Enjoying my mug of chai on the deck. What a lovely view! After spending the weekend at my cabin in northern Wisconsin, I felt excited to share this table runner pattern. I designed it with the northwoods in mind.
This is “At The Cabin” , which measures 16″ wide x 40″ long.
Growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin has instilled a life long love of animals. The “Farmyard Stars” quilt was motivated by all my lovely memories of animals and pets that we saw on our farm every day.
I love everything about this design. The animals are bold and bright with whimsical expressions. The black and white border presents a calming, yet quirky frame to the colorful animals. The animal sounds were machine embroidered in the sashing, but could also be satin stitched, appliqued, or skipped altogether.
I have a hard time choosing my favorite animal, but “Demi Moo” the cow is right up near the top. Remember, these are farmyard STARS, so each is named after a celebrity.
Here’s “Kitty Purry” the cat.
“Pig-Casso” the pig…
“Lady Baa Baa” the sheep…
And, another one of my favorites, “Pony Danza” the horse. Love those teeth! I have designed lots of horses, but he is precious.
To see the names of the other animals you will have to check out the pattern at Etsy or Craftsy.
Finally it appears that spring is here. The birds are up early singing and busy building their nests. I have some lovely paper pieced bird patterns to add to your collection.
The Hummingbird is one of my favorite patterns. They are so fascinating to watch.
This Yellow Finch is stunning with it’s gold and black coloring. Finding a fun striped fabric for the wings adds some punch.
The Blue Jay is a bird that I don’t see very often around my hometown of Oshkosh.
The Cardinal is always a lovely addition to any bird collection.
The Parakeet is sweetly looking over its shoulder.
And this colorful Robin completes my collection of paper pieced bird patterns thus far. All of the bird blocks measure 6″x 6″ finished, are super easy, and can be found on my Etsy shop.
This wall hanging was a simple way to incorporate some of the birds into a project.
Would you like to see any other additions to this collection? Just leave a comment!
Thanks for all the “water bird” suggestions you shared with me this week. I was inspired to create enough blocks to put together a lap quilt.
This Flamingo will measure 8″ wide by 16 1/2″ high, unfinished. I decided not to limit myself to just birds from the northwoods of Wisconsin. Since I adore flamingos, I had to include 1 in my collection of water birds.
This Heron also measures 8″ wide by 16 1/2″ high, unfinished. I like to have an assortment of block sizes, not all square.
The Pelican measures 8″x 8″ square. We actually get pelicans in Oshkosh during the summer!
Here’s my mock up for the lap quilt. I plan to use a 1 1/2″ wide sashing, but not sure what color fabric to use. Actually, the white isn’t too bad…any suggestions? Do you think I should limit this quilt to ONLY water birds from Wisconsin? I love getting your input 🙂
One of my favorite projects is highlighting a paper pieced dog block in a toss pillow. It’s such a great way to add a bit of color to a couch, chair, or bed. It’s also a great conversation piece.
This PUG pillow is the first dog pillow I created. I just love it so much! Not sure if it is the huge eyes, the little tongue, or just all the neutral gray colors, but everytime I walk past this little guy, I smile.
This sweet COLLIE pillow was made by Julie. I absolutely adore the bandana fabric she used for the background. It’s the perfect compliment to the Collie’s black fur.
Here is Kelsey’s awesome creation! She made a great rendition of an “Andy Warhol” pillow, using my CORGI pattern. I LOVE this pillow.
Here are a few more of my newest dog designs. BICHON FRISE
And, last but not least, the RED MIN. Needless to say, some of these breeds I had never heard of until a customer requested a design. So please, keep those requests coming. It is such a fun challenge, and I am learning a new appreciation for the subtle differences between different dog breeds.
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.
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 Runnerand 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.
I spent last Saturday vending at the West Bend Quilt Show in Wisconsin. So much fun! So many sweet customers! The most popular item in my booth was my “Dogs Only” quilt.
This pattern offers 11 different breeds, but that has not been sufficient to please the many dog lovers out there who love to paper piece. Since creating this pattern, I have designed about 50 more dog blocks. Well, true to form, I had 2 lovely customers request breeds that I don’t currently have. So, thanks to my clever customers, I have added an elegant Maltese and a cute as can be King Charles Cavalier.
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
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
This is “At The Cabin” , which measures 16″ wide x 40″ long.
