A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of my wonderful customers. Please enjoy this FREE HALLOWEEN PAPER PIECED PATTERN!
FREE HALLOWEEN PATTERNS FOR MY CUSTOMERS!
You will find the download for these patterns at the end of this post. You might also enjoy my series of WITCH BLOCKS. These are all sold separately on Etsy…
The CAT’S MEOW QUILT PATTERN is for the more traditional Halloween lover. One of my customers, Mary D., made this adorable wall hanging from my quilt pattern. Great job, Mary!
Wall Hanging
Enjoy this download of my FREE HALLOWEEN BLOCKS… you will find the download button below.
Welcome to our 2019 Once Upon A Story Row-A-Long. A big THANK YOU to Marian Pena and her hours of preparation time organizing this years event.
My featured fairy tale is The Last Unicorn, by Peter Beagle.
The Last Unicorn is a lovely story about a unicorn who dreams big!
Dream Big
This paper pieced unicorn row measures 9″ x 18″. This includes the outer border. The letters “Dream Big” are machine embroidered onto the finished block. But, any word or name could be used. And if machine embroidery is not your thing, a word could be appliqued in the space above the unicorn.
And now for the GIVE-AWAY! If unicorns are your thing, you will love my new pattern “UNICORN QUILT”. You can win this pattern free, just leave a COMMENT below. I would love to hear what your favorite subject matter is for a quilt.
This quilt is excellent for a beginner. The paper pieced blocks are super easy. The Unicorn is paper pieced, and the flowers and alphabet letters are applique. This is a great quilt to personalize.
I have had requests to share a pattern for the masks I am donating. This pattern was originally found on the Craft Passion website. I give all the credit possible to this site for the original pattern. After making a bunch of the masks, I have tweeked the pattern to be a bit more fitted. Now I am super happy with the fit, and it is a very easy pattern to assemble.
I’ve already sewn over 150 face masks to give-away to friends and family. This is not a medical mask, but a mask to use for home, grocery shopping, etc. However, it is very easy to adapt this pattern to add a pocket on the back to hold an N95 filter.
Download the FACE MASK PATTERN HERE. Set your printer at CUSTOM 100%. Make sure the little box on the pattern measures 1 inch square.
Cut 2 main fabric pieces, 2 lining pieces, and 2 fusible interfacing pieces. I use the same interfacing used for T-shirt quilts. The interfacing is optional.
Fuse the interfacing to the back of the 2 main fabric pieces.
Sew the seam at the front of the 2 main pieces, and the front of the 2 lining pieces.
4. Clip the curves on both pieces, then press the seams towards one side. Topstitch 1/8″ from the seam on the Main piece only. I am using white thread so you can see the topstitching.
6. Pin the lining to the main piece, right sides together.
7. Press under 1/4″ along the lining and main fabric pieces, just on one end of the mask. The other end will be sewn shut.
8. Sew all the way around the mask, leaving the one end open for turning.
9. Clip the curve by the nose area.
10. Turn the mask right side out through the turning hole on the side. A turning tool or knitting needle is helpful. Press.
11. Top stitch 1/4″ from the edge.
12. Press under each end on the “FOLD” line shown on the pattern. Place a 9″ piece of Round Cord Elastic under the flap and stitch the flap down. On this mask I am using 2mm elastic, but 1mm also works fine.
13. Tie a knot in the elastic .
14. Pull the knot into the channel created by the fold.
This mask fits an adult female. Men may need a longer elastic. If the mask is too small for a man, increase the size of the pattern by about 1/4″ along the top and sides for a man, decrease 1/4″ for a child’s size.
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
Thanks for joining me today for the first day of the PICK A PUMPKIN BLOG HOP, sponsored by Carla Henton from Creatin in the Sticks. I have been working on one of my favorite subjects, paper pieced black cats and pumpkins. Don’t miss my GIVE-AWAY…you’ll find it at the end of this post.
CAT ON A PUMPKIN is an easy block with nice large pieces. Find a lovely orange fabric with some interesting texture for that luscious, fat pumpkin.
Use the cats alone as wall hangings or pillows, or put them all together to create a charming quilt. I call this the CAT’S MEOW QUILT.
WIN THIS PATTERN…Leave a comment for a chance to win this paper pieced pattern. Make sure your email is included in the comment so I can contact the winner. Also, make my day by SUBSCRIBING to my website.
