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.
Welcome to the “Christmas In July” Blog Hop. I am offering a FREE tutorial on paper piecing AND a Give-Away at the end of this post.
Thank you to Carol Swift from Just Let Me Quilt for hosting this blog hop. She has worked countless hours to organize this hop. Thank you, Carol!
I am offering a FREE TUTORIAL on 3 tasks…1) How to paper piece a simple block using my Snowman block from my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book, 2) How to paper piece a combination block, and 3) How to assemble the Gift Sack pattern in my book.
Paper piecing is simply a “sew by number” technique. You work from a paper pattern, sewing right through the paper and fabric to create the image. It is my FAVORITE way to add an image to a project.
So first, let’s take a look at sewing the simple block. I am including a download of every step in the paper piecing process to complete this Snowman. Click
Workshop-Step-by-Step.pptx (697 downloads )
to download the free tutorial.
Also included in the tutorial are 2) How to paper piece a combination block, Polar Bear block.
AND a tutorial on 3) How to assemble the Gift Sack pattern. All of these patterns are found in my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book. Available on Made By Marney on Etsy. Also available on Amazon.
One lucky visitor will win a FREE Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book. To enter the raffle, leave a comment on this post. Make sure your email is included in the comment. 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. Winner will be announced Saturday, July 28.
Please visit all of the wonderful designers and quilters participating in this blog hop:
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!
Thanks for stopping by to visit! Carol from Just Let Me Quilt has done a marvelous job organizing this Blog Hop. We want to add some hearts and love to your February. So…every pattern mentioned in my blog today has a “heart”.
My FREE block is “HEARTY PENGUIN”. This paper pieced block measures 8″ x 8″ unfinished. This block would make a great pillow, potholder, or could be used in a table runner.
My intention was to share a pattern that would not only be sweet for Valentine’s Day, but would last all through winter.
This is a very easy paper pieced block, and would work well for beginners. You may download this
HEARTY-PENGUIN-MERGED.pdf (2254 downloads )
block here. Keep reading…my give-away is towards the end of this post.
Instead of giving you a finished project, I thought you might want to learn paper piecing basics. So…
Set the stitch length on your sewing machine to 1.5 (that’s about 20 stitches per inch).
Step 1 : Make 3 copies of the original pattern. (I use cheap copy paper.) Cut it into the 3 segments A, B and C, shown by the red lines. I like to add 1/4″ seam allowances between the segments. This is not a necessary step, but I find it a helpful reminder as I paper piece. If you prefer, you could just make 1 copy of the pattern and cut it apart on the red lines. Just make sure you are allowing plenty of fabric along the edges for the 1/4″ seam allowance as you paper piece. I will be paper piecing Segment C.
Step 2: Pin a scrap of fabric a bit larger than, directly behind, piece #1 . The right side of the fabric should be facing away from the back of the pattern. Another way of saying this is, place the wrong side of the fabric touching the wrong side of the pattern. Holding the pattern up to a light source makes this step easy.
This is what the pattern looks like from the back.
I have more “heart” blocks available on Etsy and Craftsy.
This is my “SCALLOPED HEART BLOCK“. It measures 8″x 8” unfinished. I used it to make an adorable pillow. This is a challenging pattern with a lot of pieces.The SCALLOPED HEART PILLOW pattern will be given to 1 lucky winner. To enter for a chance to win this pattern, please leave a comment after this post. Be sure to include your email address 🙂 This give-away will end on Friday, February 9. The winner will be announced on Saturday.
Of course, in my usual fashion, I couldn’t stop designing blocks with hearts. “BE-MINE PUPPY BLOCK” is for the dog lovers. I am going to make a potholder from this block.
This is “PERKY PENGUIN BLOCK“. His face is shaped like a heart! This pattern does not include directions for constructing the pillow. It is a nice, easy block for beginners!
If you like these Valentine’s patterns, you might also like to check out my brand new St. Patrick’s designs.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please visit other blogs today for even more FREE patterns. And don’t forget to LEAVE A COMMENT. Let me know which of my “heart” blocks you like the best.
Welcome to my paper piecing tutorial “#2: Sewing Segments Together”. My step by step directions are designed to help you use my “Made By Marney” paper pieced patterns.If you are piecing a combination block, you will have to paper piece each segment in the pattern, then sew these segments together. Watch “Tutorial #1: Paper Piecing a Segment” if you are a beginner before watching this tutorial.
The Penguin block I am using in this tutorial is a FREE download and will be available on my website starting on Tuesday, February 6.
Step 4: Bend the paper pattern out of the way and trim away any excess seam allowance beyond the 1/4″ needed.
Step 5: Flip fabric 2 in place behind piece #2 and press flat.
Step 6: Trim away the excess fabric, leaving a generous 1/2″ beyond what is needed.
Step 7: Position the fabric for piece #3. Again, I am bending the pattern on the stitching line so I can peek under the pattern to help place my fabric to allow about 1/2″ of seam allowance. (I am always generous with this seam allowance, especially for beginners.)
Above, you can see that piece #3 is stitched, pressed in place, and the excess fabric has been trimmed. Continue to add pieces in numerical order.
Above you can see that section C is now completed.
Trim the seam allowance 1/4″ from the red line. Segment C will be sewn to Segments A and B along the red lines.
Step 8: This a close up showing how I match the seam lines for segments A and B. Poke a straight pin through the seam line of segment A and match it with the seam line on segment B.
Pin the segments together. Sew on the seam line.
Rip off the paper that is in the seam allowance on each side.
Press the seam to one side. Here is segment A and B sewn together and pressed.
If you need any further assistance, contact me at maryannhertel@gmail.com
