Pure Solids Granny Square Pillows!

Earlier this Summer Art Gallery Fabrics came out with a vibrant assortment of gorgeous new Pure Solids including twenty new colors and I was so excited to get them in my hands to make something for their Pure Solids Fabric LookBook. Take a look at this gorgeous stack!



From these twenty new colors I chose nine to make a set of Granny Square pillows using the quilt block tutorial found in AGF's Quilt Block Collection and I really enjoyed making this block! I can't remember having made this one before, add to that I'm a fabric designer and therefore work with lots and lots of prints, so this project felt like a fun departure for me. Although next time I make this block I'll most likely use some of my own fabrics, I certainly love how the Granny Square looks in all solids. The colors really pop!



To make one or a colorful set of pillows just like mine, all you need to do is follow the Granny Square Block PDF and add an 1.5" border to all four sides to make a 15" square pillow top once quilted and then squared up. I finished mine with an envelope style back, then added binding just as I do to my quilts and stuffed it with a 16" insert to keep it nice and full. Pulling the yellow from the center to add the border and using the same Ruby red in my block as the binding really tied the whole thing together, don't you think?!



I kept with the same pattern for the blue version, using the Lemon Tart yellow again and pulling the bright Cozumel Blue for my binding. Sticking with the same pattern is really what makes these two pillows such a nice pair!





And now you'll have to let me know which one is your favorite!

xo Maureen

Hello Pillows : :

This past October my Fleet & Flourish Fall Quilt Market sewing came to an unexpectedly abrupt halt when my son Jacob ended up in the ICU with Colitis just a week and a half before I had to leave for the show. What I was able to make up to the point of him getting sick had to be enough, and it was. Thankfully he recovered quickly, I was able to leave for my trip without worry, and it all came together as I hoped it would without anyone seemingly noticing there was a whole list of things missing that weren't able to be made. When I finished setting up my booth it was just the absence of a few more pillows that had me a little disappointed. And so... this time around my Quilt Market pillow making is verging on excessive! I figure I can always edit some out if it's too much in the end, right? I mentioned last week that I had made three new pillows with a star theme and today I thought I'd share two more of those before blogging about the three I made this week, Ha!



This first pillow is a simple Sawtooth Star block with a tiny Nightfall patchwork center and border.
My patchwork squares finish at just 2" and I was able to use so many of the tiny scraps I had leftover from my larger projects. Love that!



I finished the back of this pillow with AGF's Solid Textured heavy weight and Smooth Solid denims, a framed piece of my Moon Stories in Spark bunny & moon print, with narrow strips of Nightfall scraps.



I used my very favorite denim, Cool Foliage, for the binding! I love this vintage gray-blue with my Nightfall fabrics!



This next pillow is made using the same quilt as you go method I teach in my Craftsy Class, Quick Quilt As You Go, to make my Criss Cross Diamond Quilt project. For the pillow I simply switched up the size of each block, used different piecing, and strip width. I can't wait to make a Nightfall quilt using this QAYG pattern!



I designed this one to feature my dragonflies print, Nox Iridescence in Aglow, adding a single, pretty, fussy cut dragonfly to each corner!



I finished this one using up the last of my Nightfall scraps and more denim!



I'll be back soon with a few more things to share, but first... Tomorrow I have a Bohemian Garden Aurifil Thread Box Giveaway planned, so be sure to stop back!  ♡ Maureen

Quilt Market Sewing : :

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you might have seen that last week my Fleet & Flourish strike offs arrived, the very best happy fabric mail EVER! Right away I took some photos and got started preparing for my trip to Houston Quilt Market later this month, where I'll be debuting this new collection!



For weeks now I've been dreaming up new project ideas specifically with these fabrics in mind. It's both exciting and surreal to finally be sewing with them! My Lace in Bloom print inspired this first Quilt Market project -- a pillow in my absolute favorite size, combining my lace print with these gorgeous lace trims I recently purchased at Fancy Tiger Crafts, my Miniments print in both colorways, and some solids to pull it all together!



For this collection I want to create projects that are pretty and romantic, with the bohemian style I love so much, layering lots of details and textures!



Each of my strike offs measure somewhere between a fat quarter and a half yard each, so for all of my projects I'll be adding in lots of Art Gallery Pure Element solids and Prisma Element blenders. Since I wanted to show the softer side of my Fleet & Flourish collection in this first pillow project I mixed these prints with Peach Sherbet, Patina Green, and Snow solids. It all made such a pretty combination!



