My Craftsy Class!

Over the Summer I was contacted by Craftsy and offered an amazing opportunity to create a video course where I teach how to create my Quick Quilt As You Go technique by sharing how-to's for my most favorite projects. I couldn't say no! I receive questions daily about this method and this was finally the perfect way to make a wonderful, top quality resource for anyone wanting to learn this method. From folks looking to make their very first quilt, to the experienced quilter who's looking to learn a fun technique to create new, beautiful projects, fast!



Throughout this week I'll be sharing with you a look at each of the projects I created specifically for this class, then on Friday we'll have a BIG Giveaway!

Each project features a different way to use this quilting technique with lots of tips along the way. For our first lesson we dive right into the basics while making a set of placemats that come together so fast it's amazing! It's the perfect project to show how this technique makes quilting easy and doable for anyone!



Next we'll make a beautiful table runner to coordinate with the placemats. This project is designed to get you comfortable working with lots of fabric and batting length while creating a beautiful ombre color effect as we work our way from start to finish. You'll perfect both your stitches & seam allowance consistency, while gaining the confidence you'll need before we move on to the larger quilt projects!

I had so much fun, possibly too much fun making this class, since I ended up looking like a total goofball in every photo we took!



I hope you're as excited to take the class as I am to be able to offer it!! I can't wait to show you more throughout this week!

♡ Maureen

A Quilt From My Friends : :

This past Sunday my family and I adventured out for a quilt photo shoot. It's been more than two months since we last went out, can you believe it? And, this isn't even a quilt finish of my own, no, it's much more special!

Back in early October a surprise box arrived at my door, in the midst of dealing with frustrating, endless health struggles, grieving the loss of my Dad, all while preparing for my first fabric collection release & Quilt Market. Inside was the most beautiful quilt made by Nicke, Holly, Jacey, Ara Jane, Jeni, Jessica, and Amanda, along with a note expressing their hope that this quilt would bring joy to my life and peace to my heart. This amazing gift has given me that and so much more!



It's made up of twenty colorful, scrappy quilt blocks using the free Amsterdam Quilt Pattern, a collaboration quilt Holly created with Michelle Engel Bencsko for Cloud9 Fabrics, combined with my favorite, quilt as you go. Each block is signed by it's creator. ♡





While this worn-out, broken barn so perfectly represents how I've felt so many days these past few months, this amazing gift embodies the beautiful and tangible connection that only a handmade quilt can give. How quilts are such a wonderful source of comfort. My friends who made it hoped that I'd feel peace and love when I snuggle myself under it, but it also showed me how much they care, which is so helpful and healing in sad and lonely times. I truly can't thank them enough. 

 



To Nicke, Holly, Jacey, Ara Jane, Jeni, Jessica, and Amanda -- from the bottom of my heart I thank you, I'm forever grateful. 

♡  Maureen

Keeping Count : :

This year it is my goal to finish and share at least one quilt per month, in hopes of making another calendar and just to stay motivated and busy with projects throughout the year. With all that's happened these past several months it wasn't until last night that I thought of my goal and so I thought I'd share my results today!

January : : Diamond Zig Zag Quilt



February : : Follow the Arrow Quilt



March : : Winter Garden Quilt



April : : Winter Herringbone Quilt



May : : Rapture Making Rows Quilt



June : : Endless Summer Quilt



July : : Friendship Diamond Quilt



The truth is there were some months where I didn't have a quilt finish, but thankfully there were others where I had two. I'll take it! And, with my newly finished Scrappy Hourglass quilt top, my in progress Arizona Herringbone QAYG, and a few newly started quilt projects I'm feeling pretty good about my goal tonight!



♥ Maureen

Binding Day : :

My newest Making Rows quilt arrived back home from Sew Shabby Quilting this past Friday (you can see the beginnings of this quilt here, here, and here). It is all Pat Bravo, from her lovely Rapture collection with a few coordinating Pure Element solids. 

It's backed in my favorite Wild Beauty print, with 100% cotton batting. Rather than quilting it with my machine, I sent it off to Melissa for some long arm quilty swirls and loops!

Today I'm ready to bind with an AGF Squared Element in Noir! 

Since I didn't have a solid plan when beginning this quilt, just a simple quick sketch of a few rows of pattern ideas, this one became another make-as-I-go 'throw size' quilt, my favorite size to make! With these improv style of quilts, I simply stop when I start running out of fabrics!  

