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More Dogs

A customer request came from Angie for a HAVANESE paper pieced block similar to her pet.

After seeing this adorable Havanese, I was motivated to do it justice.

Sometimes it takes a couple of tries before I get an image that makes me happy. This image was my best HAVANESE.

Abigail sent this cute photo of a cushion she is making using my KING CHARLES block.

Kelsey sent this adorable photo of a pillow using my CORGI block. This reminds me of Andy Warhol’s paintings.

Elaine created these sweet pillows using the CHINESE CRESTED block pattern.

When a customer requested a block of a Chinese Crested, I asked if that was a bird… I’m learning.

Linking this week with:

Kathy’s Quilts

Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland

Super Scrappy Saturday

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

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Paper Piecing Lecture and Workshop in June

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 BLOCK
COMBINATION 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.

Linking this week with:

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

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Skunked!

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.

Linking up this week with:

Elm Street Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation

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Something new….

After spending the last 3 weekends vending at local quilt shows, I am free this week to play with some new patterns.

I met a sweet customer named Lynn at my last show and she requested a paper pieced Panda pattern.

This PANDA turned out so cute, I plan to create a Panda pillow.

Another customer, Dori, is a dog lover. Her favorite breed is Shiba Inu. I had never heard of this type of dog, so I had to do some investigating.

The SHIBA INU is an ancient, Japanese breed.

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.

Happy Easter to all!

Linking this week with:

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Quilt Fabrication

Sew Fresh Quilts

Clever Chameleon Quilts

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Kathy’s Quilts


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Unicorn Love

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.

Unicorn Block

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.

Linking this week with:

Clever Chameleon

Stitch All The Things

Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

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Forest Friends

My friends from Julie’s Sewing Center in Green Bay, WI are featuring my Forest Friends pattern in a PAPER PIECING CLASS this Saturday, March 23.

Forest Friends

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.

Linking this week with:

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Sew Fresh Quilts

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Stitch All The Things

Midweek Makers

Silly Mama Quilts

Clever Chameleon

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Going to the Dogs….

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…

King Charles Cavalier

Corgi
Collie, (pillow sewn by my friend Julie)
Pomeranian

Do you see what I mean by my “obsession”? You can see many more doggies on my Etsy shop….and if you see a breed I am missing, drop me an email at:

maryannhertel@gmail.com

If it is significantly different than a block I already have, I might be tempted to continue with my fave obsession!

Linking this week with:

What A Hoot Quilts

Clever Chameleon Quilts

Stitch All The Things

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Quilt Fabrication

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

Sew Fresh Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation

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Holiday Buddies Paper Pieced Pattern

Here’s a fun Christmas project to try. I call this table topper “Holiday Buddies“. I like this octagonal shape on my table.

This table topper is cute from every direction.

Santa starts the collection of 4 paper pieced blocks. I use a bit of blush on his nose to make him jolly.

Mrs. Claus also has a bit of blush on her cheeks. I use a stippling paint brush and some pink craft paint.

Rudolph has a bright pom pom nose.

The Caroler is one of my favorite new holiday designs. Using a striped fabric always works well for a scarf.

This table topper measures 29″ in diameter.

Here is a set of cute HOLIDAY BUDDIES in potholders, too! Can’t wait to hang them in my kitchen.

Visit my Etsy and Craftsy shops to see more holiday designs.

Linking this week with:

Clever Chameleon

Stitch All The Things

Cooking Up Quilts

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

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Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

It is so much fun to share photos from my customers and friends. This week I am posting photos of projects created from my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book.

These 16 adorable placemats were sewn by Donna Smith. She made a placemat for every student in her daughter’s third grade class, using all 16 of the paper piece block patterns from my book. I would love to see the students’ faces when they each get their own special placemat…what a sweet friend they have in Donna.

This cute Snowman Door Knob Pillow was created by Judith Johnson. I love her fabric choices!

This book has 16 super cute paper pieced holiday images. All blocks measure 8″ x 8″ unfinished, so they can be mixed and matched to fit into any of my patterns.

There are patterns in the book for potholders, table runners, stockings, placemats…

 

gift sacks, and tree skirts.

Thanks to Donna and Judith for sharing photos. I would love to see what YOU will create! Email photos to:    maryannhertel@gmail.com

Linking this week with:

Kathy’s Quilts

Slice of Pie Quilts

Super Scrappy

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Cooking Up Quilts

Stitch All The Things

Clever Chameleon

Sew Fresh Quilts

Tish in Wonderland

So Scrappy

Summer Lee Quilts

 

 

 

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Ho, Ho, Ho…Get Ready for Christmas!

You know…it’s right around the corner…CHRISTMAS! And, I have lots of cute holiday designs to show you. This is my HO, HO, HO HOLIDAY COLLECTION, all paper pieced patterns.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Santa. He’s a jolly old soul, with a cute red button nose.

Ho, Ho, Ho Rudolph. I love how Rudolph’s antlers are teeter tottering on top of his head!

Ho, Ho, Ho Elf. This clever fellow is ready for some Christmas action. These blocks all fit into my pillow, potholder, and table runner patterns, as well as into any patterns from my books.

All blocks finish at 7 1/2″x 7 1/2″ square. All patterns can be found on my Etsy or Craftsy shops.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Linking this week with:

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework