The Sweet Home QAL -- Bungalow Blocks

Welcome to week THREE of the Sweet Home Quilt Along 2021! I'm once again co-hosting this quit along with my dear friend and talented AGF sister Sharon Holland, who's also the designer behind the adorable Sweet Home quilt pattern!



During week THREE we'll tackle the ten Bungalow house blocks in the Sweet Home quilt pattern!

Below you can see the schedule we're following throughout the QAL, but of course we encourage and want everyone to sew at their own pace. As always, if you're new to discovering our QAL you can join the more than 1000+ makers sewing along with us at anytime by signing up at Sharon Holland Designs. Once you're signed up, you'll have access to a Quilt Kit Directory full of amazing Sweet Home quilt kit options, Sharon's weekly quilt along blog posts that will feature a new amazing Giveaway with one of our sponsors, and new video tutorials each week that Sharon is creating to support her Sweet Home pattern. As her co-host I'm excited to share the Sweet Home version I'm making each step of the way throughout the duration of this quilt along right here and on my social media!



When you visit Sharon's blog you'll see the beautiful Sweet Home she's making using her brand new Bookish collection for AGF. Bookish should be arriving to shops any day and is also available at Lady Belle Fabric as an exclusive Bookish Sweet Home Quilt Kit option right now! This version will be so perfect for Fall and for any and all book lovers out there!

For my Sweet Home I'm using the Cozy & Magical Quilt Kit available exclusively at Lady Belle Fabric that features prints from both of my new Art Gallery Fabrics collections, Cozy & Magical and Plaid of My Dreams. I love how my last week's Log Cabin house blocks turned out combining these new holiday prints with the sweet AGF Pure Solid in Blushing, and I'm so happy with how cute this week's Bungalow blocks turned out!

Again this week I used the speedy chain-piecing technique to make my Bungalows, a sewing technique that mimics an assembly line where you'll sew piece after piece and then block after bock, continuously feeding your quilt pieces through the machine without cutting your thread in-between each step. If you're new to quilting and/or chain piecing, Sharon has been putting together a super helpful weekly video series on her Sew Along blog that includes video support for each step of her Sweet Home pattern throughout our QAL that's full of helpful information and tips. Sharon is always incredibly informative and thorough with her instructions, so be sure to check out these amazing video tutorials!







I absolutely LOVE how these sweet Bungalow blocks turned out with their roofs made in my red gingham Small Plaid of My Dreams Joyful print! I've dreamed of having a line of buffalo check plaids since I started designing fabrics for AGF, hence the name of this collection. Now that I do, I truly want to include them in every project I make!



These cutie blocks came together so quick and I'm completely thrilled with them all! I hope these finished blocks inspire you to knock out your ten Bungalows and to share photos of them on Instagram. Be sure to post with our QAL hashtag #SweetHomeQAL2021 and to tag me @MaureenCracknell & @SharonHollandDesigns. We can't wait to see them!



Now it's time to head on over to Sharon's blog if you haven't already, to check out her Bungalow Blocks made with her pretty Bookish fabrics and to enter our amazing Giveaway with this week's sponsor, Omnigrid Cutting & Measuring Tools!

Thanks for joining our QAL, we’re so happy you’re here!

xo Maureen

Collection Reveal: HOMEBODY

Last week Art Gallery Fabrics shared the next round of collection reveals for the last season of 2020, collections available beginning October through December, and I'm so excited to share my next due to ship in November, HOMEBODY!



With each new collection brings an exciting, new theme and color palette. Using a soft and moody spectrum of Autumnal hues, HOMEBODY is a collection that celebrates the unspoken magic of being HOME. Prints include beautiful florals, cozy feathers, and soft textures that encapsulate a calm, peaceful space that nourishes and comforts. Ironically, Homebody was completely finished just before Covid19 and stay at home orders became our new reality. Since, I've been counting down the days until I'll have these prints to use specifically for decorating our home! 



HOMEBODY includes sixteen quilting cotton designs printed on AGF's 100% Premium Poplin cotton with a width of 44/45″ that has the exceptional thread count and feel that is exclusive to Art Gallery Fabrics. The sixteen new prints are divided into two colorways --

Somewhere Slower

Someplace Quiet

In addition to the quilting cottons there is one new light and flowy rayon, Homelike Greetings and one new soft and stretchy knit, Domestic Charm Birch, that are both perfect for garment sewing projects!