Find more fun fall paper pieced projects on my ETSY or CRAFTSY shops.
Thanks so much for stopping to visit. This is my post for our 2018 Row Along, organized by the fabulous Marian Pena from Seams To Be Sew. We have 54 different quilt bloggers/designers participating this year! And…lots of great FREE STUFF! I am offering a free paper piecing pattern. You will find the incidentals towards the end of this post.
Our theme this year is MY HAPPY PLACE. Here’s my free row…My Sewing Room
MERGED-My-Sewing-Room-BEST.pdf (1477 downloads )
. This paper pieced row consists of 4 blocks, each 7 1/2″x 7 1/2″. This makes the entire row measure 7 1/2″ high x 30″ long (finished).
Since there’s no place I would rather be than in my sewing room, I am going to make this row into a wall hanging to place above my sewing machine. If you are new to paper piecing, I suggest you watch one of my paper piecing tutorials.
I have added a 1 1/2″x 30 1/2″ strip of BLACK fabric to the top and bottom of my row. Then added a 4″x 30 1/2″ strip at the top and a 10″x 30 1/2″ along the bottom. These pieces can be adjusted to make your wall hanging any height you want. I have steam pressed a piece of fusible fleece to the back of the entire unit. Then I added a backing piece and quilted the entire unit.
Next I created a row of 5 pockets by sewing 5 squares 6 1/2″x 6 1/2″ together. This unit was also quilted and basted to the bottom of my wall hanging. I sewed between each pocket in the seam “ditch” to separate the pockets.
Then I added black binding…I love it! I added tabs along the top to hang from my existing wooden quilt hanger, but a hanging pocket would also work.
Are you new to paper piecing? I have 2 paper piecing books with great step by step directions, Cute and Clever Totes and Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Both books are great for beginners, but also have lots of fun paper pieced patterns for intermediate quilters.
I am so EXCITED to explain this Give-Away because it is from the same company that publishes my books, C&T Publishing. They are giving away a $100 Gift Certificate! That means you can choose from SO MANY great C&T books and sewing tools. I can’t say enough about this wonderful company. They allow me and so many other clever designers a chance to create books and products to share with you! This is an awesome prize for 1 lucky person who …
Since it is so close to Halloween, I am GIVING-AWAY this pattern, BOO COLLECTION. This collection of 6 Halloween paper pieced block patterns is so clever! Included with the blocks are patterns for a table runner and potholders. These 8″x 8″ blocks can be used in so many fun ways. Be creative and construct an entire Halloween quilt! Table runner measures 17″ wide x 33″ long. Potholders measure 8″x 8″. This is an original Made By Marney pattern.
Here are some super sweet treat sacks made by a friend using some of the blocks from my BOO Collection. Click on this Rafflecopter link to sign up for the
Rules and Guidelines For Giveaways
Please take the time to read it.
Giveaways offered by sponsors are assigned to the various bloggers for their featured day.
There are no prior announcements on who is doing which sponsor except to the sponsor themselves.
You’ll have to visit the blog or the featured blog to enter the giveaways.
Not all giveaways can be entered at Seams To Be Sew.
I will start announcing winners on September 11, 2018, and finish announcing winners on October 10, 2018.
In most cases, the blog where you won at also will announce their
winners.
You must give a valid email address when you enter the giveaways, any email returned to me, loses the ability to win automatically.
With the exception of Show and Tell Day, all giveaways run for approximately one week.
You are given 3 days to answer the email, if you do not answer within 3 days a new winner will be drawn. Check those spam/junk mail folders, you may miss that winning email if you don’t do so because there are no exceptions to this rule.
If you are notified that you are a winner, in most cases, you will need to provide your name, address, city, state, zip code, country, telephone number, and email address.
In some cases, you will be asked to comment on the blog to enter the giveaway… do the right thing and thank them for the time it took to create the pattern, thank them for the pattern and…
Thank the sponsor by buying their products for the giveaways. This helps them continue to offer great prizes for these types of events. You can also comment on their social media pages. Even if you don’t win, letting them know you love their products is a huge incentive and they really do love hearing from you.
No purchase whatsoever is necessary.
You must be 18+ in order to win a gift.
You are responsible for claiming and paying any tax owed on the value of any gift that you win. Prizes valued at $500.00 should be claimed.
All winners are chosen at random.
All winners will be announced on the blogs via the Rafflecopter entry form and/or post by the blogger at the site where they won and here at Seams To Be Sew. All winners must allow for their first name and first initial of their last name to be announced on this blog.
Odds of Winning a prize are based on a total number of rafflecopter entries during each week and in total for all giveaways.
This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
Participating bloggers may enter any of the giveaways.
The word giveaways in the rules and guidelines are also known as sweepstakes.
Most of the giveaways are international shipping this year
in some cases, you will be asked to pay for shipping your giveaways.
I am not rich and I do not ask sponsors for money, they provide prizes only.
If they shipped the prize to me, you will be asked to pay for shipping.
All giveaways will be shipped that are in my home within 48 hours of my having heard from you.
An invoice will be sent to you via Paypal, and shipping will take place via Paypal, so your Paypal email will be needed to send the invoice. You will receive a tracking number except for overseas shipments. All shipping will either be first class which averages out at 2.77 to 4.00 up to 13 ounces. Paypal fees are added to that amount to cover that fee. All fabric bundles from Michael Miller, Hoffman, and Moda will be shipped via Priority Mail to protect the fabric itself.
Please note, every effort is made to protect the prizes. They go into a plastic bin when I receive them, and it is covered by an air tight cover. I have a dog in my home and I have a smoker in my home, so I do everything possible to protect the prizes.
Most companies are very good about getting prizes off to customers quickly also, but some companies are overseas, so please allow all sponsors a 2-week time period before you report to me that you still haven’t received your prize. When the company is overseas, it can take 6 weeks to 90 days for an item to also arrive.
Whether or not you read the above, the rules for giveaways are in place to protect everyone. I do not want to hear you didn’t read them, they will be posted on my blog daily during each featured day. There is no excuse for not reading them.
Shelley created this adorable table topper using 8 of my blocks. I have posted her sweet table topper once before, but couldn’t resist sharing again. She was just getting ready to bind this baby, and put it out for Halloween.
Lynne created this funky table runner. I am enjoying her fabric choices! I’d love to see what you are creating for Halloween.
To see all of my Halloween blocks, visit my Etsy or Craftsy shops.
Halloween is just around the corner. If you want to get a jump on some cute seasonal projects, you might enjoy these ideas.
WITCHY PILLOW consists of an 8″x 8″ paper pieced block made into a 17″x 17″ pillow.
If you happen to live in the Utah area, my friend Eva is offering a PAPER PIECING PILLOW CLASS using this pattern. She used the new Halloween fabric line from Studio Fabric, “Me and My Ghoul Friends”. Isn’t it adorable?
So, I hope this motivates you to get started on some sweet Halloween projects! Please remember that when you print a PDF pattern, always select Custom Scale: 100% on your home printer.
You can find more of my Halloween paper piece patterns on Craftsy and Etsy.
I love designing paper piece patterns for the holidays. I am sharing a tutorial on paper piecing today using one of my new Christmas patterns. “Must Be Santa” can be made into a table runner or pillow if you follow the directions in the pattern. However, you can use the four 7 1/2″x 7 1/2″ blocks in this pattern for any number of projects.
This table runner is made using the four blocks in the pattern, Elf, Mrs. Claus, Santa Claus, and Rudolph. The pillow below is also included in the pattern.
For my tutorial, I will be using this Santa block, but any block in the pattern may be substituted.
I have designed many Santa blocks. This 1 is my favorite. I pride myself in offering very EASY patterns with just a few pieces. This particular block is NOT one of my easy blocks. It has a number of different sections that must be paper pieced separately, then sewn together to complete the block. Don’t let this deter you from trying paper piecing if you are a beginner. Each segment is fairly simple. So…let’s take this 1 step at a time…
Start by setting your stitch length to 1.5; that’s about 20 stitches per inch. Shortening the stitch length perforates the paper so as to make it easier to rip away the paper pattern when you are finished with the block.
Make 4 copies of the original pattern and cut around each segment (outlined in red lines) adding a 1/4″ seam allowance around each segment. Cut segments A/F from copy 1, segments B/E/I from copy 2, segments C/D/G from copy 3, and segment H from copy 4. Above you can see segments A, B, and C with the 1/4″ seam allowance around each piece. Now you are ready to start piecing!
Let’s start with segment A. Pin piece #1 to the appropriate fabric (background color), wrong sides together. There should be at least 1/2″ of excess fabric all the way around piece #1. You can check this by holding your pattern up to a light source.
