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

Dixie Belle Paint: LOVE in Drop Cloth!

A couple of weeks ago I introduced Dixie Belle Paint Company as a new sponsor here on the blog! I'm so excited to be working with them by sharing the before and after projects that I'll be creating for both my sewing studio and home, and I hope these posts inspire you to give this paint a try. I am completely obsessed! Ever since my first Dixie Belle paint project, I've been collecting things to paint and I'm excited to share my newest project today!



So, how many of you love to go thrifting or keep your eye on the local classifieds and forums for used furniture and collectables?

I'm guessing that many of us quilters share this passion, too! Thrifting has always been a hobby of mine, but it wasn't until I discovered Dixie Belle Paint that I started looking at badly beat up old furniture and could imagine how pretty a piece could be with just a quick paint job. Today's pedestal table project is a perfect example! I discovered it on the local Facebook Marketplace for just $40, but with mismatched wood-stained leaves, chipped veneer and lots of dings and stains, the only way I could imagine bringing new life to this old table is with Dixie Belle! Just check out the before of this one...





Pretty bad, right? I knew right away that I wanted a clean and bright shade of white for this project and while I was searching through Dixie Belle's most popular paint colors, I saw their Drop Cloth at the very top. I decided to give this color a try and I'm so glad I did!





One of my favorite things about taking on these new paint projects is that my daughter helps me, because Dixie Belle is non-toxic with no VOC's and is so easy to use. Honestly she might be better at painting furniture than I am! When we paint together, I typically share on my Instagram stories, so be sure to follow along. We have a lot of fun and with Summer vacation just beginning, it's the perfect time for Haila and I to make these before and after projects a regular habit!

This photo shows the table at my studio just after we had finished up our painting...



Such a huge difference, we are so proud! The Drop Cloth Chalk Paint color easily covered up all of the table's flaws, but we made sure to leave a little of it's character showing through.

I'm so excited to have a white table in my studio now to photograph things on! I love color and I love natural wood, but more and more I love the clean look of things photographed against a white background. Especially when showing off new fabrics, so this table is the perfect addition to my sewing studio!





I hope this project inspires you to tackle a before and after paint project of your own. I'm so amazed at how a newly painted piece of worn out furniture can completely transform a space!

Thank you so much for stopping by today to see what I'm up to, it means a lot! xo Maureen

Dixie Belle Paint: LOVE in Apricot!

Today I'm SO excited to introduce you all to Dixie Belle Paint as a new sponsor here on the blog!

I'm a HUGE fan of their Chalk Paint ever since Haila and I spent a weekend painting our dining room set together -- you can see that fun project HERE! Since that first project, I've been using Dixie Belle for all kinds of paint projects both small and really big, like transforming a gloomy, neglected office space into a colorful new sewing studio, where I happily go to work each day. These days I now find myself constantly on the lookout for old forgotten furniture pieces that I can transform with this magical paint! So when Dixie Belle Paint invited me to join their affiliate program, I happily accepted and I'm so excited to add sharing an occasional Dixie Belle before and after project with all of you all right here in the weeks ahead. My hope is that it will inspire you to join me in freshening up our homes and sewing rooms with some colorful Dixie Belle Paint projects!



For the past few weeks my big project has been to create a display for Autumn Vibes, my upcoming collection with AGF, since I was unable to attend Spring Quilt Market in Portland this past weekend. Before I could spend my time stitching up samples, first I had to find the perfect furniture pieces for showcasing this new collection. Enter: Dixie Belle's Apricot Chalk Paint!



Inspired by the changing leaves of Autumn, with colors ranging from deep scarlet to the softest apricot, I decided to keep the main furniture piece in my booth, the shelf that would be front and center, nice and soft to show the sweeter side of these colorful fabrics!





We've had this little bookshelf in our home, purchased from a local thrift store several years ago. It's either held children's books or supplies in my home sewing room. But the extra dark brown mixture of stained wood and paint has always been a little too harsh for me.  In person you can see well the rough paint and stain job. Still, it has serviced us well and I love it's size and details. It was time for a pretty update!



This paint is so easy to use, it's amazing! It requires no prep work, goes on smoothly, covers wonderfully, and dries quickly. What more can you ask for, right?! I would never be able to think of projects like this one with my limited time if not for this paint, because of the sanding and priming that is required with other paints. I'm just so grateful to have discovered Dixie Belle, and the colors are all so beautiful, too!



Once I was finished and I put my shelf in place, I began adding some accessories that would coordinate well with my Autumn Vibes fabrics. Pretty, pretty!



