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Saturday, March 2, 2019

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/

14 comments:

  1. What a wonderful time with mom. I must admit, I would love to sew on a project with my daughter. The gift of time together while working on a common goal would be greatly treasured. I’m sure your mom feels the same way. Lars will have a quilt just full of love from two very important women in his life.

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  2. lucky your mom knows how to sew you should have an easier time of it with some help. Sounds like you have a great relationship with your mom and this should be a nice experience for you both and you never know you might just make a quilter out of your mom!

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  3. Love the curved geese! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly goal and good luck with your project!

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  4. Sewing with Mom...Oh how I miss that. My mom was a fabulous seamstress and a pretty damn good teacher side by side. We even took a couple of quilting classes together and oh what fun. I miss her in the kitchen and the sewing room. You have not played in the kitchen until you have made 50lbs of fruit cake
    As A side note these verify pictures are fuzzy and hard to see clearly and by the time time I hit screen 5 I am not even sure I want to comment.

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  5. How wonderful to have a shared love of fiber! My Mom's fiber love is plants. LOL! I kill plants. True story.

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  6. Those geese arcs are fantastic! I admit to being jealous that you get some fun sewing time with a loved one. :) The really funny thing is that this past week I dove headlong into an intricate paper piecing quilt top for our daughter's graduation! I'm really hoping the top will be finished in time, at least. She's excited for it and OK with however long it takes, but you just want it finished in time, you know?

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  7. Your Mom looks very pleased with herself, having learned an important new skill :)

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  8. Those geese arcs really rock, Rebecca! They look so clean and sharp. This quilt will be all that much more special having your mom be a part of making it. How lucky you are to share this obsession. :) I'm curious how you will be attaching those arcs to the quilt?

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  9. Once the arcs are all pieced I’ll remove the foundation papers and attach the dark purple sections with traditional curved piecing (and lots of pins!

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  10. Great plan of attack to get Lars' quilt done. Enjoy your sewing time with your mom.

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  11. My mother can't sew a button on even if her life depended on it! Love hearing about others sewing with their mothers. Enjoy! Life is good!

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  12. I should think your mom would have no trouble picking up the fine art of quilt making. My goodness she seems to be a clever lady. How lovely you and she can spend many wonderful moments sewing side by side, enjoying sewing together. Those flying geese arcs look fabulous.

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  13. That arc of geese that your mom is holding looks so stiff and sharp and bright - it is like a section of floor tile. Kudos to your teaching skills (and the fact that your mom is a very good student) the precision of the quilt block is fantastic. May I suggest writing (and selling) the pattern? "Twice the Love" is a beautiful name too. I am cheering you on in this journey.

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