Chalk & Paint : :

Last week I received a beautiful bundle of Sew Caroline's newest collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, Chalk & Paint, due out in stores this month!



This collection is SO sweet! The colors are warm & soothing and the prints are happy & fun, just a real pleasure to sew with! Right away I knew they'd make a perfect Herringbone QAYG Birthday pillow for my Mama!



She loved it! I only took this one photo before gifting it to her, but I know I'm not at all finished sewing with these pretty fabrics. I cut just one narrow strip from 18 of the 20 prints to sew up this 18"  pillow, and now I'm dreaming of Chalk & Paint quilt plans!



By the end of last week I also decided on a plan for my bold Fleet & Flourish quilt beginning!



I love when you chime in and share your opinions! Reading through your comments always leads me in a direction that feels right. I'm happy with what I have now, but it's just a start. I'm thinking of using this as a center medallion piece for a new "making rows" style quilt. Hoping to have more to share soon!!

Happy Monday, friends!

♡ Maureen 

Arcadia Geese : :

I really appreciate those of you who cast your fabric vote the other day, your enthusiasm is contagious and was the gentle jolt I needed to get sewing again. thank you.







Unsure of a good first step, I reflected on other times when I really wanted to start a new quilt without having a solid design plan and decided those that began best were those set out with an open making rows style of quilt in mind. I've made two now. Kaiden's Making Rows quilt, a favorite from last year's quilt making. And more recently, a Rapture Making Rows quilt using Pat Bravo's beautiful collection. This unhindered design as I go process is the best kind of instinctual work. It lends itself so well to the times I want to sew, but am preoccupied with other thinking or even just daydreaming. These days I'm both relying on and finding a comfort in what my hands have learned to do when my head and heart are elsewhere. It might not be much yet, but it feels satisfying, and so I am grateful.



I'd love to know what you're all working on. I don't have much time to reply like I usually try to do, but I read each and every comment left here and always find them so helpful!

So, what are you stitching up these days?   ♥ Maureen

A Rapture Making Rows Quilt : :

Happy Monday everyone, I'm excited to have a new quilt to share with you all today!



Yesterday, just before Easter dinner, Kevin and I slipped away to a pretty spot in town to take photos of my newly finished Rapture Quilt. It was such a beautiful, sunny day which certainly made for pretty, yet extra bright photos!



This quilt is made in my "making rows" style of piecing, similar to the approach I used for this favorite quilt I designed for my son Kaiden. Rather than creating an assortment of quilt blocks, I simply make rows in the length of my desired quilt, keeping symmetry and balance. My favorite parts of this one are the strips of solids I added to break up this soft-hued Rapture collection. The ultra sweet color palette is so Springy, such a perfect finish for this time of year!



Inspired by Rapture's Windswept print, I sent this one off to Melissa, Sew Shabby Quilting, to long arm quilt with her loops & swirls pattern. I'm so happy with my choice and am always so impressed with Melissa's work!



This quilt is bound in Art Gallery Fabric's Squared Element in Noir, to highlight the black bits of this quilt that I love so much!



For the back I went with my most favorite Rapture print, Wild Beauty in Pineapple, saving one row of patchwork to add in, as well!





While snapping photos of my quilt against the ashy woods and rock, if I focused in just enough, I could see little peeks of green sprouts on a few of the branches and beneath the layer of last Fall's leaves. It was encouraging to see!



Today we'll be celebrating my son Jacob, who's turning ten! I wish you all a wonderful day & happy sewing!!

♥  Maureen

Quilt Top Snapshops : :

Today, once my etsy order making was done, I pulled out my Rapture quilt rows and got to work, taking lots & LOTS of photos as I pieced and pressed! While I couldn't quite remember the order I had previously decided on for each finished column, in no time at all I had a new complete quilt top! One that might just be even better that my original idea, who knows!

I'm sending this one off to Melissa to add these adorable loops & swirls, a choice completely inspired by Rapture's Windswept print!

This will be my fifth quilt finish of the year and it's only the beginning of the forth month, woohoo! I do love meeting goals and even more, surpassing them!

