Homebody Favorites!

Hello and Happy Monday! Since I so enjoyed writing my last post about the nine patch sister quilts that Sharon Holland and I made, along with sharing the free Charming Nine pdf pattern so you can make your own, I decided I'd pop back in today with a long overdue Homebody favorites post!







Homebody is my latest and thirteenth collection to date with fabric manufacturing company, Art Gallery Fabrics. This sixteen piece collection at its core, celebrates the unspoken magic of being home! The concept and artwork for Homebody was created and submitted to AGF long before we were all "stuck" in our homes these past 365 days, so the somewhat ironic timing will always be something I particularly treasure and laugh about when it comes to this collection. For me, home means creating a cozy space with a calm, peaceful environment that nourishes and comforts. These designs full of cheerful florals, cozy feathers, boho blenders and soft textures colored in a pretty palette reveals exactly the style of our own home and the layers of prints, patterns and things we've collected over the years that have made our house a home. Homebody has been amazing to sew with these past several weeks, from small accessory projects to large quilts. You can find loads of inspiration in the the LookBook, a 68-page book filled with beautiful pictures and amazing projects, and today I thought I'd share some of my favorites!

I'm going to start with what I made as soon as my Homebody rolls arrived, this set of quilted cosmetic bags for my daughter and I to showcase some of the main florals in this new collection! Everything I've learned about making bags I've learned from Svetlana of sotakhandmade, so if you're looking to make something similar I suggest her Essential Pouch pattern. To make these extra lux I used two layers of Hobbs Tuscany silk batting, just scraps I had leftover from some previously made quilted pillows, and the two layers quilted with a combination of the straight stitch + the wavy stitch created such amazing quilty texture on these!



One of my favorite things when it comes to bag-making is shopping for unique tassel pulls and fun keychains to add. I found these amazing macrame keychains on amazon recently and they look so perfect with the boho style of Homebody!



Next up are some Homebody pillows! I made quite a lot and I have some that I haven't even photographed to share yet. I included the one in Fridays post that started my new nine patch obsession, but here's a second 18" pillow that's very similar, using the same nine patch pattern just without the binding. Again I used two layers of Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting with dense straight line quilting in a light tan Aurifil thread for yummy, cozy quilty texture. 



These pair of whole cloth quilted pillows I made for my LookBook to showcase the Homebody main florals -- Togetherness at Home (left) and Togetherness at Heart (right). A great tutorial for making your own whole cloth pillow covers can be found, again, at sotakhandmade. To quilt this pair I used a wavy stitch that comes built-in on my Janome that's become my first choice for quilting when I want something other than the straight stitch. I love it!



Patchwork pillows are always fun to make! This next one is made using 2.5" Homebody squares that I cut from scraps leftover from other projects. This is the first pillow I made to fill with a Hobbs Pillow Pal poly/down pillow insert. Hobbs Bonded Fibers has generously sponsored me with quilt batting over the past few years and recently sent me several of their pillow insert sizes to try out and folks, I promise you -- these are the absolute best I've tried! They have nearly twice the loft of the pillow inserts I previously purchased from Amazon and Joann over the years, which means they make for a very full pillow which in my opinion always looks and feels the best!

For the fun of it, since I'm still making things at home rather than my studio, I took my box of Homebody finished pillows that are eventually headed to the shop side of my studio and added them to our bed to snap some photos to share asking the question, how many pillows are too many? I'd love to know your thoughts on that!



I've made four quilts/tops now that include Homebody, two are the Charming Nines that I shared on Friday so I'll start with my forever favorite go-to quilt to make, a Quick Quilt As You Go Herringbone QAYG quilt! I'm going to be completely honest and share that the near perfect way my fabrics lined up was a complete accident with this one. One of my favorite things about this pattern is that because of the way it's made, the fabric panels don't typically match up and istead the fabrics are staggered, creating a super scrappy zig zag effect that is all about having fun and not having to worry about perfectly matched points. Imagine my surprise when this was finished, trimmed and laid out that my panels nearly all lined up, minus the one part, well, I decided that was totally okay with me. What makes this quilt extra special is that for the LookBook my daughter Haila modeled the finished quilt!