It feels so good to check this first project idea of my list, I hope you love it as much as I do!



I'll have many more Quilt Market projects to share throughout this week and those leading up to my trip to Houston. Today I'm beginning a quilt favorite, this time featuring the plum shades in my Innocency colorway. I'll be sharing lots of peeks in between my posts here over on my Instagram if you'd like to follow along!



Happy Monday! ♡ Maureen

A Whole Cloth Pillow : :

Some fabric, I think, looks just as lovely left whole rather than all chopped up into little patchwork pieces. And, sometimes it's nice to just keep things simple, don't you think? In my sewing room there's a vintage metal rolling cart that houses all the pillow forms that I'd love to free up as soon as possible to use in the kitchen or out on the deck as a bar cart this Summer. So, yesterday I made the first of several whole cloth pillows -- The perfect quick & beautiful solution to turn those pillow forms into something cozy to use and admire!



I decided to start by making a new quilted Fletching Chant pillow cover. The last one was made the night before I packed up and left for Quilt Market, using what remained of my arrow print strike-off. Since returning back from Market it's been a favorite pillow around the house, has seen lots of wear, and never had that special, beautiful feel that only Art Gallery Fabrics have since strike-offs aren't printed on their Pima cotton. You can see the first one in this photo that I shared just before packing up and hitting the road!



As I'm typing this I'm realizing just how sentimental a print can be. Just thinking about this pillow takes me back to what an amazing experience Quilt Market was for me!



To add to my "keep it simple" plan for this pillow I auditioned the quilt binding scraps I had laying around for finishing.



I added a bit more quilting this time, using a white Aurifil 50 weight, to add a bit more sturdiness and durability in hopes this one holds up better than the first one.



I chose my Midnight Roof metallic stars print for the back and my scrap of Squared Elements binding was just enough to finish one raw edge of each backing piece for a neat but quick envelope finish!



I know I'm going to love digging through my stash to choose what other prints to use for these whole cloth pillows!

♡ Maureen

Simple Squares : :

I've been having so much fun making pillows lately! They're soft and fluffy and pretty and just make me happy!



This style of very random and scrappy patchwork is my new favorite for pillow making. It's such a wonderful break from the structure of making a repetitive block quilt. Plus I'm so in love with combining Wild & Free with April's new Wanderer collection!



I added lots of straight line quilting with a cotton Aurifil 50wt, giving these pillows great sturdiness while keeping them cozy and squishy!



I love to make simple envelope backs, usually out of various scraps, but in this case I chose a favorite Arizona print, densely quilted using more Aurifil with some neat binding around each edge.



For finishing I used up my last bits of this beautiful Sweet As Honey print binding, Bed of Daisies in Nutmeg, leftover from my Autumn Sun Quilt!





Including my batch of Flower Crown Fox Pillows, I've made five pillows now with Wild & Free and Wanderer, I think it's time for a quilt!

 ♡ Maureen 

Pillow Sale : :

Today I plan to add these new pillows to my Etsy Shop for a little early Spring update! I always have such fun stitching up new pillows, but this time I especially loved dreaming about the Spring season - full of color, light, and sunshine!

Thank you for looking, and for your interest in and support of what I do! ♡ Maureen   

More Flower Crown Foxes : :

This weekend I finished up a new batch of sweet Flower Crown Fox Pillows for my little Etsy shop! One framed with my Luminous Field print and two with more Wanderer and Wild & Free patchwork, which I can't seem to get enough of these days! I love combining these two collections!!

I'm planning to add these pillows, along with several others and possibly a few quilts to my shop later this week. My sewing room is overflowing with inventory at the moment and each item was made to sell. It's just so difficult to put a price on handmade items. Do you feel that way? I feel that pricing is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make as artists. I've read so many powerful articles over the years on the value of a handmade work, posts encouraging us to see exactly how much our creations are worth, as well as dozens of breakdowns on how to formulate the cost. In the end, I rarely can settle on a fair number equivalent to something handcrafted, knowing how much love and heart and soul I put into it.

Do you sell your work? Have you done a cost break-down for any of your handmade items? I'd love to read your thoughts on this, please feel free to share!
  
♡ Maureen