On Saturday I took this unfinished quilt, along with the four others I have finished so far this year and my current Endless Summer wip, and demonstrated my quilt as you go technique at the Potter County Artisan Center Grand Opening. I got a little nervous setting up since there aren't many opportunities locally for me talk about my work, but realized quickly that when it comes to speaking about quilting, I have a lot to say! It was really fun! The experience left me with plenty to think about, and has certainly sparked in me an interest in speaking and teaching more often!

I'm quite the lonesome modern quilter here in Potter County, Pa and realize that if I were to offer sewing/quilting classes that I won't be blessed to see many of you wonderful readers. However, your feedback is always incredibly helpful! So I'm wondering, how many of you have taken a sewing/quilting class? Do you prefer an online workshop forum such as Crafty or Creative bug or do you like to attend face-to-face classes and retreats when you have the chance? How have classes added to your skills as a quilter?

Thank you in advance for sharing with me today! 

♥  Maureen

A Special GIVEAWAY : :

Today I have a very fun Giveaway planned!

This past Summer I reached out to Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting to long arm quilt my Indie Symmetry quilt, a king size quilt measuring 90" x 102" that went unfinished for so long because I had no idea how to quilt it! She did an amazing job and now it lives happily on our bed!!



Since that very first Sew Shabby Quilting experience I've sent several more quilts Melissa's way --

My Soaring High Quilt, finished in a favorite modern pattern of mine, Take Five!



My Modern Sampler Quilt, finished in the Take Five pattern once again!





My Sunset Quilt, finished with the most beautiful custom quilting design! You can find this quilt, quilting, and pattern showcased beautifully in Issue 5 of Love Patchwork & Quilting out now!





My most recent quilt finish, my Follow the Arrow Quilt that I shared yesterday! For this one Melissa did another amazing custom quilting job, quilting each and every little piece of my quilt with the most amazing detail!





Isn't her work beautiful!!

At Sew Shabby Quilting you'll find a large catalog of quilting patterns, quality workmanship, a speedy turnaround, and incredible prices! Professional long-arm machine quilting starts from just $.01 per square inch! Today we invite you all to stop by Sew Shabby Quilting to have a look around!

  SEW SHABBY QUILTING  *  BLOG  *  FACEBOOK  *  INSTAGRAM 
 

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We hope you enjoy visiting Sew Shabby Quilting!! 

Enter to Win a $100 Gift Certificate to Sew Shabby Quilting today!

Here's how,
 
1. Simply leave a comment here in this post! (one entry)
2. Follow Sew Shabby Quilting on Facebook or on Instagram! Just let me know that you do by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
3. My followers always get an extra entry, too! Just let me know that you do by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do so I like to add that as another way to enter! Whether by facebook, instagram, tweet, pin, blog, etc... (optional extra entry) 

That’s 4 possible entries! Enter now through Monday, March 10th!! Winner will be picked at Random and I will announce their name at the bottom of this post, here on the blog!

* Note * This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment!

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Thank you to all who entered the Giveaway!! From  1,276 entries, Mr. Random says the lucky winner is... 
 
Comment #190 --   *  Lisa   * 
 
Congratulations, I'll be in touch shortly!   

A Quilted Pillow for Grace : :

This past weekend we had lots of family here visiting, including my adorable baby niece, Grace Anne! It's such a treat when they'll come to visit, we all miss having a baby around so much, and she is just the sweetest, most smiley-est baby!



Early Sunday afternoon while we were playing Haila asked if she could make a new quilted pillow, this time just for Grace, so we dove right in! We picked out a few fat quarters from my stash of Lotta Jansdotter fabrics, specifically in prints to match up with the Glimma Quilt I gave to Grace at Christmas time.



We spray basted the fabric to a 15" square piece of batting, Haila chose a matching yellow Aurifil, and handled the quilting like a pro! I love the wonky-ness of her stitches so much! Part of me hopes that doesn't change as she gets more and more comfortable, but I know it's bound to. This time I hovered a little less compared to our last pillow making session, and by her last few stitches I had moved the speed up almost all the way!



I helped out with the trimming, backing, and finishing, and then she tied it up with a little twine bow before handing it over to Grace!



Another sewing finish for my girl and Yes, we think Grace loves it!! 



