My March OMG Requires Reinforcements: Teaching My Mom How to do Foundation Paper Piecing

Look Who Learned Foundation Paper Piecing Today!

I looked at my calendar last night and realized that I only have seven weeks to get this quilt top made if I want it to be ready to quilt when I get back from Quilt Week at the end of April, and I gotta be honest, folks -- I was feeling panicked.

But then I remembered how much fun I had with my mom -- and how much sewing we got done in a relatively short period of time -- when she helped me make my Victorian Christmas caroling costume:

My Ridiculous Caroling Getup, Made With My Mom in 2015

I did almost all of the sewing myself, but I never could have finished it without my mom there to explain the convoluted pattern instructions, help with fittings, keep me motivated and on task, and assist with hand stitching that trim along the skirt hem while I was frantically sewing something else at the machine.  I always seem to be sewing something frantically at one of my machines, don't I?  

And then I remembered how much fun I had with my mom and HER mom back in 2001 when they helped me sew a yellow duck costume for Lars's very first Halloween:

Lars's Duck Costume Made by Me, My Mom, & My Grandmother in 2001

I wish someone had taken pictures of us working on these projects!!

Anyway, when the panic sets in and the situation looks desperate, that's a great time to call your mom, don't you agree?  Now my mom do all kinds of alterations, tailoring, clothing and costumes and even bridal gowns, but she's not a quilter (yet).  Before today, she'd never made so much as a 9-patch block before!  Nevertheless, despite not knowing anything about quilting and never showing any interest in learning, my mom agreed to learn in order to help me get Lars's quilt done on time.  If she and I make it together, then Lars's quilt will be made with twice as much love!  Still can't believe that little dude in the duck costume is about to graduate from high school...

My Mom's First Attempt at Paper Piecing on my Bernina 475QE

So we each made one of the flying geese arcs, side by side and step by step in my studio.  Another bonus of having two Berninas set up for paper piecing in the same room!  Now my mom can come and sew with me without having to pack up her machine and bring it from home.

See?  Paper Piecing Is Fun, and Doesn't Hurt (Until You Nick Yourself With the Rotary Cutter)

So now there are five completed arcs (out of 48 needed) plus two more that we started after dinner and abandoned when we realized that A: We were tired and B: The alarm clock goes off EARLY on Sunday morning.  I'm lucky that my mom lives close by but still don't like her to drive home too late at night when she's tired.

Five Arcs Pieced, Forty-Three to Go!

I am SO EXCITED about this project now -- I LOVE how those geese look together!  Pinned in the center of the circle is a swatch of the Spoonflower custom printed fabric that I'm 90% sure I'll be ordering for the backing.  I put the swatch through the laundry today to make sure it's colorfast and I didn't notice any fading at all.  The washing softened it up a little, too -- I'm going to have it printed on the same Kona cotton base fabric as the solid colored fabrics used in the quilt top, and I did NOT wash or preshrink any of those, so probably best not to prewash the backing either.

Tomorrow I'm only singing at the early church service so we can take Lars back to UNC-Asheville for a second visit.  The theatre department gave us comp tickets to a matinee performance of their one act plays.  We're looking forward to seeing the play, but also looking forward to the chance to see more students, faculty, parents, etc. to get a better feel for this school as Lars narrows down his options.  May 1st is the deadline for making a decision and sending a deposit.  

Whether I get any more sewing done tomorrow will depend on how late we get back to Charlotte and how tired I am at the end of the day!  But I do have my quilting bee on Monday afternoon and I'm planning to take this project "on the road" every opportunity that I get until it's done.  Don't expect to see much in the way of hand stitching from me until this quilt top is ready to quilt!

My One Monthly Goal (OMG) for March is to piece all 48 arced flying geese for this quilt, with mom's help!

I'm also linking up with:

SUNDAY

·      Slow Sunday Stitching at http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/  

·      Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com

MONDAY

·      Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com 

·      Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/

·      Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/

·      Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/