This first photo is a close-up look at how well this apricot color plays with the vibrant, saturated colors of my Autumn Vibes collection. And notice how smoothly the paint looks, like a brand new piece!



In this photo I was still sewing up samples and working on how the Apricot shelf would be styled. Even my new Opal House pillow from Target matched this color perfectly. It's nice to find new products in the stores in the colors that I'm currently working with. It's always nice to know that I'm on-trend with my choices. Yay!



Before I share the final display reveal, I have to share the little plant stand that I painted with the Apricot Chalk Paint, too. I bought this stand at a church rummage sale across the street from my studio for just $2. Major score! It was marked up bad and had a giant water stain on the tabletop that took up almost the entire circular surface and now you'd never know!



And, now I'm super excited to share the reveal of how this Apricot painted shelf at the center of my Autumn Vibes display turned out! You may have seen photos of my display posted on my Instagram and Facebook page at the start of Spring Quilt Market this past Friday. I received such an amazing, supportive response from so many, and now I'm thrilled to share these details about my Dixie Belle painted Apricot shelf. I absolutely love it!



I'd love to know what you think of this project and what kind of before and after Dixie Belle Paint projects you'd like to see me share? My plan is to keep the focus on sharing things that are functional for us sewers, as well as nice display pieces to showcase my fabrics and handmade items. I'd both LOVE and appreciate your feedback, so please chime in! Be sure to take a look at the colors that Dixie Belle offers and let me know which colors you love most and that you'd like to see me use! Click here to see -- Dixie Belle Paint Colors.

Already lined up I have plans to paint an interesting shaped wood coffee table that's perfect for displaying sewing books and has a bottom shelf that's holding extra pillows. I have a huge wall shelf unit that came out of a house built in the 1800's! It has been beat up pretty bad over a decade of use to store cans in an old basement, so I'm hoping to bring it to life! I also have a few little projects in the works and a newly painted sewing table that's already finished and just needs photographed. You're going to love this one!

I can't wait to read what projects and colors you'd like to see next!

xo Maureen

Studio New: Thrifted Basket!

I spent all day yesterday at my studio rearranging the work side of my space and I finally unpacked everything in the second room. You guys, I have way too much stuff! I shared the display side of my new studio earlier this month and later this week I plan to blog about the work side. It's so wonderful having so much space to work in now, but organization is the key to keeping it all looking nice and I'm so excited to share my recent thrift store find with you all today!



As part of my contract, Art Gallery Fabrics sends me a roll with fifteen yards of each print that I design -- that's all twenty quilting cottons plus a roll of each of the knits, rayon and canvas. When these boxes of fabric arrive it's better than Christmas, I can't even describe it! The last thing I want to do is put them in a closet, hidden somewhere. I've always had them out where I can enjoy them and easily cut from the rolls what I need for my daily sewing. But just like dominos, several times now either a studio visitor or I have bumped into one of them and down they all go! So, when on a recent trip to our local thrift store I spotted this giant hamper style basket for just $20, I had to have it! It's the best thing I've found in a long time and completely worthy a blog post!



I was hoping it would keep contained a collection or two, so you can imaged how thrilled I was when it fit nearly sixty rolls of my fabrics!!



When I share photos of the rest of my work side later this week, you'll see how the rest of my prints are scattered in smaller round baskets throughout the studio. It's a great solution since I reach for these rolls pretty much daily!

Along with new studio pictures & our first Community Sampler sew-along block pattern, this week I have a new set of zipper pouch bags to share. Here's a pretty, little peek! These are right up there with some of my most favorite makes EVER!



For my next set I'm using AGF's brand new, adorable camping themed collection, Campsite! Have you seen this new line of Capsules? With designs that include deer, fox, fireflies in jars, feathers and marshmallows on sticks, just to name a few, it's perfect for both boys & girls and is so fun for fussy cutting. I love these prints and I can't wait to finish these bags up to share soon!



I wish you all a happy Monday & a wonderful new week of sewing! xo Maureen

Studio New!

Since it's been a little bit, today I thought it would be fun to share some of the photos I took of my studio last week!



Once the walls and furniture were painted and everything cleaned, at the top of my to-do list was to unpack my Soulful fabric samples to recreate a similar display to the one I had created for Quilt Market when I showed Soulful. It's so nice to have the space now, to enjoy seeing on a daily basis the hard work that goes into the sample making and display designing. After a show, often I would leave samples in my suitcase for weeks or I'd have to sell them right away because I didn't have the space to keep them in my sewing room at home. Had I had this much space when I began designing fabrics, I'd certainly have more than enough goods to open up a shop already!

