Category Archives: Paper Pieced Quilts

Paper Piecing Water Birds

A few weeks back, I designed this LOON ON THE LAKE paper piecing pattern.

Every year 2 loons inhabit the lake near my cabin in upper Wisconsin. I love to listen to them singing at night.

I liked my loon block so much that I decided to design more “birds on the lake”. This is SWAN ON THE LAKE. The dragonflies add some depth to the block.

GOOSE ON THE LAKE reminds me of all the Canada Geese that come to visit in the fall.

And finally MALLARD ON THE LAKE. It’s always exciting to see my first mallard of Spring.

I haven’t actually used my blocks in any projects. I plan to make a set of pillows for my cabin. I would also like to add more birds to this collection so I could complete a full quilt. I am working on a PELICAN right now. Can you help me think of any other “water birds”? They don’t have to be specifically northwoods. Which is your favorite block?

Linking this week with:

Kathy’s Quilts

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Cooking Up Quilts

Love Laugh Quilt

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

 

 

 

Unicorn Paper Piecing Patterns

Once again, my sweet customers have steered me in a fun direction. “Unicorns” keep popping up in conversations and so many people want them for pillows and quilts.

Here is my Unicorn Block that measures 8″x 8″ square and is perfect for a pillow, as pictured below.

I love the 1 block version because its fast, but I also wanted a full body unicorn.

This Large Unicorn is constructed with 6 blocks and measures 15″ wide x 22.5″ high. My intention is to use this unit in the center of a quilt and add some borders. I haven’t gotten around to doing a complete quilt pattern yet, but I can envision some paper pieced butterflies as cornerstones. How would you complete this unicorn into a quilt?

“Watercolor” by Moda inspired me to make the unicorn mane very colorful. This is a lovely fabric line and comes in scrumptious colors.

For the horn, I stitched some stripes with silver metallic embroidery floss, but a fun striped fabric could work, too.

I also want to share a photo from Edith of a cute tote she designed using my Easter Bunny 2 Block.

She did a great job! Keep your photos coming. It inspires me to see what you are doing with my patterns.

Linking this week with:

Kathy’s Quilts

Elm Street Quilts

Cooking Up Quilts

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Emsscrapbag

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Sew Fresh Quilts

 

Easter Paper Piecing Patterns

Easter is just around the corner. Per my friend Marilyn’s advice…I have been designing lots of Easter blocks.

My Easter blocks measure 8″x 8″ unfinished and can be used in table runners, potholders, gift sacks, pillows, or even quilts. This photo was shared from Marilyn who used my patterns to teach a class on paper piecing.

The bunny and chick blocks can be purchased as a total pattern: Easter Table Runner and Potholders. Some of these blocks are also available for single block purchase.My Happy Easter Bunny and Happy Easter Ducky are another popular set of Easter blocks. Find a really cute fabric to use for the egg, and you are all set!

Isn’t this table runner adorable? Lisa England used my Happy Easter Bunny pattern and made the cutest Easter runner ever!

If you are into Easter Bonnets, this is the block for you.

And here’s a block to make your mouth water…Chocolate Bunny.

Here’s a real simple block, Easter Egg. Find a cute striped fabric to make this super easy pattern.

It’s time to “think spring”!

Linking up this week with:

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Cooking Up Quilts

Love,Laugh,Quilt

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

The Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Super Scrappy

 

 

 

Pattern Blocks for St. Patrick’s Day

I have some fun paper pieced pattern blocks designed for March. Most of them are St. Patrick’s Day related. Leprechaun Block

His nose is a fabric yo yo, but could also be a button. Love that lopsided grin!

Luck Block

The secret of this block is to find 4 fabulous green fabrics.

Shamrock Block

Even though this shamrock only has 3 leaves, it is mighty lucky!

And Pot of Gold Block.

These “gold coins” are actually fabric yo yos, but could also be gold buttons.

One of my sweet customers shared this photo of a Leprechaun table runner, using my blocks. This is adorable. I love to post my customer’s creations using my pattern blocks, so please share your photos at: maryannhertel@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking this week with:

Kathy’s Quilts

Tish N Wonderland

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Cooking Up Quilts

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

 

I Miss Football…

This is the time of year that I miss watching my team play football every week. If my favorite team does not make the playoffs, January is a very gloomy time of year.

I designed this paper pieced pillowcase for my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers. But, since I love football in general, I didn’t want to omit other fans favorite teams. I went on to design these pillowcase patterns so other fans could have fun paper piecing, too.

Minnesota Vikings will be the only team from the Central Division to advance to the playoffs…

 

 

 

 

Here are the other teams from my division for whom I have developed patterns; Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. But, I have had requests from these fans as well.

 

 

Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, and the Seattle Seahawks.

I’ve been considering working up pillowcase patterns for this years top teams, but I am limited to a 6 letter per line format. This means that I can only fit 6 letters or spaces per line and am limited to 2 lines. Help me out with names for these teams…

New Orleans Saints: SAINTS WIN!

Atlanta Falcons: DIRTY BIRDS (but is this complimentary??? Please advise me, Falcon fans.)

New England Patriots: GO PATS

Los Angeles Rams: LOVE RAMS

Philadelphia Eagles:  EAGLES SOAR

Carolina Panthers:  GO CATS (not in love with this…but do you have anything better???)

If I have omitted your team, and you have a clever idea for their name, please share!

Linking up with:

Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Quilts My Way

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Tish’s Adventure

So Scrappy

 

Paper Pieced Christmas Tree Skirt

Here’s a fun paper pieced Christmas Tree Skirt pattern, using 8 cute holiday blocks.

The blocks could also be used for potholders, small pillows, or a table runner.

Stocking…

Present…

and Candy Cane are just a few.

And here’s a close-up of the bow ties

Get all 8 blocks in my Christmas Tree Skirt Sampler Pattern. This pattern is sold in “hard copy” format only, so it must be sent through the mail.

Check out this adorable wall hanging made by my friend Shelley using the Stocking Block from this pattern.

Shelley even stitched the names on the cuff of each stocking. So clever!

Linking to:

Kathy’s Quilts

Cooking Up Quilts

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By The River

Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Powered By Quilting

Busy Hands Quilts

 

 

 

Vending at the Hudson Heritage Quilters Show in Hudson, WI

I am packing up to vend at the Hudson Heritage Quilters Patchwork Harvest X Quilt Show this weekend, November 4 and 5. This will be my first time vending in Hudson. I have heard so many lovely things about this friendly community in Wisconsin.

I am very excited to take along lots of holiday patterns. Here are some of my newest Christmas paper pieced blocks.

Ho Ho Ho Santa is a cute 7 1/2″x 7 1/2″ block that will work well for gift bags, pillows, potholders, or even table runners.

And every Santa needs his Ho Ho Ho Rudolph! With these big button eyes, he is so adorable.

Here is one of my favorite penguin blocks made into the Stocking pattern from my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book.

If you are anywhere near Hudson this weekend…stop by and visit me at the River Crest Elementary School, 535 County Road F. I will be there Saturday and Sunday.

There will be lots to see!

Linking with:

Cooking Up Quilts

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Stitch All The Things

The Needle and Thread Network

Elm Street Quilts

Midweek Makers

My Quilt Infatuation

Elm Street Quilts

 

 

Adorable Paper Pieced Christmas Animals

Cute as can be and just in time for Christmas, this table runner sports “3 Dogs and 1 Sassy Cat“. Animal lovers will enjoy this sweet holiday project. It’s easy to make, and the borders resemble a “scallop”,  but is pieced. So easy!

Stocking Hat Dog

Candy Cane Dog

Turtleneck Dog (hint* If you are new to paper piecing, start with this dog)

And the Sassy Cat!

Here’s a close-up of the scalloped border.

I love this border so much, I am using it in my next table runner design…tune in next time 🙂

“3 Dogs and 1 Sassy Cat” pattern is available on Etsy and Craftsy.

Linking up with:

Stitch All The Things

Free Motion By the River

Monday Making

Silly Mama Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation

Busy Hands Quilts

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Kathy’s Quilts

More Halloween Paper Pieced Patterns AND 2 FREE Patterns

As promised, I am sharing more of my favorite Halloween paper pieced blocks this week.

This is Skat Cat, the craziest cat in my Halloween collection.

This goofy cat is available as a single paper pieced block.

Bewitched is my favorite witch…and she is very easy to paper piece. This block is also available for sale as a single block.

The Haunted House is part of the Boo Collection, and is sold in a pattern with 6 other Halloween blocks, plus a table runner and potholder pattern.

And finally, here are 2 blocks that are FREE.

The Frankenstein and Dracula paper pieced block patterns are FREE and can be downloaded here:  Count-Dracula-and-Frankenstein-MERGED.pdf (2138 downloads )

Potholder directions are not included in this download, just the paper pieced block patterns.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy my fun Halloween creations. Attached is a photo of a table runner made from 3 of my Halloween block patterns. Thank you, Wanda, for sharing your cute table runner. And here’s an adorable table topper by Shelley, using all of my Halloween blocks.

Shelley used my Christmas Tree Skirt pattern to assemble this table topper so she could use 8 different Halloween blocks. Didn’t she do an awesome job?!?!

I love seeing my friends’ creations using my patterns. Please share by sending me photos at my email: maryannhertel@gmail.com

Linking with:

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Free Motion by the River

Stitch All the Things

The Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama

Let’s Bee Social

Quilt Fabrication

Katie Mae Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation

Crazy Mom Quilts

My Favorite Paper Pieced Halloween Patterns

I love designing Halloween patterns. Here are some of my favorite designs from 2017.

Batty Bat  is sold as part of the “Boo Collection“. I love the simplicity of this design. It sews together easily, and it would make an adorable potholder or pillow.

Spooky Spider is so darn cute. This pattern is also found in the “Boo Collection“. I used pin stripe white and black fabric for his teeth, but they could also be stitched on top of white fabric with black thread, or drawn with a black permanent pen.

Fraidy Cat is 1 of my favorite cat patterns, and I have designed many cats!

The “Boo Collection” is a table runner/potholder pattern which includes 6 different Halloween blocks. I’ll share more Halloween block photos next time, including that adorable “Skat Cat” in my featured image. Stay tuned…

Linking with:

Free Motion By The River

Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers

My Quilt Infatuation

Busy Hands Quilts

Crazy Mom  Quilts

Kathy’s Quilts

She Can Quilt

Quilting is more Fun than Housework