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
What an exciting way to start 2019. Quiltmaker magazine is featuring a new designer each month. The article is called “Meet The Designers”. I was thrilled when asked to be their first featured artist. This issue, the January/February 2019, just came out.
It is so much fun to share photos from my customers and friends. This week I am posting photos of projects created from my Sew Yourself A Merry Little Christmas book.
These 16 adorable placemats were sewn by Donna Smith. She made a placemat for every student in her daughter’s third grade class, using all 16 of the paper piece block patterns from my book. I would love to see the students’ faces when they each get their own special placemat…what a sweet friend they have in Donna.
This cute Snowman Door Knob Pillow was created by Judith Johnson. I love her fabric choices!
This book has 16 super cute paper pieced holiday images. All blocks measure 8″ x 8″ unfinished, so they can be mixed and matched to fit into any of my patterns.
There are patterns in the book for potholders, table runners, stockings, placemats…
gift sacks, and tree skirts.
Thanks to Donna and Judith for sharing photos. I would love to see what YOU will create! Email photos to: maryannhertel@gmail.com
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’m getting out my meager amount of Turkey Day decorations. For some reason, I don’t have nearly as many November goodies in my stash as I have for Halloween and Christmas.
This googly eyed TURKEY is a fun block to add to a pillow or potholder.
If you are looking for a cute and quick project for Christmas, I just finished this ELFY SHOE block pattern.
One of my sweet customers requested a block that would be similar to my WITCHY PILLOW . Remember, I try to keep all of my blocks the same size, so any block pattern fits into any pattern.You always give me the best ideas!
Congratulations to Nancy, the winner of my Cat’s Meow Quilt pattern. Thanks so much for everyone who participated in the Pick A Pumpkin Blog Hop last week. I loved all the comments, and wish I could have replied to all of them. Thanks so much for all the love you shared!
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.
Witches, and witches, and more witches…OH MY! Witch blocks are so much fun! Welcome to the PEEK-A-WHO BLOG HOP, sponsored by Marian Pena at Seams To Be Sew. This blog hop is for sharing some fun Halloween ideas, and I have been very busy designing for Halloween since it is my favorite!
Make sure to read all the way to the end of this post so you don’t miss the GIVE-AWAYS!
Here is a brand new pillow pattern called WITCHY POO PILLOW. This pillow fits a 12″x 22″ pillow form. It is paper pieced and so much fun! I added 1″ wide rick rack around my blocks. This is such an easy way to add a little pizzaz. The rick rack is attached by sewing it directly over the seam between the blocks and the outer border. I stopped stitching an inch before the corner, turned the pillow, and pinched the rick rack into a “mitered” corner. Then I resumed sewing until an inch from the next corner. It makes a nice “frame” around the paper pieced portion.
Shelley made her Witchy Poo with orange rick rack, and Donna used a cute “BOO” ribbon as a border. She found the ribbon at Michael’s Craft store. So clever!
This is TOOTHY WITCH. The block finishes at 8″x 8″ and can be used in a pillow, potholder, or whatever! It was fun choosing fabric for her hat and hair.
This is HAPPY WITCH. She’s the kind of witch I wouldn’t mind meeting on Halloween!
And here’s a witch I designed last year…BEWITCHED. She’s still a favorite! My goal is to put all 3 of these cute witches into a table runner…I just haven’t had time yet! If you make a clever project using any of my witches and you share a photo with me, I would love to post it on my website. Send the photo to my email at: maryannhertel@gmail.com
WITCHY PILLOW is another cute throw pillow for your sofa for the fall season. Find a striped Halloween fabric for the socks, and this paper pieced design is a breeze.
This pillow was done by my friend Eva using the new Halloween fabric line from Studio Fabric, “Me and My Ghoul Friends”. Isn’t it adorable?
Made By Marney paper pieced patterns can be found on ETSY or CRAFTSY. Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a COMMENT.
And now for the GIVE-AWAYS coordinated by Seams To Be Sew…
I’m so excited to share my Halloween Candy Sack pattern.
This sweet paper pieced Candy Cane block is the foundation for the super simple sack. You can find the pattern in this month’s issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. See…my sack is right there in the bottom left corner.
Adorable! How fun it would be to make a Trick or Treat sack for all of your kids. Here are some of my other Halloween Blocks that would work great in this sack…
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!