Earlier this year Art Gallery Fabrics introduced their AGF Fabric Wonders, a collection of pre-cuts and I'm so happy to share that HOMEBODY will also be available in pre-packaged fat quarters and 10” squares!



I hope you love HOMEBODY just as much as I do! The response to the reveal on AGF's Instagram was incredible and has me so excited to sew with these fabrics! November is coming quick and I'll be sure to continue to give updates here when it's officially shipping. 

Until then, I'll have lots of COZY & JOYFUL projects to share, including the Sweet Home QAL that begins tomorrow, so be sure to stop back!

xo Maureen

Introducing: COZY & JOYFUL

Hello! I can't believe it's been so many months since I popped in here with a new post. There were many times I planned to, to share how Covid19 has affected our family, ALL the masks I made and a few special projects I completed since my last post in February. But the more time went on, I felt I had too much to share and unsure where to begin. Well, today I have a brand new collection to announce and I can't think of a more perfect reason to just dive right back in!

Last month my new collection with Art Gallery Fabrics, Cozy & Joyful, started shipping to shops and this past Friday we released the LookBook -- a 62-page book filled with beautiful pictures and amazing project inspiration!



Cozy & Joyful comes in 14 quilting-cotton prints that are inspired by the magic & joy of the holidays and the comfort & warmth of family felt throughout the season. The main prints include a beautiful floral, Frosted Roses, made from my sketches of wild roses, a cozy cabins Winter Wonderland print inspired by our wintry surroundings in Potter County, Pa, and Jolly March, a nutcracker print that pays homage to our yearly family tradition of giving a new nutcracker to each of our kids on Christmas Eve, and we have a huge nutcracker collection as a result! Prints with twinkling lights, snowflakes, kissing reindeer, dancing gingerbread & candy canes add support to the main prints to help to tell the story of our most cherished holiday moments and memories. Starry skies, herringbone, intarsia knitting-inspired prints and my favorite plaid make up the blenders that round out the rest of this collection perfectly!



While we worked on finalizing this collection we payed careful attention to the scale of each print, making sure there were loads of fussing cutting potential for all the projects I dreamed would be made with Cozy & Joyful!



In addition to the 14 AGF quilting cottons that work as beautifully for quilting a they do for garment sewing, there's one knit print, Under the Mistletoe. The sweetest, red & cream 95% cotton/5% spandex knit featuring two kissing reindeer. It's so adorable and is perfect for Christmas jammies!



Finally I have two, new luxurious AGF rayon fabrics to share as part of Cozy & Joyful - Plaid of my Dreams Snow and Candied Rose!



I've dreamed of having a traditional black and white plaid, hence the name Plaid of my Dreams, since I became a designer for AGF. I wasn't going to let not being a garment sewist stop me from sewing something with this print asap, so I stitched up this quilted rayon pillow and I'm happy to report this rayon feels absolutely AMAZING when quilted!



Today is just an introduction of Cozy & Joyful and I promise to be back very soon to share some of my projects to inspire sewing with this collection, as well as the Sweet Home QAL I'll be hosting with Sharon Holland beginning next week!

Lastly, I want to invite you all to head over to the Art Gallery Fabric Blog for a chance to win a bundle of Cozy & Joyful!

I hope you love it as much as I do!

xo Maureen

My Enchanted Voyage LookBook is out!

I'm so excited to share the LookBook for my brand new collection with Art Gallery Fabrics, Enchanted Voyage and I hope you all love it just as much as I do!



Inside you'll find dozens of inspirational projects from quilts & home decor to lots of beautiful garments & bags made myself, my friends & AGF makers! Today I want to introduce the LookBook here on the blog and showcase the quilt projects I made to get you inspired for beautiful Enchanted Voyage sewing! I especially LOVED making quilts with this collection, BIG quilts and I hope you will, too!



As always, with each collection comes a free companion Quilt Pattern PDF created with just the collection prints in mind and for Enchanted Voyage I designed Polar Compass, a graphic quilt with a center design that looks stunning on a bed and will keep you warm in style this winter! The Polar Compass quilt pattern makes a large throw size measuring 72" x 72" and was such an enjoyable quilt to sew that I'm hoping to make another soon combining a few Enchanted Voyage prints with a few wintry prints from my past collections mixed in. I've seen a few folks who have already finished their own Enchanted Voyage versions and shared them on Instagram, so be sure to let me know if you give it a go, too!