Ever since Art Gallery Fabrics launched The Denim Studio line of smooth solid and printed denims I've wanted to make a classic star block quilt. I took this pic of my stashed denims in 2017 and as it would turn out, I was just waiting for Homebody to finally make my denim quilt! 



Using just two Homebody prints -- my Togetherness at Home floral as the star centers and Domestic Charm Birch as the background fabric, I pulled out my denims and started with just one block!  



The Nectarine Sunrise Smooth Solid Denim is the only non blue denim I added because it's peachy pink color pairs perfectly with my floral. I used the Nectarine Sunrise denim to create an X within the repetitive star block pattern and I think it turned out so good. Using such a limited palette is not my typical choice when it comes to making quilts, but this truly turned out exactly how I had hoped it would all those years ago. when my denim star quilt was just a dream. 





The economy block centers of each star block yielded corner scraps that I immediately sewed into HSTs, so right after I had finished the quilt I had enough to make this matching pillow! 



I think this pillow is a great place to stop today with my Homebody favorites! Of course I have tons more, but I think I'll save those for another day, soon. I hope these projects inspire you and that you love Homebody as much as I do!

xo Maureen

New Bags!

I 've mentioned before that this year started off rough with me badly injuring my right knee. In between my sprained ligaments healing and reconstruction surgery, there were a couple of weeks where I was able to sew, very slowly, and during that time I had challenged myself to try my best to make a bag a day. I came pretty close to that goal and it was just what I needed to stay creative and feeling somewhat productive. The bag challenge was helpful and I realized just how much I love to make them, which absolutely kept my spirits up during such a difficult time! The bags I make aren't very complicated, which makes them fun. Often times they're made from scraps leftover from larger projects which feels good to use, the construction is simple and they're always quilted. Today I thought I'd share a few of my recent quilted bag finishes!



Inspired by tomorrow's Friday Fabric Giveaway with my new sponsor Fabric Stork for Alexandra Bordallo's adorable Dew & Moss collection for AGF, I pulled a few favorites from my Dew & Moss bundle and added in some colorful prints by Sharon Holland, Pat Bravo and Amy Sinibaldi to make a cheerful new drawstring bag!



I love the way the photo of my fabric pull was arranged so much that I decided to keep the prints in the same order while piecing my bag. Such a pretty ombre effect, don't you think!? You may have seen the drawstring bag I shared last week made in this same style and I should let you know that I've decided to make at least six to display on a vintage accordion peg rack that I have in the shop side of my studio that I've been working on filling with inventory. Besides the zip bags I often make, I love making these non-zip, drawstring bags with handles!



I still haven't sourced or made the perfect drawstrings just yet, but I'm getting closer! For these I used an AGF denim and finished the ends of them with Dritz Fray Check, to seals the unfinished ends of my drawstrings. When the Fray Check dries, which I left over night to dry after they were threaded through my bag, the ends harden slightly and think this may be the way I go from now on. I'll definitely keep you updated on that!



The other three bags I made are zipper pouch bags using my Quick Quilt As You technique. This first one I shared on my Instagram yesterday and received lots of love! I've made several using this pattern that's a modified version of a qayg quilt block I made for my Craftsy (now Bluprint class). I love the combination of the flying geese with fabric strips. This is definitely a pattern I plan to make into a quilt!



The back features prints from my Mystical Land and Nightfall collections combined with a few prints from the Lugu collection by Jessica Swift. I adore Jessica's moths and owls!



The final two bags include many of the same fabrics but this time I used my Friendship Braid QAYG! Each strip is pieced and straight line quilted to a layer of Hobbs cotton batting with an aqua 50wt Aurifil thread that I finally just ran out of. I swear those large spools last forever!



The back is just a simple striping of the same fabrics but this time I used a wavy stitch that comes as a built-in stitch on my Janome. I set the stitch length and width at the greatest options and it goes super quick and looks great!



