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…
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.
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!
Merry Christmas to all of my blogging friends. Thank you for allowing me to share my creations with you. As a retiree, designing has given me a purpose in life.
As Christmas day draws near, I am decorating my home with all of this year’s new holiday projects. Turquoise, red, and green have become my favorite holiday colors.
I’m loving my polar bears, as they are something that I can keep in my decorating all through winter. I hate having to take down all the Christmas things right after the holidays. I am loving my goofy Snowman for the same reason.
This is an exciting week…my interview with Pat Sloan will start airing at 3:00 pm eastern time today. This podcast can be viewed on Pat Sloan’s site or directly from ITunes at American Patchwork and Quilting Radio.
You can listen on your computer, subscribe by itunes (search American Patchwork & Quilting), or download to a player. Just click on the Dec. 4, 2017 podcast.
I have been having fun with this sweet little Christmas angel. I’ve used it in a table runner, but I would like to do a small pillow for a gift card. I will use the angel for the front of the pillow. On the back of my 7 1/2″ square pillow I plan to put a little pocket to use for a gift card or cash. Then later, if this pillow is going to a child, the tooth fairy can also put a “stash” into the pocket.
Here’s a sample of the table runner. And below is a close-up of the “wand” in the angel’s hand. Just stitch a line with embroidery floss for the stem and sew a little star shaped button to the end. Her halo is stitched with metallic gold embroidery floss.
With Christmas right around the corner, I am having lots of fun designing holiday images. I call this block “Must Be Santa“. He makes an adorable pillow.
Make sure to visit my blog next week to enter all the great give-aways for the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Blog Tour. I will be featured on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Besides getting a preview of the block I entered in the magazine, I will show you 3 more of Santa’s “pals”. All 4 of them look fabulous together in a table runner or quilt.
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.
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.
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 Sackpattern from my Christmas bookHere’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.
I just can’t stop!!! Designing these Halloween blocks is so much fun! Here are 4 more paper pieced blocks which I am calling my “Black and White Series”.
These are 8″x 8″ unfinished blocks. I used them for potholders, but they also work great in my pillow pattern
Welcome to the 3rd Annual Row Along hosted by Seams to Be Sew.A hugeThank You toMarian Penn for organizing this event. Also, thanks to our sponsors, Northcott Fabrics and Calibre Art . Our sponsors are wonderful and we owe them a HEAP of gratitude. Read to the end of this post to find information about the Give-Aways from Northcott and Calibre.
This is your chance to download tons of free row patterns. I am just 1 of many pattern designers involved in this row-along. This year’s row-along will last for 6 weeks, ending with a “Show and Tell” day Tuesday, October 10. Starting September 5, every Tuesday and Thursday 5 (some days 4) different pattern designers will be offering a FREE row pattern. All rows will measure 30 1/2″ long, so all will consistently fit together into the quilt of your choosing.
Each row is designed with a specific Christmas carol in mind. My row was inspired by “Jolly Old St. Nick”. I love to paper piece images of Santa, and this is the perfect song. The pattern is paper pieced and is very easy to assemble. If you are new to paper piecing, I suggest you watch my free tutorial on sewing a Simple Paper Pieced Block, found on my “Tutorials” page.
Here are photos of the 4 blocks that make up my row. Remember, when paper piecing, your finished block always turns out the opposite of the original pattern.
The pattern explains how to tie a “knot nose” using a scrap of muslin. So cute! My finished row shows the “Jolly Old St. Nick” row finished as a table runner with an inner and outer border. Also, consider using just the “HO HO” block for a pillow or potholder!
Please visit all of today’s Row-Along participants:
Give-Away #2: My “Dogs Only” paper pieced pattern. If you like to paper piece, and you like pets…this is the quilt for you! Eleven different dog breeds represented in one quilt.
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.
Purple Daisies