Trim the excess fabric. Double check: The WRONG SIDE of the fabric should be facing the back of the pattern. This scrap is a 1/2″ larger than piece #1.
Find the stitching line between piece #1 and piece #2.
Use a bookmark or any piece of card stock to fold back piece #2 along this stitching line. It’s a bit hard to see because the bookmark and the back of the pattern are both white, but look closely to see how the pattern is folded.
The Add-A-Quarter ruler is very handy for trimming seam allowances.
Use an “Add-A-Quarter” ruler to trim away the excess fabric, trimming 1/4″ away from the stitching line (fold).
Piece #2 is skin color, so I am using a tea dye fabric. This scrap is a good 1/2″ larger all the way around than piece #2.
Place the pattern on top of the skin colored fabric scrap so the trimmed edges (seam allowances) line up.
Flip the pattern piece back down and pin in place. Sew on the seam line between pieces #1 and #2, starting and stopping your stitching 1/4″ before and after the seam line. There is no need to back tack, as each seam line will eventually be covered by another seam line.
Flip the fabric behind piece #2 and press in place. I also like to pin it flat so there is no movement as you add the next piece.
Looking at the pattern from the front, trim away any excess fabric from piece #2, but be GENEROUS with your seam allowance. I always allow for 1/2″ seam allowance; later to be trimmed to 1/4″. Piece #1 and #2 are now in place. Everything to complete segment A is now repeating these same steps.
Using the bookmark, fold the pattern back on the seam line between piece #2 and piece #3. Do you see that small 1/4″ seam projecting into piece #3…just to the right of my finger?
That little seam needs to be ripped open so the pattern will lay flat when folded back onto the bookmark.
Use the 1/4″ ruler to trim the seam allowance. Use a scrap of white for piece #3.
You can see I am using a sparkly white fabric. Piece #3 is part of Santa’s mustache. Line up the outer edge of the seam allowances, right sides together.
Flip the pattern open and pin in place.
Sew on the line between piece #2 and #3, again start and end 1/4″ before and after the seam line.
Flip the fabric behind piece #3, press, and pin in place.
Trim away the excess scrap of white, leaving a generous 1/2″ around the edges of piece #3.
By using larger scraps and trimming AFTER sewing, you will not have to guess what size to cut your scraps to fit each piece.
Continue in this manner until segment A and B are completed.
Trim the seam allowances that are between segment A and B to 1/4″.
These are the 2 edges that are now trimmed and ready to be pinned together and sewn.
Use a straight pin to poke into and line up the edge of the red seam line on segment A and the corresponding spot on segment B.
Pin the 2 segments together.
Sew on 1/4″ before and after the seam line. Rip away the paper in the seam allowance area on both segments. Open the segments flat and press, pressing both seams to one side or the other, depending on which way they want to lay.
And now for the Give-Away! I will be giving away a free copy of my “Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” book. This book is filled with adorable holiday paper pieced block patterns and 8 different patterns that use the blocks.
These are just a few of the 16 paper pieced blocks in this book.
Due to the extremely high cost of postage overseas, I am only able to mail this book to a customer from the US. If someone wins from a foreign country, I will download this Christmas pattern to them, instead of the book: Must Be Santa Table Runner/Pillow pattern.
For a chance to win the free book (or pattern if you live overseas), leave a COMMENT on this post. Please make sure your email is included. The winner will be announced on Thursday, July 26.
Please visit other participating designers and quilters:
Watch for 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop starting this Saturday, July 14. Many thanks to Sarah Craig at Confessions Of A Fabric Addict. She has spent countless hours organizing this fun filled event. Visit Sarah for the entire schedule on Saturday, July 14.
Christmas is my favorite holiday for designing. I have created many different paper pieced Santas, but on Tuesday I will be sharing a tutorial on how to paper piece my favorite Santa pattern. Visit each of these 29 designers between July 14-29.
Each designer is offering something fun and exciting for Christmas… perhaps a free tutorial or a pattern. AND…some of us will also be offering GIVE-AWAYS.
I will be giving away 1 free copy of my latest paper piecing book, Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. This book offers 16 adorable paper pieced blocks AND 8 cute holiday projects to use the blocks.
This Polar Bear table topper and gift sack are both included in the book, along with so much more.
Join the fun! My day to post is Tuesday, July 17. I will be including a full schedule on Tuesday. See you then!