Now you'll all have to let me know which of these new bags is your favorite? It will help me decide which to make more of for my shop, which I really appreciate!

xo Maureen

Aura Blog Party!

Hello, friends! I've been meaning to pop in here to explain why I haven't been blogging much so far this year. Long story short, I dedicated the entire month of January to working on my fabric collections for Art Gallery, and then the day before I was to get back to sewing and sharing here, I injured myself pretty good! I was jumping on a trampoline, came down wrong and ended up badly spraining the ligaments in my right knee and completely tearing my ACL. It's been rough! I'm on crutches and in a leg brace to heal the sprains so I can have ACL reconstruction surgery on March 21st, and then after the surgery there will be a couple of month's recovery time. Today is one month since the injury and still, the two things that bother me the most are stairs and sewing. Most of the day is spent elevating my knee and icing it because it's still very swollen.

As a way to stay creative during this injury, I set a goal for myself to make at least one bag a day. Most days I've been able to, some days I cannot and other days I have made two! This small goal has helped me stay positive and productive during this difficult time! You're welcome to join me in making a new bag anytime and can follow along on my Instagram @MaureenCracknell and the hashtag #MCHbagchallenge!

So here I am, finally back today and excited to share my project for my talented friend, Mathew Boudreaux aka Mister Domestic's Aura Blog Party!





Mathew AKA Mister Domestic is an Angles by AGF designer and Aura is his second fabric collection, inspired by a trip that he and his daughter Helena took to Hawaii!

For my blog party project I chose several of my favorite Aura prints in vibrant yellows, coral and purple and I made one of my quilt as you go flat bottom lined zipper pouch bags and I love how it turned out!



The front side is made up of 1.5" strips of Aura and the friendship braid Quick Quilt As You Go pattern that I share a tutorial for here --  Friendship Braid QAYG. This bag has a cushiony layer of Hobbs Tuscany cotton batting, a colorful zipper, and is lined with a pretty Aura print!

The back is a simple striping of the same fabrics that I chose for the front. This collection is so good for quilt as you go patchwork!



I hope you're inspired by my stop on Mister Domestic's Aura Tour! It's such an honor to be amongst this amazing line up of designers:

MISTER DOMESTIC’S AURA BLOG PARTY

Monday February 11: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox
Tuesday February 12: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs
Wednesday February 13: Sharon Holland
Thursday February 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Saturday February 16: Sarah Maxwell of Fearless with Fabric
Sunday February 17: Natalie Santini of Hungry Hippie Sews
Monday February 18: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
Tuesday February 19: Isabelle Selak of South Bay Bella Studio
Wednesday February 20: Elizabeth Chappell of Quilters’ Candy
Monday February 25: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle
Tuesday February 26: Monica Tetteh of That’s Sew Monica
Wednesday February 27: Nicholas Ball of Quilts from the Attic
Thursday February 28: Lucy Brennan of Charm About You
Friday March 1: Robbin Flockhart of Sew Farm Quilter
Saturday March 2: Evie Jespersen of EV Quilts
Sunday March 3: Kelly Liddle of Jeliquilts
Monday March 4: ME of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Tuesday March 5: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
Wednesday March 6: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style
Thursday March 7: Angela Wolf of Fashion Sewing with Angela Wolf
Friday March 8: Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter
Saturday March 9: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations
Sunday March 10: Emily Dennis of Quilty Love
Monday March 11: Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio
Tuesday March 12: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes
Wednesday March 13: Jennifer Strauser of Dizzy Quilter
Thursday March 14: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen
Friday March 15: Brittany Jones of Brittany J Jones
Saturday March 16: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth
Sunday March 17: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Monday March 18: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts
___________________

I hope to finish up a second bag just like this one for tomorrow's bag of the day, and I'll be sending these two off to Mathew & Helena!



