Mystical Land Quilt Tops!

Earlier this month I enjoyed making not one, but two new Mystical Land fabric quilt tops! The one above I began in the Spring by making hourglass quilt blocks combining ML with AGF's new Element or blender, Decostitch, but once the kids Summer break from school started in late May this project got tucked away with my other unfinished projects. When I finally returned to my studio a few weeks back I was thrilled to discover that I only needed a dozen or so more to piece together this quilt top and that same evening I brought it along to the lake for pictures!



This is the sixth Hourglass quilt top I've made over the years and my new favorite! Although I now have a spacious studio, I still don't have a design wall, so I made room on the floor so I could arrange my blocks in a thoughtful way that would showcase my inspiration for both my Mystical Land collection and this quilt top -- the beautiful glow and magic of dusk, my favorite time of day!



The transition from the pale blues, creams, and golden yellows into the moody and saturated blues, violet and fuchsia prints is so pretty and was a very fun challenge and chance for me to play with their values. I did quite a bit of rearranging on the floor to get it right and I'm so happy with how closely this quilt top resembles my initial vision!



When I make Hourglass quilt blocks I start with square cuts of fabric and had cut WAY too many for the top above. Not wanting those to go to waste or to begin another hourglass quilt top right away, I decided to pair contracting colors together to make large HSTs from those leftover square cuts. Although in these photos it very much looks like these are hourglass blocks,as well, each block that makes up this top is made of four HSTs. This quilt top is also quite a bit bigger than the first quilt top a made -- I suppose that's a happy side effect of not doing math before I began the first top!



The combination of colors in this one is really interesting to me because of how the berry + orchid purples and the Sunglow Decostitch prints jump out at me. I really love it!



Both of these quilt tops, along with a few others, are in the hands of Brooke Becker of  Lady Belle Quilting to work her edge to edge quilting magic. I saw a peek of one already and I cannot wait to get them back to bind and photograph this Fall, my favorite season!

This is the first full week of school for my kids and it feels good to be back to a schedule. We were all ready! I immediately began redoing my studio to open up as a small gift shop, to offer lessons and to host craft nights before the year ends. That's where I'm spending most of my time right now, but I've made sure to make time for sewing as well and I have lots to share. It feels so good to be back in this space today!

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

xo  Maureen

An Hourglass Quilted Pillow {Tutorial} & News!

Hiya friends,

Today my intention was to simply share this new tutorial with you all, as I've finally been back to sewing for about a week now after badly injuring my knee and then my finger, but unfortunately now I'm dealing with more troubles. On Saturday evening around 7pm I was scrolling through my personal Facebook feed when I received a pop-up that read, "session has timed out." I immediately  tried to log back in and it said that my account had been disabled. I then panicked and went to my Instagram app and I was logged out of there, as well, and my login info was coming up "no user." While I restarted my phone, I opened my laptop and tried to login with no luck still, so I checked my email and at 6:46pm I had received a Login Alert Facebook email that showed a suspicious login from "near Elk Grove Village, IL" and I live in Pennsylvania. I read and followed all of the proper dispute claims for being hacked and/or mistakenly disabled through both social media platforms and I finally heard back yesterday morning that both accounts were permanently disabled. What??!! I attempted to respond to that email and I received one final email saying that "your account has been permanently disabled for not following the community standards. Unfortunately, we won't be able to reactivate it for any reason. This will be our last email regarding your account." Now if you read through what one would have to do to have their account permanently disabled, please believe that in NO WAY have I ever or would I ever do anything harmful to anyone on social media! I have simply used it as a way to stay connected to family & friends and now all those videos and photos of my growing three children are gone. I used as a way to build community through a shared love of fabric and sewing and now all 131,000+ Maureen Cracknell Handmade Facebook Page followers are gone. I used it to post pretty pictures and to share news, new fabric & projects of my own work and the work of so many wonderful makers and now all 30,200+ Maureen Cracknell Instagram followers are gone. Years of memories, friendships and hard work. Gone. It's heartbreaking to say the least. I'm trying to hold onto hope that somehow it will all be restored, but I've also decided to move forward with a new Instagram @MaureenCracknellHandmade and I hope you'll find me there! Please, please everyone add two-step verification to your social media accounts. I was not cautious and I have lost everything I've shared for the past ten years!

I don't know that I will attempt to rebuild on Facebook for several reasons, but my making and sharing will continue and it does feel pretty perfect that I just so happened to have a brand new tutorial prepared to share today!



