If you want to learn to paper piece and live near the Fox Cities, keep reading. The Darting Needles Quilt Guild from Appleton, WI is sponsoring me to hold an all day workshop on Paper Piecing Basics, Friday 14 from 9 to 3. This class will be held at the Fox Cities Quilt Company in Appleton.
Those attending the workshop will learn how to paper piece simple and combination blocks from my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book.
SIMPLE BLOCKCOMBINATION BLOCK
On Thursday, the day before the workshop, I will be lecturing on” Paper Piecing, and Selecting the Right Fabric for your Projects”. Join me for an evening of fun held at the First United Methodist Church on Franklin St, Appleton at 7pm. The lecture is free!
Contact JoAnn Nemitz for information about the Paper Piecing Workshop, (920) 731-3722.
I love my customers. They constantly motivate me. Kelly asked me to create a SKUNK BLOCK.
Creating paper pieced animals is one of my strong points, so this was a joy to create.
SKUNK
This Skunk Block would look great in my Forest Friends pattern, along with the other sweet woodsy animals.
All this designing has made me tired…
Here is an Owl Tote and a Fox Tote created by another customer. Mary is using the animals from Forest Friends for her handy totes.
Owl Tote
Fox Tote
Now do you see why I love my customers so much? They are super creative!
This Hedgehog Block was paper pieced with the coolest background color.
Instead of adding buttons, this customer used satin stitching for the eyes and nose. Super cute, and a great idea for a baby quilt.
Keep sharing your awesome photos! AND, if you are in northern Wisconsin this Saturday or Sunday, visit me at the Northwoods Quilters Quilt Show in Marinette. I better take lots of northwoods patterns.
I also recieved a message from a longtime friend who wanted me to design a Retriever dog quilt for her new grandson. I have a GOLDEN RETRIEVER block, but I wanted more than one retriever in the quilt.
Golden Retriever
I designed another RETRIEVER to add to the quilt. I decided this dog should be in profile.
Retriever
Here is the finished Retriever Quilt.
Retriever Quilt
The first dog is a pup that I thought could pass for a retriever. It is HAPPY DOG from the CATS N DOGS pattern.
Magical and mystical unicorns…everybody loves them!
Unicorn Quilt
This adorable Unicorn Quilt measures 34″ x 41 1/2″. The unicorn is paper pieced; the flowers and alphabet letters are applique.
The unicorn is very easy to paper piece, and is great for a beginner. This unicorn would also make a super cute pillow. The alphabet letters and flowers are included in the pattern.
If you are looking for a smaller project, this paper pieced Unicorn block measures 8″ x 8″ unfinished. Here’s an idea of what it might look like in a pillow.
Have a magical week! I will be vending at the Mukwonago Quilt Show (Wisconsin) this Saturday and Sunday. I’d love to chat if you can stop by.
You can learn how to create all six animals for the quilt, or do a smaller scale version by creating the table runner.
Table Runner
These animals are nice and easy, great for beginners! Both the lap quilt and table runner are in the pattern.
Thanks to Vonnie, for teaching this class. Vonnie also had some fun creating a tote from my Cute and Clever Totes book.
One side of the tote has a Hen…
and the other side has a Rooster.
Love her choice of fabrics! This may be another class offered at Julie’s Sewing Center in the future. You can call their shop for more info…(920)965-0680.
One of my proudest moments in 2018 was the creation of the “Doggie In The Window” quilt. The Orange County Quilters Guild in California contacted me in 2017 about using my dog block patterns to create their next Guide Dogs Of America charity quilt. I was thrilled!
Doggie In The Window
The hard working guild members used 30 of my different dog breeds to construct this 60″x 70″ masterpiece. The quilt traveled throughout the US during 2018, and was raffled to a lucky winner in December. This is their big yearly contribution to their favorite charity, Guide Dogs of America.
Close Up
I have been designing paper pieced dog blocks since 2014 and now have about 50 different breeds. This obsession started as a fun way to connect with my customers. They would email me photos of their pets, and I would try to recreate their breed in a quilt block.
I created this quilt pattern, “Dogs Only” after designing my first 11 dog breeds. Then all **** broke loose, and I was flooded from all over the world with requests from customers who wanted a specific breed to substitute into this pattern. Here are some of my favorites…
Here’s my new LUCKY LEPRECHAUN block, just in time for your March projects. His nose is somewhat 3-dimensional, made from a fabric yo-yo with a bit of stuffing inside. I love his pipe!
Mug Rug made using the Lucky Leprechaun block, and adding a 2 1/2″ strip of extra background fabric to one side.
Here are my other St. Patty’s related blocks. This is CLOVER. This block was sewn by Allison. I love the fabrics she chose!
This gift sack was sewn by my friend Marilyn, using my Clover block. So cute! If you are thinking of more clever ways to use my St. Patty blocks, please share photos.
Three paper pieced blocks are sewn together to form the center unit of this table runner, which measures 16″ wide x 27 1/2″ long finished.
This sweet little project can be made from scraps. Do you think this pattern would also work as a breast cancer project because of the pink ribbon? Tell me your thoughts…
I would like to share a link to Stephanie Palmer’s awesome Quilter Planner. Stephanie has done a great job perfecting her planner, which is a super organizational tool.
This is an early Valentine’s gift for my wonderful readers. As a thank you to my subscribers, I am offering this FREE Valentine paper pieced pattern.
The LOAD OF LOVE paper pieced block is FREE to all of my wonderful SUBSCRIBERS. You can find the FREE PATTERN HERE: THIS PATTERN IS NO LONGER FREE, BUT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE. LOAD OF LOVE PATTERN
If you are not currently a subscriber, consider signing up in the SUBSCRIBER BOX on the right (if you are on a laptop) or scroll to the last post (if you are on a cell phone). By subscribing, you will be notified by email whenever I add a new post to this website, which is usually once a week. That’s it! Building my list of subscribers is very helpful, especially for my ability to publish my books. So, if you are enjoying my books and want me to write even more of them, please consider subscribing.
Wouldn’t this block make a cute pillow or potholder? Please show me how you use it to create a clever project by emailing me a photo of your creation at: maryannhertel@gmail.com
Here’s one of my favorite table runner patterns for Christmas, 3 Dogs and 1 Sassy Cat. Please excuse me for reposting this photo, as I have already shared it with many of you, but it is so darn cute and a Christmas pattern that my many dog and cat loving friends adore.
Here’s my friend Lana’s version, made into a wall hanging. Love it!