xo Maureen

Inspired by Svetlana Sotak

Before I continue this week with more Sun Kissed fabric goodness, I want to first recognize a fellow artist and sewing pattern designer, Svetlana Sotak of s.o.t.a.k handmade, who I have been immensely inspired by and learned so much from over the years! When I started this blog in 2010, for the first couple of years I was quite the fabric hoarder and prolific pillow maker, but too insecure to attempt to turn my beloved fabric stash into the quilts that I dreamed of making, and I also lacked the skills and knowledge needed to make many of the small sewing accessory projects that I loved seeing so many fellow bloggers making. In a nut shell, quilts and zippers scared me. I was, however, an improv sewist from the very beginning. Each project began with a unique idea, almost always inspired by the fabric themselves. It was through the trial and error that comes from simply trying that I discovered my style and this wonderful community to share and learn with. During those early years of sewing and blogging, Svetlana was one of the bloggers I followed who always created such perfect looking projects, who had the skills and knowledge I was hoping to gain, and who was so extremely generous with sharing tutorials and patterns for so many of her projects. I've probably learned more about sewing from Svetlana than any other person in this industry. So today, before I share some of my recent Sun Kissed fabric projects, all of which were inspired by Svetlana, I just wanted to share with all of you, and Svetlana most of all, how grateful I am to have discovered her work!



For the Sun Kissed LookBook I made several Quilted Zipper Pouches in a variety of sizes depending on the zippers and batting scraps that I had on hand. You can find so many helpful tutorials for making similar bags with just a quick Pinterest search, so I haven't created my own tutorial to share just yet. I do think I've discovered some tips and skills that are worth sharing from making so. many. bags. this past year, so I may put together a Janome Sewing tutorial sometime toon. For LookBook I linked to Svetlana's Mini Quilted Zipper Pouch Tutorial, with step by step instructions that are clear, easy to follow and can be easily adapted to make any size bag. If you're looking for a wonderful zipper pouch pattern, The Essential Pouch measure and cut pattern by Svetlana with help you make perfect pouches in four sizes!





The Quilted Zipper Pouches that I made using my Sun Kissed Summerdress Dreams prints in both quilting cottons and in the lux AGF rayon are my new favorites! This bright floral looks so pretty left whole cloth and simply quilted with this scalloped stitch. I love the subtle contrast of the coral Aurifil thread against the yellow fabric on this one, and the Dritz hardware and store-bought tassel makes this simple bag look fancy!



Last Summer I shared a tutorial for Whole Cloth Quilted Journal Covers during Janome's Summer Camp sewing event, a project that's become a favorite of mine that's perfect for enjoying favorite prints and gift giving. My tutorial gives instructions for creating journal covers by quilting fabrics to a layer of Hobbs Tuscany Cotton batting with decorative stitches that are lined, washable and can be used again and again. Svetlana has a Notebook Cover tutorial on her blog as well, that's great for mixing several prints & using interfacing, that I learned a lot from using several times before I started making quilted journals. Be sure to check it out HERE!



Another great s.o.t.a.k handmade pattern that I link to in the Sun Kissed LookBook is Svetlana's Drawstring Bag Pattern that creates beautiful drawstring bags in four different sizes. I couldn't resist making the mini size in my Sun Kissed Basking Buds print. Look how cute!



Be sure to visit the Blog, Tutorial Page and Pattern Shop for more wonderful sewing projects! I hope you love these Svetlana Sotak inspired projects as much as I do!

xo Maureen

Sweet Winter Dreams & News!

Hello there! Since early last week I've been so busy decorating and making plans for December. It's such a full month for our family with two birthdays plus celebrating the holidays. To be sure that everything gets done, out of necessity I'm one who likes to start making & shopping earlier than most, and this year everything seems to be happening earlier than ever! Already we have LOTS of pretty snow, so on the morning of our first snowfall it felt right to pull together this Sweet Winter Dreams bundle for my first set of holiday bags!



By complete accident I included at least one print from each of my fabric collections with a few brand new prints from AGF's adorable Little Clementine collection.