My dear friend and fellow AGF fabric designer, Sharon Holland, has a stunning new collection just hitting stores with a LookBook due out later today for, Everlasting! I'm so happy to have been back to sewing just in time to make this set of pillows to contribute and I hope you love them as much as I do!



What you'll need:

• 8  - 6" charms of fabrics of your choosing, four blue/navy and four red/peach/cream
• 2 - 11.5" X 15" cuts for the pillow backing fabric
•  Hobbs Tuscany Cotton Batting for pillow front and back pieces
• 1/4 yd of binding for finishing the pillow 
• 1 - 14" pillow insert
• Coordinating Thread
• Rotary Cutter/Mat/Ruler

Steps: 

1. Cut eight 6" charm squares from the fabrics you've chosen for the pillow front





2. With right sides facing, pin and sew together two blue prints using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat with the two remaining blue squares, pressing all seams open as you go



3. Sew the two sets of two blue squares together, with rights sides facing to create a four patch block. Repeat this for the second set of four red/peach/cream 6" charm squares. When finished you'll have two, four patch blocks



4. With right sides facing, place the two four patch blocks together, pin and sew around all four edges sewing a 1/4" from the very out edge



5. Use a ruler and place it across the middle of the sewn square. Be sure to position the ruler to ensure the cutting will pass through the point where the stitches meet at each opposing corner. Once the ruler is in place, make the cut using a rotary cutter. Repeat across the other direction to create four triangles





6. Press with seams open, trim away any exposed seam allowances, and square up each block to make four nice and neat 8" hourglass blocks



7. Arrange the four blocks in a layout keeping the blue/navy prints at the center and the red/peach/cream on the outside or visa versa. With right sides facing, pin and sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance two blocks together using a straight stitch. Repeat with the two remaining blocks, pressing all seams open as you go



8. Sew the two sets of two blocks together, with rights sides facing to create the patchwork pillow front and place the pieced pillow front onto a piece of batting so the wrong side of the pillow front is facing the right side of the batting. Baste using your preference with spray or pins



9. With stitches space a 1/2" a part, quilt the pillow front to the batting. Trim away excess batting to finish a pillow top that measures a 15" square



10.  To prepare back pieces, using one of the pillow back fabrics measuring 11.5" x 15", baste to a piece of cotton batting measuring the same size and fold over one of the sides measuring 15" a 1/4", press, fold over again a 1/4", press. Sew along inner folded edge and along the outer edge, staying close to the fold. This will create the double seam finish. Repeat this step with the other pillow back fabric



11. Place the pillow backing fabrics onto the wrong side of the quilted pillow front. Sew a basting stitch all the way around the very outer edge of the pillow layers to attach them. Finish the pillow using the 1/4 yd of binding just as you would adding binding to a quilt



Insert your pillow form and now you have a very cute Hourglass Quilted Pillow!





I hope you love these hourglass quilted pillows as much as I do, but honestly with Sharon's Everlasting fabrics it's impossible not to create something you'll love! My Everlasting sewing didn't stop with this pretty pair of pillows, I'll have another project in the LookBook that I'll be back to share this week! If you give this tutorial a try and you post on your social media, don't forget to share with me on my new Instagram @MaureenCracknellHandmade!

xo, Maureen

The Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew-Along: Block 21!

Before we jump right in to week TWENTY ONE, to help us better to understand what you're looking for in future sew alongs, Sharon and I have prepared an 8-answer survey and we'd really appreciate you taking the time to help us out! This quick questionnaire is completely anonymous and the answers will give us better insight into how you've enjoyed this sew-along. To ensure the most accurate results, please only take the survey once. A BIG thanks to those of you who've participated in the SBS questionnaire already. If you've not yet had a chance to take the survey, please do so as soon as you can, we're only keeping it open now through the end of the SBS sew along. The link provided on both our blogs will link to the same survey. So, if you access the questionnaire from either Sharon's site or mine, your answers are compiled to the same place. Thank you in advance for your help!

Now it's time for another block release of the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along!

Today's free download is for block #21: Hourglass. I'll be sure to add this new pattern to my Sewcial Bee Sampler Page with the previous week's patterns. It's a great place to start for those of you just discovering our bee, where you can easily find everything you need to begin the SBS Sampler right in one place! Simply click on the link or the image below for direct access to this week's new SBS pattern!