Now that my Love Story fabrics are widely available and the samples I made using this new collection are home from their travels to AGF, I was exited to put Soulful on the shelves to make room for a  Love Story display right away!





I didn't show Garden Dreamer or Love Story at International Quilt Market, so I'm especially excited to put together this simple display to share here on the blog. I have plans to make a small quilt to hang on the wall above my collection of Love Story pillows, I just need to decide on a pattern. I also ordered more rolls of the Italian crepe paper that I used to make those big, beautiful paper flowers that I decorated my Flower Child booth with. I hope to make a dozen or so to use both for this studio Love Story display and for Flower Child when that collection arrives in April!









This is the view from my sewing machine and this space has truly been such a wonderful blessing for my own creativity and goal setting. I shared around the holidays that while working at this new studio, without the distractions of home chores, I've had so much time to think about the goals and plans I have for this space and my future as a maker and fabric designer. I LOVE designing fabrics more than I could ever express, but just as much I love making things with ALL fabrics. I know that pattern writing is not a strength of mine, but I do hope to both inspire other makers by all the things I make & share, and to also sell my handmade goods. I've never enjoyed making so much as I do these days in my new studio, and I've been a maker my entire life!



I hope you'll enjoy seeing the occasional "Studio New" post from me on how this new space of mine changes and evolves in the days ahead. Once I clean up the side of my room that I work in, I plan to share how I'm trying to keep things organized. I also have a second room that I'm in the process of working on that I plan to hang my quilts in and perhaps I'll finally have a design wall, I can't wait!

Thanks for visiting!
xo Maureen

Settling In : :

This week the big goal has been simply to settle in. Settle into the new studio space that I'm renting downtown, and even more, settle in to how this move changes the day to day I've know for the past fifteen years that I've been a stay at home mother. Home with my babies from the very beginning, every single day until teary-eyed I watched each of them begin kindergarten. Home for the sick days, holidays and Summer vacations. Home each day to take care of the daily chores of cleaning, dog walks, laundry, grocery shopping, dishes and meal prep all while building this fabric world around me. And so far I'm finding it a little difficult to get myself ready and out the door at a reasonable work hour. This is hard people! It has me wondering, and a little worried honestly, how does everything get done? Although this is what I've been working towards for so long now, that doesn't make these first weeks of settling in any easier. It's a big adjustment for all of us that I'm sure will be worth these new transition bumps. Truthfully, it wasn't until the other day after we had moved all of my fabric stash and rolls into the new studio that it really hit me that this is happening!







Once everything was moved over, right away I decided to split the room in two -- half for my work space and half for collection & sample displays. Once all of my fabrics were back in order on my new yellow shelf, I decided to recreate a mini version of my Soulful fabrics Quilt Market display! This is the first wall you see when you enter the studio. It's been so dark this week, but it gets great light on sunny days I promise. With each new collection it will be so much fun to swap out the display on this wall!







Since sharing the news, I've received so many encouraging comments and the excitement has been so nice! At times I have felt a little bit of pressure too, when I've read things like, Maureen is opening a local quilt shop or a fabric shop. In many ways I wish that were true, and it's entirely possible that this new journey will turn into those things. But for now, because of the big things like time and budget, I'm starting out with a studio just as I've had at our home for the last five years. Only now I have the space to grow this into something much bigger! I do know for sure that I want to create a community space for sewing and crafting get-togethers, where I can teach with room for selling ALL the things that I make with the fabrics I LOVE, specifically my own fabrics!



What's most exciting is that there's just so much possibly in this space, much more than I could've ever dreamt for in the space I had in our home. I want people to stop in to visit, to show me what they're working on and to see what I'm making. I want local fellow fabric lovers to see in real life the fabrics that I've designed. I want folks who have never sewn before to stop in and feel inspired to learn or maybe purchase something I've made with my fabrics!



Here and there throughout the last couple of years, I'd go on a little making spree for a holiday pop up shop that I always wanted to have but was never able to fully organize and make enough finished goods for. Well I started unpacking those finished items and gifts onto my shelves and it's exciting to see the beginnings of what a little shop area will look like!





Once I'm home from Quilt Market stocking these shelves will be priority #1! For the first time I'll have the room to make a dozen of a pillow design if I want, rather than just one to make and blog about! I can't wait to see how things change and what gets made in this space in the weeks ahead!

Thanks for joining me on this adventure!  xo Maureen