I promised to reveal more of the real live pets that inspired my latest paper pieced quilt design, “Dogs Only”.This adorable quilt has 11 different dog breeds, all inspired by real pets.
This is a Labradoodle inspired by Percy, owner Kathleen McCormick.
And this cutie is a Westie named Mac, who’s lovely owner is my neighbor Peg Olson.
This cutie patootie is a Yorkie named Muggsy, owner is Mary Waldecker.
I love puppies with patches on their eyes, so I couldn’t resist this Terrier that I call Patch, owner unknown.
I had a lovely conversation with a customer about her Great Dane, Duke. Unfortunately I never got her name 🙁 However, I still couldn’t resist dedicating this block to Duke.
And here is the Saint Bernard, Studley Muffin, owner Jacqi Levy. Jacqi runs the “Keep Me In Stitches” quilt shop in Appleton. Her sweet Studley Muffin has passed away and is greatly missed.
All 11 dog blocks are available in the “Dogs Only” pattern on Etsy or Craftsy.
The Dogs Only quilt (42″x 51″) was so much fun to design. Each paper pieced block was inspired by a real dog, whose photo was shared with me by their loving owner! I will include some of the photos of the real life inspiration dogs in todays blog, and others will be shared in later blogs. There were so many proud pet owners that I have made “extra” blocks that can be purchased separately and substituted, if desired.
The Airedale is “Guinness” and the owner is Heidi Dronchi.
The Shih Tzu is “Molly” and the owner is Glenda Becker.
The Beagle is “Copper” and the owner is Lynn Much.
The Dachshund is “Oscar” and the owner is Jennifer Strauser.
The Bull Dog is “Tucker” and the owner is Lindsey Grover.
I will reveal the names of more dogs and their proud owners soon…
This original pattern can be found on Etsy and Craftsy.
A clever customer, Mary Ehlert, used a paper pieced block from my Forest Friends pattern to decorate her tote bag. How cute! All the animals in my pattern can be used for lots of projects, not only quilts. I love that Mary shared her creativity with us.
DOGS NEEDED!!! Help…I am designing a “Dogs Only” quilt and would like to design each block in the likeness of a REAL pet. I already have the Shih Tzu,” Parker”. This adorable dog belongs to Glenda from Canada.
If you could send me a photo of your pet AND tell me specifically what kind of dog it is AND their name, I may choose your lovely pet for the quilt!
Email me at : maryannhertel@gmail.com
Text me at: 920 379-1061
The paper pieced Dinosaur Quilt measures 44″x 60″. As you can see, it highlights 6 cool dinosaurs: Stegosaurus, T-Rex, Spinosaurus, Brontosaurus, Pterodactyl, and my personal favorite, Triceratops.Using a striped fabric for the teeth makes the paper piecing go super quick! It is such an easy way to get that GRRRRR look.
A zigzag fabric works cool for the teeth, too. There are so many nice chevron fabrics available right now, so finding a fabric similar to the black and white zigzag should be fairly easy. I found mine at my local quilt shop.
In the Stegosaurus, I just used a simple black fabric for his teeth. And I love using the tiny black and white stripe for his toes. It adds a nice graphic quality to the quilt.
I satin stitched the words, but they could easily be machine embroidered. If you increase the stitch width at the end of each letter as you satin stitch, the letters look a bit fancier.
This paper pieced Dinosaur quilt pattern is available on Etsy and on Craftsy.
FREE PATTERNS! As a “thank you” to my loyal visitors, these paper pieced block patterns are free.
Fraidy Cat
Batty Bat
Haunted House
All the blocks measure 8″x 8″ unfinished. I have sewn my blocks into potholders. The patterns are JUST the blocks. What you make them into is up to you! They would be great pillows, wallhangings, or even could be used in a Halloween quilt.
The free patterns are available on Etsy and Craftsy.
This easy to paper piece quilt is filled with delightful jungle animals!I can’t decide which bird is my favorite…
but there are 4 to choose from: Macaw, Toucan, Parrot and Flamingo.
But my absolute favorite is the zebra! This quilt was inspired by the lovely zebra print fabric! One look at this luscious fabric and I knew my next quilt was going to be all jungle animals.
This pattern is available for instant download on Etsy.
Hello and welcome to my website! I’m Mary; a mom, teacher, pattern designer and owner of Made By Marney. I use my blog to promote my new designs and for tutorials.
I retired from teaching art 5 years ago and took a job in a local quilt shop. The shop had no paper pieced patterns, which I love, so I started designing patterns to sell at the shop. Soon I found myself selling to other shops, then selling through a national distributor, and now I’m writing 2 books on paper pieced patterns that will be published in 2017.
One of my fun accomplishments for this year was being included in the Quiltmakers 100 Blocks magazine. I was thrilled to be included in this periodical because I am a newbie to pattern design, having only been doing it for the past 3 years.
I design paper pieced blocks for quilts, pillows, totes, potholders…you name it. Here are some of my favorite designs.
As you can see, I love to design wonky animals! Probably from all those years teaching elementary art. Kids art really rubs off on a person.
I started designing paper pieced patterns after retiring from teaching art at an elementary school in Wisconsin. I enjoy the creative process. Paper piecing is like putting together a puzzle and I love puzzles. When creating a design, all the curved lines have to be changed into straight lines. That abstracts the design to some extent. See an example of this in the two monkeys pictured below. The second monkey is the way I would draw him normally. The first monkey has been changed to straight lines that can be paper pieced easily. You can even see that I have started to number the pieces in the order they could be paper pieced.
My friends are always asking me to make them really EASY blocks, that will go together quickly. The easier the block becomes, the more abstract it becomes.
If you leave a comment on this post this week, I will choose 1 commentor as the winner of a free pattern from my Etsy shop…the pattern of your choice! You must leave a comment to be considered in the drawing, so I will be able to contact the winner by email.
Farmyard Stars is my favorite quilt to date! It brings back fond memories of growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin.
Because all the animals are stars to me, I have named them after celebrities. This is Demi Moo the cow.
And this is Pig-Casso the pig!
Also meet Kitty Purry, the cat!
And here’s Pony Danza, the horse! The fun goes on and on… You will have to purchase the entire pattern to meet all 12 funky farm friends. This quilt would be an excellent Block of The Month project. Available on my Etsy site and on Craftsy.
“ROAR”, the paper pieced lion, is the second quilt from a series of jungle animal quilts that I am designing. He is so adorable! This is a very easy quilt to assemble.
The lion consists of 4 blocks put together, and the letters are super easy.
“Roar” would be a great buddy for your child to cuddle.