♥  Maureen

A Making Rows Quilt : :

It's amazing that my last quilt photo shoot and this one were taken with just a few days in between, one on the beach in Virginia and the other back here in Potter County. I finished this Making Rows quilt up just before we left last week for our Thanksgiving vacation, I brought it along, but decided it was meant to be photographed right here at home. I toted it with us on our recent trip to the tree farm, it was cold and snowy, but with isles of dark evergreen Firs, Pines, and Spruces as my backdrop it was so beautiful & perfect!






This quilt is made using a combination of my go-to quilt as you go method and the panel style of qayg that I shared a tutorial for after finishing my Autumn Herringbone Quilt. Of course this quilt of rows can be done without the quilting as you go, but it's so fun and is just too quick! Plus I love to see the combination of the dense straight line quilting and the decorative stitches I added all with a white Auriful 50wt!



I had chosen these fabrics inspired by my son Kaiden's entire wardrobe of almost all black, grays, and reds. It was a little risky, since he had asked for either a "Hunger Games" or "Harry Potter" themed quilt with suggestions so specific they gave me a tension headache. But with two quilts still to make in these next three weeks, I decided I couldn't take it on under my time constraints. Being the sweet kid that he is, he understood, and when I shared with him the beginnings of his quilt -- he was thrilled!









Most of the back is finished in an 100% cotton flannel shirting fabric in a red and black plaid that Kaiden loves to wear! When I ordered this print I didn't read that the width of these particular fabrics is 41" and so my calculations were off. That same day I noticed my mistake Lindsey posted some flannel houndstooth she was hoping to destash on her Instagram and I jumped, lucky me! Another reason I love Instagram!






Once we flipped the quilt to get those back photos both the wind and snow started picking up, so the rest of my close up shots turned out to be too dark and blurry to share. This is a quilt that I do love just as much from far away. Sometimes that doesn't work out, but this time some of the far away shots are my most favorite!




The rest of the night was spent picking out & setting up our Christmas tree, and of course the decorating that followed! My favorite!!





Yesterday after school I snapped these photos of Kaiden with his finished quilt. I bet you can imagine how great seeing this felt! There's nothing better than seeing a quilt you've made being used and loved, is there?!







♥  Maureen 

For Kaiden : :

This past Sunday morning I finished up my Making Rows Quilt top, a quilt-as-you-go style quilt I'm making to give Kaiden on Christmas. I had mentioned when I shared my Diamond Strings Quilt that Kaiden had such grand ideas for his design that it could take just as long to make, as it's taken me to make the eight I've already finished. That, combined with him changing his mind sort of often, was making me a little nervous as to whether I could reach my goal of making my three kiddos and each of my brother's & sister's children a quilt of their very own to handout at Christmas time.

With so much on my plate besides this quilt goal of mine, I decided to just go for it and I started a quilt for Kaiden using fabrics I knew he'd like, in a color-scheme I knew he'd love. I showed him some peeks along the way and I'm happy to report he's thrilled with it! I felt especially proud after noticing how very similar the quilt I made for him is to the items he chose for himself when we recently went Winter clothes shopping. Yay, victory!



I quilted each row using my go-to quilt-as-you-go method, with mostly straight line quilting, adding in just a few decorative stitches here and there!





I chose a 100% cotton, plaid flannel shirting for the quilt back that is soooo perfect!



I'm basting this one today and I'll be back tomorrow with a Sunset Quilt finish to share! I glanced over those quilt photos just now as I was putting these together, and I'm so excited! Be sure to stop back!!

♥  Maureen

This Week : :

Yesterday I shipped out lots of crowns orders, including my new favorite design and color scheme, these cute little Fox & Bunting Crowns!





I'll be listing it in my etsy shop today and then I plan to share a little Giveaway for one on my Facebook Page right HERE!



Last night I worked a little more on my Making Rows Quilt in progress, adding in my Stacked Windmill block from Modern Bee and lots of pluses & flying geese!



I'm completely hooked on making geese these days! I recently designed a geese quilt using Cloud9 Fabric's soon to be released Up, Up, & Away collection. My quilt will be displayed in their booth at Market this weekend, and then we plan to share that free pattern sometime next month! I just can't stop making them, they're so much fun!!



After last night's sewing session I have a few more rows finished, with just a couple more to go before this quilt top is completely done, I can't wait!

How about you, what are you working on this week?