Made By Marney

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

A “Love-ly” Blog Hop, FREE PATTERN, and Give-Away

February 5, 2018Blog Hop, FREE Patterns, Paper pieced Animalsfree patterns, free tutorials, made by marney, mary hertel patterns, paper pieced pattern, penguin pattern, penguins, quilting, sewingmaryhertel

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…

Let’s do a tutorial on paper piecing right now. Here are the first few steps. If you want to see a post with the entire tutorial, visit “PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL #1: SEWING A SEGMENT” and “PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL #2: SEWING SEGMENTS TOGETHER”

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.

This tutorial is continued in PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL #1 and PAPER PIECING TUTORIAL #2.

Now for the fun stuff…

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.

February 5

Life in the Scrapatch

Freemotion by the River

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Cynthia’s Creating Ark

February 6

Creatin’ in the Sticks

February 7

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

February 8

Paper Piecing in Down Under Quilts

January 9, 2018Blog Hop, Books, FREE Patternschristmas paper piece, Christmas pattern, free patterns, made by marney, mary hertel patterns, paper piece patterns, paper piecing, quilt patterns, quilting, sew yourself a merry little christmas, sewingmaryhertel

Hello to my friends everywhere! Today I am giving a special shout out to my friends and customers from Australia. I was fortunate enough to have my latest book, “Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” previewed in their magazine, “Down Under Quilts“.

There I am on the cover…well it’s not really me, but my Rudolph.

The magazine shares a FREE pattern block “Present” from my book and the instructions to make it into a placemat.

I am very busy working on some cute designs for Valentines/Winter. There is an upcoming BLOG HOP that I want to share with you. In February, I will be participating in the “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” Blog Hop from February 5-8.

This is right around the corner. Everyday different quilters will be sharing a FREE pattern with a heart in it. This sounds like so much fun. I can’t wait! I will keep you posted as this fun event approaches. Some of the sights, including mine, will be offering give-aways, too.

I’ll let you know what my give-away will be next week! Stay tuned…

Linking up with:

Quilting Is More Fun than Housekeeping

Quilts My Way

Rainbows, Bunnies, Cupcakes

Silly Mama Quilts

Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

I Miss Football…

January 1, 2018Paper Pieced Quilts, Pillowcasesfootball, made by marney, mary hertel patterns, paper pieced pattern, quilting, sewingmaryhertel

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

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Midweek Makers

Tish’s Adventure

So Scrappy

My 5 Favorite Posts for 2017

December 25, 2017Uncategorizedcatsndogs, christmas paper piece, Christmas patterns, free patterns, Halloween quilt, made by marney, mary hertel, mary hertel patterns, quilt patterns, sew yourself a merry little christmas, sewingmaryhertel

Hi everyone…thanks so much for stopping by. Here are my 5 favorite posts of 2017.

My Jolly Old St. Nick was one of my favorite patterns this year for beginners. This post was very popular with new and experienced paper piecers because it was easy, but cute!

Jolly Old St. Nick Post

Because my customers love FREE patterns, my Halloween blocks were some of my favorite creations this year.

Free Halloween Patterns

I adore spending a weekend at my cabin. This loon block gives me a calm feeling of relaxation and reminds me of the lovely song of the loon that I hear when at the lake.

Loon on the Lake Post

When my kids were little, they loved hearing nursery rhymes from the Richard Scarey book. This quilt reminds me of reading to my kids every nite before bedtime.

Nursery Rhyme Quilt Post

This patriotic quilt is a special design for customers who want to create Quilts of Honor.

Homeward Bound Post

Thanks to all my friends and customers for visiting my blog. I love sharing with you!

Linking with:

The Needle and Thread Network

Silly Mama Quilts

Busy Hands Quilts

Confessions of A Fabric Addict

So Scrappy

3 Cats and 1 Dog With A Bone AND my interview by Pat Sloan

November 26, 2017Paper pieced Animals, Paper Pieced Table Toppers, Quilts with Animals, Uncategorizedcatsndogs, made by marney, mary hertel patterns, paper piece patterns, paper pieced pattern, quilt patterns, sewingmaryhertel

I’m having fun designing more cats and dogs. Animals are my favorite subject matter.

This is “3 Cats and 1 Dog With A Bone” table runner.

Shaggy Cat

Brown Cat

Cute Calico Cat

And Dog With A Bone.

This pattern is a nice mix of beginner blocks and intermediate blocks. For paper piecing directions and tips watch my free tutorials on my Video and Tutorial page right here on the website.

Please listen to my interview with Pat Sloan on her

American Patchwork and Quilting Magazines Talk Show/Podcast Show

Airing Monday, December 4.

All of Pat Sloan’s podcasts can be found here.

Linking with: Kathy’sQuilts Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework, Quilts My Way

Stitch ALL The Things

Silly Mama Quilts

Em’s Scrap Bag

More Paper Piecing Fun …AND Winners Announced!

November 21, 2017Blog Hop, Paper Pieced Table Toppers, Quiltmakers 100 Blocks, Uncategorizedchristmas paper piece, Christmas pattern, Christmas patterns, made by marney, mary hertel patterns, paper pieced pattern, paper piecing, quilt patterns, sewingmaryhertel

This adorable quilt was made from all of the animal blocks in my Cute and Clever Totes book. It was made as a sample for the Going To Pieces quilt shop in Appleton, WI. I love the way they took my “tote” book blocks and used them in a totally different pattern. This is so creative…great job!

There are so many fun blocks in my book. The Cat is one of my favorites.

It’s time to announce the winners for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Block Tour. The winner of my “Must Be Santa” pattern is Beth T. The winner of the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine is Margaret Andrews.

Thanks for all of the lovely comments. Because of the volume of comments, I was not able to respond. However, I enjoyed each and every one of them!

Linking to:

The Needle and Thread Network

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

So Scrappy

Vending at the Hudson Heritage Quilters Show in Hudson, WI

October 30, 2017Books, Paper Pieced Quilts, Quilt ShowChristmas patterns, made by marney, mary hertel, mary hertel patterns, paper piece patterns, paper pieced pattern, paper piecing, quilt patterns, quilt show, quilting, sew yourself a merry little christmas, sewingmaryhertel

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

The Needle and Thread Network

Paper Piecing Workshop with Made By Marney

October 22, 2017UncategorizedHalloween blocks, Halloween patterns, made by marney, mary hertel, mary hertel patterns, paper piece patterns, paper pieced pattern, quilt patterns, quilting, sew yourself a merry little christmas, sewingmaryhertel

These friends from Wisconsin Rapids attended my Paper Piecing Workshop last Saturday. As you can see from their lovely smiles, we had so much fun! Attendees ranged from beginners to novice, but all enjoyed creating adorable Christmas blocks from my latest book, “Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas“.

We also put together the “Gift Sack” pattern, using one of the blocks we had just created.

This is a small tote to be used for gifts or decorating.

Aren’t these Halloween Trick or Treat Sacks too cute? These were made by my customer, Marilyn. She used an assortment of my Halloween block patterns and the same Gift Sack pattern from my Christmas book Here’s a close-up of two of the totes. Adorable!

Thanks to all my new friends in Wisconsin Rapids for hosting my workshop.

Visit me on Etsy and Craftsy to see more Made By Marney patterns and books.

Linking up with:

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Cooking Up Quilts

Free Motion By the River

Confessions of a Fabric Addict