For my version of this week's Hourglass Block I used a combination of prints from Garden Dreamer: Flower Dance and Flower Waltz with on of the main florals from Fleet & Flourish: What Awaits Above. I love this combination of peach, mint, & creamy white!

This week I fussy cut one of my favorite flower clusters from the peach floral print, framing it with Flower Waltz and I'm really happy with this fabric combination! My delivery of AGF's Soft Sand Linen came this week so I had it just in time to add to this block and have already added the linen frame to last week's to be able to share on Instagram later today!



The center of this week's block is my favorite part and includes a new piecing technique called Square in Square that Sharon put an extra step by step tutorial for on her blog today. Be sure to visit her if you need some extra visuals of how this Hourglass block comes together, Sharon's instructions are the best!



I can't wait to see all of the beautiful Hourglass blocks you'll make this week! Be sure to visit Sharon's blog today to see her beautiful versions, and to stop back for details on how to enter this week's special Sewcial Bee Giveaway Friday with Needle and Foot!

Happy SBS sewing, friends!  ♡ Maureen   

An Hourglass Quilt Top : :

This weekend we made time to photograph two new quilt tops and I'm so excited to share both of them here on the blog this week!

First up, a scrappy hourglass quilt featuring Bonnie Christine's latest collection with AGF, Hello, Ollie!



Hello, Ollie is the very first certified organic cotton fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and the quality is absolutely amazing! These truly are the softest, most luxurious organic fabrics I have ever used. Hello, Ollie is a beautiful mix of soft & delicate hues with fun pops of color, and is packed full of sweet feathered creatures and garden blooms!



When this collection arrived we were in the thick of Summer break, where a week would quickly go by with little to no sewing time for this mama to three. In an effort to begin a new Hello, Ollie quilt with very high hopes that I might actually finish it up, I settled on one of my go-to pattern favorites for producing a pretty but speedy quilt using the hourglass block. The "make four at a time" method I use makes for quick work, and in no time I had all the blocks needed for a generous throw size quilt top!





There's a beautiful maple farm about forty minutes from our home that happens to have pond where two swans actually live. The moment I finished this quilt top I've been waiting for the chance to photograph it at this perfect spot, and then a week ago when we ventured there for brunch I completely forgot about it! I'm still kicking myself for that one, but this pretty tree shot from Saturday almost made me forget about it. It's my favorite photo from the bunch!



Isn't it dreamy! When it comes to photographing these light, feathery quilt tops the slightest bit of wind can make it impossible to take photos while my husband holds it steady. Seeking out special trees like this one and the split rail wood fencing we're so lucky to have throughout the areas surrounding my hometown are perfect substitutes!



I plan to back this quilt with a sea of swans using Bonnie's Swanlings Bevy in Nightfall print!



And, once it's completely finished I promise to find my way to those swans!

You can find this beautiful Hello, Ollie collection newly available at Fat Quarter Shop, Llama Fabrics, and on SALE at Lady Belle Fabric!

♡ 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  

Hello, Ollie!

Sometimes a new fabric collection arrives at my door and it's so good, I have to cut into it right away! That was the case with AGF designer Bonnie Christine's newest collection, Hello, Ollie! This is the very first Art Gallery Fabrics certified organic cotton fabric collection and the quality is absolutely amazing! These truly are the softest, most luxurious organic fabrics I have ever used. It's so exciting!



My favorite Hello, Ollie print is Dabbling Swan, which I set aside to admire a little longer with a different project in mind. For the remaining, beautiful eighteen prints, full of sweet feathered creatures and garden blooms, I couldn't wait to see them come together in a pretty, patchwork project!

It's been awhile since I've had the time to begin a new quilt top, and I definitely didn't want to start one only to struggle to find the sewing time needed to see it progress. After a little thought, I quickly settled on making an hour glass quilt. The "make four at a time" method I've always used for making hour glass quilt blocks produces fast results, and in no time I had all the blocks needed for a generous throw size quilt top!



These hour glass quilt blocks began with a stack of  7" charms squares,



sewn together into four-patch quilt blocks,



and after a little more sewing & cutting, emerged sixty-four 9" hour glass blocks!





Now, all that's left to do is arrange them into a harmonious pattern and to sew them together. I can't wait to see this finished and to share it here just as soon as it's done!

You can find Hello, Ollie available soon at Fat Quarter Shop, Llama Fabrics, Lady Belle Fabric, and The Intrepid Thread!

♡ Maureen