tomorrow with it all finished & photographed to share!



Happy sewing! ♡ Maureen

Nightfall & HSTs : :

Today I'm working on a HST, half square triangle, project for next month's Quilt Market show in Salt Lake. I'm running out of my Nightfall sample piece strike offs so fast, which means making even the tiniest scrap pieces stretch into something!



For this project, I began by centering several squares of Nightfall scrap pieces, lining them up as shown above, and then I simply started surrounding them with HST's made using Art Gallery solids in some of my Nightfall colors. I haven't decided on a solid plan for these blocks just yet, but I love the look of the two ready to be finished!



These colors having been really nice to work with! I love bouncing back and forth between sewing with these new, cooler prints & colors and my current, more brightly colored Fleet & Flourish collection. It's a lot of fun and feels pretty surreal most sewing days!



Once I pieced together the first block, I taped it up to my sewing room window, to delight in the new and to watch the light come through, while I decide what they might become.





I'll be back to share once they're finished!

XO Maureen

HST Options : :

After finishing up my Diamond Weave quilt top using my Fleet & Flourish blues, aqua, creams, peach, and reds, I pulled the plum prints from my basket, adding in AGF's new Aurora Red Pure Element, plus a pretty variety of purples and golden yellows. These colors are certainly bold, vibrant, and attention getting! A perfect project wake-me-up for these stark Winter days!



When I pulled these fabrics I had a very specific pattern idea in mind. Something I dreamt up while working on the last quilt, that sadly left my mind since. I know it involved HSTs, again, so I've started there, hoping to summon up my lost plan. But, nothing is coming back to be...

And so, I've been playing with HST's, lots of them! Below is the first block option I put together. Something simple with endless possibility!



Setting four together could be the start of a very pretty medallion style quilt... But I wasn't in love, so I couldn't commit to sewing my units togther. What do you think of this design?



Then this morning, with fresh eyes, I happened upon this new layout option. 



Both work beautifully as a center medallion beginning or as a repetitive block style quilt, maybe set on point? Do you have a preference? 

I'd love to know!

 ♡ Maureen 

A Littlest Doll Quilt : :

Working from the fat quarter bundle of Art Gallery Fabric's adorable nursery collection Littlest that I stashed quite sometime ago, I stitched up this mini/doll quilt Friday morning for my niece Josie's birthday gift.



I love mini quilts, but somehow have only made one other, my Valentine mini a couple years back.

This one began with a framed fussycut, adorable bunny duo from the Littlest main print, Furry Tales from the Into the Rose Woods colorway.



Next I used the Magic 8 Method for making speedy half-square triangles to create this sweet Sawtooth star block for the center for my quilt.





The rest came together quick! I finished with a large wavy quilting stitch and some yellow & white binding.



The back is finished with a fat quarter of my favorite Littlest's Magical Prairie Moon Panel, so super cute!



I'm quite happy with how this little doll quilt turned out, and so was the belated birthday girl. I'm really looking forward to making many more mini's!

♥ Maureen