♥  Maureen 

The First : :

Today I want to share the highlight of my week, Haila's and my first sewing session! A few weeks back I had posted on her sewing themed birthday party, where she received her very own Janome. Since then we've been waiting, impatiently, for the right time to begin. For an hour or two that her and I could have just for the two of us to tackle her first project together. Because she's so interested in making quilts, we decided a simple quilted 14" pillow would be a great place to start!

These are the snapshots I shared on my Instagram the night of our pillow making!





She chose a pretty Floressence floral print from my stash and I helped her use my rotary cutter, ruler, and mat set up to trim it to about a 16" square. We ironed the fabric to a piece of HeatnBond Fusible Fleece, she picked out two spools of Aurifil for her quilting and she was ready to go!



Although she has a machine of her very own, for now, being the overly cautious mama that I am, I'm having her use my Janome with the speed control set very slow! As she became more comfortable, I adjusted the speed to be a little quicker. In the beginning, in an effort to keep her quilting stitches straight, she would rock her work back and forth. It was all nerves! It took her repositioning her hands several times before she found what felt best for her to guide the piece through the needle. She did great! Other than working on relaxing and feeling comfortable & confident, at the end of each quilted stitch line she would press the automatic thread cutter button too soon before easing her foot off the pedal. This drove me a little crazy at first, but then I asked her to take a breath at the end of each stitch line before she was allowed to push the button and that totally worked! By the time she was halfway through with her quilting I was behind her trying not to giggle out loud at the sound of her taking so many deep breaths!



After the pillow top was quilted, I trimmed it to a 14.5" square while Haila chose her backing fabric, a pretty Coral Essex Linen. She hemmed her two back pieces by herself with my guidance and did a great job! When we pinned the backing fabrics to the pillow front with right sides facing, no matter how I was explaining it, she couldn't wrap her head around this part. After she sewed a 1/4" from the outer edge all the way around, I clipped the corners, and as she turned the cover out, YES, she got it!



Listening to her excitement during the making and seeing how proud she is with her finished pillow cover is absolutely as good as it gets!









Since she has her heart absolutely set on giving this one to her school teacher, we plan to make a second, identical pillow for her to keep. Then I think a simple, quilted tote bag will be up next!  

Do you have any project suggestions?

This was such a perfect beginning for the both of us!!  ♥ Maureen

A Year of Quilting : :

Early last week we were chatting about our goals and plans for the new year when I mentioned that this year I have finished at least one quilt each month. There was a little pause and then Kevin said, teasing at first, "well, sounds like you should make a calendar!" I'm sure I laughed and then I thought of the blog readers & friends of mine who had suggested this too, and I remembered seeing that one of my favorite bloggers, Julie Williams of Little Cotton Rabbits had made a calender that was super cute and well done. So, why not? Besides all the quilt finishing, I definitely put an extra effort into taking special photos of each of my quilt finishes this year, a calender was beginning to seem like a great way to celebrate my hard work! A couple days passed, the calendar was beginning to slip away on my to-do list, and then I received a surprise & very sweet email from Jayme, who had just read my Making Rows Quilt blog post, struck up a conversation about shooting in snow, and offered to brighten my photos for me since she's a professional photographer. Of course I said, Sure! And the difference was very noticeable, she did a beautiful job, quickly!



I mentioned to her this calendar idea of mine, she was so encouraging and offered to help, and by late evening a calendar was finished!



Matching up a quilt with each month was both the most fun and challenging part! Of course I had to make a few cuts and even forgot about some of my finished quilts altogether! Now that's a sign you've been busy!!

Inside the calender, you'll find  --

: :  January  : :



: :  February  : :



: :  March  : :



: :  April  : :



: :  May  : :



: :  June  : :



: :  July  : :



: :  August  : :



: :  September  : :



: :  October  : :



: :  November  : :



: :  December  : :



Posting my first calendar on my Facebook page and now here makes me feel a little nervous inside, but excited too! And more than anything just so incredibly grateful! For this space, for all of you who I get to share with, for the sweet & generous people like Jayme who I've met through it. It couldn't be more wonderful!!

If you happen to be interested in my calendar  -- they are 12 pages, they measure 12" x 16.5", are printed on high quality satin art paper, and are finished with a durable, white wire binding and hanger! You can find all the details right here! I'm so happy to have made these to gift to family & friends and to offer here for those of you who might like one, too!!

Now I have to ask...which month/quilt is your favorite? Feedback like this is exactly what I'd love to read heading into a new year of quilting! 

Thank you for joining me here and for supporting my work the way you do!  ♥  Maureen