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 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