The front side is the herringbone pattern that I teach in my Craftsy class and use so often in a variety of the projects I make from bags to pillows to full size quilts. It will forever be my go-to for pretty much everything! I love sewing using this quilt as you go technique and I love the scrappy style of this pattern, especially when using very thin strips of prints the way I did for these new zipper bags!



Each bag has a cushiony layer of Hobbs cotton batting, a colorful zipper, a faux suede zipper pull and each bag is lined with my wintery Nightfall Mystical Woods cotton canvas for a really nice finish! Bags reverse to a striping of the same prints used for the bag fronts. I just can't get enough of this pretty fabric combination in this ombre order!



My Sweet Winter Dreams Bags measure a little bigger this time at 9" x 10" finished and have a boxy bottom making them perfect for makeup, travel, art supplies, knitting & epp project, and more!

I'm offering this first set of Holiday Bags on my new Instagram Shop account at my special sale price of just $25!





Why the new Instagram account to sell my handmade goods? Well, if you sell on Etsy you may already be aware of their new changes. Etsy has increased their selling fees and has even added a fee for shipping charges. As a result Etsy sellers like myself are raising their prices to offset the higher fees and are looking for new platforms outside of Etsy to sell their products because of the fee changes. I don't want to raise my prices, which I feel are already fairly set, and since I've been dragging my feet into exploring other options like Shopify because I have always liked Etsy, I decided to add a special pop-up style account on Instagram where you can easily purchase my handmade offerings and fabric destashes, @shopMCH!

I'll be adding new makes, from quilted journals to bags to quilts, all throughout the gift giving season and I'd love for you to find me there! https://www.instagram.com/shopMCH/

Ordering is easy, I have multiples available & time to make more of almost everything, so you simply comment "sold" on anything you'd like to purchase and I will contact you via direct message on Instagram to sort out the rest. Easy, peasy! If you do not have Instagram, you can email me about ordering any items at maureencracknell@hotmail.com or you can still find select items still listed in my Etsy Shop for the time being.

As always, thank you for your continued support here at Maureen Cracknell Handmade! Happy Holidays to all!

xo Maureen

For the Love of Shibori!

Last week I finished up my newest small batch gift set, Shibori LOVE!

I had pulled fabrics and carefully sourced coordinating supplies to begin making these weeks ago, just before I got sick again, so it feels extra good to have finished up this project!

Last week I shared a quick sale on my Instagram feed and this morning I added the few I have left to my Etsy Shop and I'm excited to share all the details here on the blog!





I have always loved the way Shibori looks, whether on clothing, home décor or accessories. The mix of white and indigo dye is always so beautiful!



To date, I've made two quilt tops using April Rhodes Observer fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics. The main print, Indigo Window Crystal is a favorite of mine and has all the beauty of a hand dyed shibori textile without the work. Love that!



It was this print from Observer that inspired this gift set collection, and I was so thrilled to have found the perfect handcrafted sketchbook journal to include, with sixty blank pages perfect for writing and doodling with a beautiful Shibori dyed cover!







Along with each patchwork quilted bag and handcrafted sketchbook, I'm including a lovely indigo & white zipper pull, Fanned Tassel Charm that I picked up from my favorite store, Anthropolgie! These retail for $18 a piece but I was lucky to snag just enough during a recent sale for this Shibori Love collection!





Zipper colors include black, light blue and grey. Each bag is finished with a flat bottom making these perfect for cosmetics, craft projects and travel. These measure big, around 11"x12" and both sides are made of a similar patchwork pattern of flying geese and stripes. Some are lined with the Observer cotton canvas and others with AGF's heavy duty denim, making each bag sturdy and durable!



Follow this link to find them in my Etsy Shop -- Shibori Patchwork Gift Set

For those ordering today, I'll include one Fat Quarter cut of ANY of my Art Gallery Fabrics! Just add in the comment section of the order the name of the print you'd like to receive and I will be happy to include that as my gift to you for supporting my handmade work!

xo Maureen