As soon as I finished this quilt top and the Destination quilt top that's in the LookBook (that I'll share more about soon) I sent them both to Brooke Becker of Lady Belle Quilting & Lady Belle Fabric to work her longarm quilting magic and she did such a phenomenal job!

This is an up-close look of the allover quilt design that we chose called Gemma by Karlee Porter. Isn't it perfect? I love it so much!



It added so much wonderful texture to the quilt which I think is so lovely on a simple quilt pattern like this one!



I think what I love most about Polar Compass is the way it showcases the color palette of my Enchanted Voyage collection. It's a collection full of pretty blues paired with some of my favorite soft shades of pink, peach and creams. This is also my first true stripe print in all of my eleven collections. I love a good nautical stripe and creating this print was such a great way to marry all the colors I chose for my palette.



I'll be back soon to share another one of the quilts that I made for the LookBook, along with some maker projects and new projects ideas to get you inspired to sew with this new collection! 

Thank you all for your continued support, encouragement & love!

xo Maureen   

My SUN KISSED LookBook is Out!

Happy New Year! I'm so excited to kick off 2019 by sharing the LookBook for my brand new collection with Art Gallery Fabrics, SUN KISSED and I hope you all love it just as much as I do!



Inside you'll find this colorful new collection on display in the form of dozens of inspirational projects from quilts & home decor to lots of beautiful apparel & accessory projects! Today I want to start by showcasing some of my personal favorite features in the LookBook to get you inspired for happy Sun Kissed sewing. Yes happy, I truly believe it's impossible not to smile while sewing with these fabrics!



In the Lookbook you'll find projects made by myself, the AGF Studio and so many generous makers that were so kind to lend their talents to make something with Sun Kissed. I'm always blown away when I see it all come together!

With each collection comes a free Quilt Pattern PDF created with just the collection prints in mind and for Sun Kissed I designed Sun Spots, a fun mix of bright colors & white that creates a perfect quilt for beach trips and Summertime picnics! This pattern makes a large throw size measuring 72" x 72" and was a very enjoyable quilt to sew. I stitched it together from start to finish in just a few days time, which is perfect for my schedule & patience level, haha. In the weeks ahead I do plan to add some additional hand quilting using threads in Sun Kissed colors which will be something new for me, but I just can't get the idea out of my head, so I'm excited to give it a try. I've heard from several folks who are making Sun Spots already and that makes me so happy, be sure to let me know if you give it a go, too!



Whole Cloth pillows are such a perfect way to showoff a favorite fabric and my Sun Kissed Palm Island Escape novelty print is extra special to me. This past Spring I went to visit my sister in Hawaii for the first time, a magical trip with some of my favorite people! I love how it looks as this large Euro size sham and now every time I see this beachy printed pillow I will think of my Hawaii family and my wonderful trip to Oahu!



In the LookBook you'll also find gorgeous garment inspiration like this dress made by my friend Alexis Wright using the Sun Kissed rayon, Summerdress Dreams Flare. To me, this pattern and fabric combination couldn't be more beautiful & perfect to wear on vacation and hot Summer days!

This sweet garment was made using two of the three Sun Kissed knits, Hazy Daisies and Sunny Side Up by the lovely Florence Taylor who always makes such magic with my fabrics! For the LookBook Florence stitched up this adorable 2t sized twirly dress using a Little Lizard King pattern. For this dress and many more garment ideas you can find all the details by clicking HERE!



The bag making kick that I've been on this past year continues and I made some of my favorites to date using Sun Kissed! Simple whole cloth zipper pouch bags with fun quilting, brightly colored zippers and Hobbs Tuscany Cotton batting scraps is all I needed to make these for the LookBook. The happy vibe of this collection allowed me to have some fun shopping for the tassel keychains that decorate each of these new bags. A must make for sure!



My quilted journal making continues, as well, since these are such a fast, useful and rewarding sew. I especially love making these to give as gifts. These new Sun Kissed journals all turned out so pretty, I even quilted up some using the Summerdress Dreams rayon, a first for me!



These are just six examples of inspirational projects that fill the 72-page LookBook! I'm overjoyed that SUN KISSED is now shipping to stores and I can't wait to see all the things you're going to create with this collection! To ensure I don't miss a thing, please remember to use the collection hashtags #SunKissedFabrics + #AGFsunkissed and to tag me @maureencracknell when you share anything Sun Kissed on Instagram, or to upload your Sun Kissed stash and project photos to my Maureen Cracknell Handmade Facebook page!

