To-Do for the week of Nov 2nd-8th:
- Bind my North Stars quilt for my sister-in-law, Sharon. √Done
- Work on my Wolf Abstractions Project. √Done
- Stitch another Sashiko square with the speckled gold background with black thread. √Done
To-Do #1
I did get my Christmas North Stars quilt done which is primarily for my sister-in-law, Sharon, but it’s also my brother, Bill’s Christmas present. We recently had our shed repainted, so I thought the quilt would look nice against the bright terracotta background. You will probably see more shed-as-backdrop photos as I bought a black curtain rod that extends up to 120 inches that has been mounted at the top of the shed to be able to more easily photograph quilts outside. I’m going to write a blog post later this month that shows some close-ups of Christmas North Stars and the minky backing.
![IMG_0654[1267]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06541267.jpg)
To-Do #2
I also finished the Wolf quilt top quilt that measures 60″ x 65″ for my friend, Laura’s 50th birthday in January using Violet Craft’s Wolf Abstractions pattern. I mailed it off to Rebecca@Rebecca Grace Quilting yesterday for her to work her quilting magic on it. This is the first time I’ve sent a quilt top to Rebecca, and I’m really excited to collaborate with her. Below are a couple photos of the finished quilt top. In the first one, the wolf’s face looks wider because of the angle of the camera shot. The second pic was just a quick snap that shows most of the wolf and more accurately depicts the shape of the wolf’s head and the background grey fabric (Kona Grizzly). I promise to take much better photos when the quilt is finished!
![IMG_0681[1275]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06811275.jpg)
![IMG_0672[1265]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06721265.jpg)
When emailing Rebecca this past week about the progress of my Wolf Abstractions quilt top, she asked me to share a little more about what I meant when I said that I use a basting stitch to help align paper-pieced units or sections that are being sewn together that have odd angles. I use the largest stitch length on my sewing machine which is 5.0 (first photo below), and I fold up the seam allowance to check to see if the pieces appear aligned (second photo). Sometimes the edges align just fine but two seams in the middle aren’t meeting quite right, so I take out the basting stitches and shift things over and sew again which can mean that now one of the edges is a little off. I then decide if I can live with it, and if I can, I sew the seam with my normal paper-piecing stitch of 1.6 and sometimes trim a little from the edge to even it up. A downside of sewing both a 5.0 stitch and a 1.6 stitch on the same seam is little pieces of paper can get stuck between those stitches which I sometimes have to pull out with tweezers and sometimes I leave the itty bitty paper fragments alone.
![IMG_0643[1271]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06431271.jpg)
![IMG_0645[1273]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06451273.jpg)
I’ve gotten much better and faster at sewing together the sections of paper-pieced projects, but it can still stress me out! For me, it’s a task I do when I’m fresh in the morning and have no interruptions. One other tip I can share to make sewing paper pieced sections together easier is to tear out the papers of the inner units that no longer have a seam edge. It reduces the weight and bulk of sewing sections together, which was particularly helpful with this ginormous wolf! Three years ago I wrote a post about paper piecing tips (linked here) that may also be of interest.
To-Do #3
Here is a third coaster done with black floss on the gold speckled background.
![IMG_0674[1269]](https://quiltingisinmyblood.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_06741269.jpg)
To-Do for the week of Nov 9th-15th:
- Bind the I Spy quilt for a special child in my life who will turn one in December.
- Start another quick project for my Christmas decor this year.
- Stitch a fourth Sashiko square with the speckled gold background with black thread.
- Spend some time figuring out how I’m going to quilt my Reindeer mini quilt.
Linking up with Texas Quilt Gal: To-Do Tuesday
Quilting is in my Blood 
I LOVE North Stars! What a great Christmas gift that will be. I’m still toying with purchasing the pattern. Wolf Abstractions is amazing. Looking forward to seeing it quilted. Thanks for the tips on paper piecing. I have saved your link. I still haven’t tried Sashiko but have saved your posts for inspiration!
Thank you for linking to To Do Tuesday. 🙂
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North Stars turned out great! I cannot wait to see what Rebecca does with your Wolf Abstractions (wow you got that done quickly!!) Great tips for paper piecing, too!
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The Wolf quilt top is just a huge Wow, Mary!!! That’s amazing! Your persistence in getting those seems aligned really paid off. I bet Rebecca Grace will do an amazing job of quilting it, too.
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North Stars and that Wolf Abstraction piece, wow, amazing both of them. I too will be interested in the quilting Rebecca Grace does with it. Meanwhile, I love sashiko and have a fans flimsy that I hope to quilt using that technique. Your coasters are beautiful. Happy Stitching!
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Congratulations on the Christmas North Stars finish; it looks great outside against the refurbished shed. I look forward to learning more about the finish and the photography setup you have planned. And way to go getting the Wolf Abstractions quilt pieced. It was a big week!
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Hi Mary! What a clever idea, mounting the curtain rod for quilt pictures!! North Star does look fab against the terracotta backdrop. For me, the star of this post is your Wolf Abstraction piece. WOWEE, Mary! Does he have a name yet? He looks just a slight bit pensive to me – I can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking about. I am 100% certain that RG will do a stunning job on quilting. She listens to you and the quilt and has a great instinct, I think. Thanks for sharing your PP tips with us – it still intimidates the heck out of me . . . but the beauty of a piece like this still draws me in. {{Hugs}} GREAT job. I can’t wait to see it all finished. Good luck with your list. ~smile~ Roseanne
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Both your projects are amazing. Love them!
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I love your North Stars quilt! And finished in plenty of time! I am jealous of your hanging set up now. I’ve been wanting to do a similar thing on our shed for a couple years now. Gonna have to get on hubs about it–of course, if I’d go buy a curtain rod like you I’m sure that would help!
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The lion head is amazing!! And North Stars is a great guy gift.
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Super fun to see all three of your projects! I have the pattern for the North Star quilt and have been wanting to make it, too. I’m waiting with bated breath to see how Rebecca quilts your wolf! It’ll be great, no doubt! And I love seeing sashiko of all kinds!!!
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Even more fun to see your Wolf Abstractions in person, Mary! Thanks for explaining how you baste to join up the large paper pieced sections. The shed color is great and it will make a wonderful backdrop for quilt photos. Thanks for linking up with me for TGIFF this week, and thank you for sending me your amazing Wolf Abstractions to quilt!
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The wolf is amazing, I love it!
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