I'll be back soon to share a more detailed look at some of the Sun Kissed projects that I made for the LookBook, along with many new projects ideas & tutorials to get you inspired to sew with these fabrics! In the meantime, be sure to visit Art Gallery Fabrics blog to enter for a chance to WIN a Sun Kissed Bundle by clicking HERE or by simply clicking on the photo below to be redirected!



Thank you all for your continued support, encouragement & love!

xo Maureen   

Scrap Bundle Destash!

Once upon a time this was the bulk of my fabric stash. Fat quarters to half yards cuts organized in rainbow order, minus a special shelf for all of my Anna Maria Horner fabrics and of course, a shelf dedicated to my collection of Art Gallery Fabrics!



I took this photo in the Summer of 2012, just after I had finished my first big quilt and a couple years before my dream of becoming a fabric designer came true. There has been so many quilts and SO much wonderful, beautiful fabric since I snapped this picture!

My goal is to start 2019 with a clean studio and slate, in the sense that I wish to have empty scrap baskets and drawers. Yes, I have both! I recently decided to completly redo my studio, a two room space that I rent downtown, after the holidays are over and destashing and decluttering will be key!

So last week, overcome with the desire to start purging, I emptied all of my various scrap vessels into one large basket to bring home, and throughout the past several days I've been putting together colorful 1 yard bundles to sell!



In each scrap bundle you’ll find a range of patterns and the occasional out of print fabric, in sizable strips and pieces of my studio scraps from the variety of collections that I've used to create my quilts and sewing projects over the past year or so, making these little bundles perfect for patchwork! Bundles are $10 a piece plus shipping. Please feel free to email me at maureencracknell@hotmail.com if you're interested in ordering anytime!

Thank you!

xo Maureen

A Sun Kissed Debut!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of sharing the studio display that I created with my upcoming collection with Art Gallery Fabrics, Sun Kissed, due in store this December! When I began work on this collection in January of this year there was plenty of snow and rain and ice and cold yet to come for us in Northern PA. Happy colors and thoughts of our annual family beach vacation were on my mind and I found myself sketching the magic and wonder of the Summer Season!



"A warm breeze making the palm trees dance. Sun Kissed is glowing skin after a cool swim, a puppy’s joyful bandana, colorful pool tiles, that floral dress that will always remind us of a lovely and bright Summertime, forever engraved in vibrant tones of ocean blue, cherry red and citrus yellow."



While I was at home, sharing my studio display and celebrating the debut of this next collection, my Art Gallery Fabrics family was in Houston at Quilt Market taking pre-orders of Sun Kissed.

There are a total of 25 pieces in Sun Kissed. A 20-piece quilting cotton collection, 3 knits, 1 rayon and 1 canvas, and I have been working on some very fun sewing to create my display that will be included in my upcoming LookBook which I'll be sharing in the coming weeks!



I would have loved the opportunity to attend Quilt Market in Houston. I truly enjoy the whole production of putting a display together at the event, especially getting the opportunity to speak with shop owners and industry professionals one on one about the inspiration behind each collection. Although I wasn't able to attend, creating a studio display to share the collection's story as the designer, and to present my fabrics as samples is very important to me.

With creating the perfect space to capture and nurture a child's artistic whims as my inspiration, I got to work making my list of samples, and I love how this display came together! Included is a Sparkler inspired quilt because this collection celebrates the best of Summertime. Colorful baby doll bedding, rainbow pillows and garland because I adore these happy colors. Journals and bags galore perfect for travel & adventuring! It was such a joy to sew with this fun collection and to create this display!



When it came time to make Sun Kissed fabric samples I've never left so many pieces of fabric intact to let the beauty of each print show. From drawstring & tote bags to half a dozen zipper pouch bags to water bottle & lunch bags in quilting cotton, canvas and rayon, I stitched up loads of bags with this collection!



This cosmetic style bag is a favorite of mine and is made in Sun Kissed Summerdress Dreams Ray, a happy yellow floral bursting with color!



This colorful sewing setup has me wanting to sit down and fire up Haila's sweet, little Janome to make more Sun Kissed things!

How about you, what will you make with this collection?



I hope you love Sun Kissed as much as I have loved creating it and creating with it!

xo Maureen