Mom's Quilt Update #1

Here's a look at my progress on my mom's wall-hanging quilt. I did order those two fabrics I mentioned last week and I'm saving the bold print I originally had in the mix for another project. It's so interesting to me to play around with fabric until it feels right—and this combination completely feels right to me. I love the way the patterns and colors play off of each other and that it's both feminine and graphic. Plus, the blues and greens are just perfect for the Jersey shore, which is where this will eventually live.
This image above shows what the back of this row of pieces looks like. I did this by hand since I was having a bit of bobbin trouble on my sewing machine, but it went pretty quickly. Once I have the top pieced, this will be ironed so that it lies flat against the batting.
And here are my piles of pieces. I used a piece of cardstock to make the rectangular template and spent a few hours tracing and cutting since I sew the pieces together by following the lines traced on each. It's repetitive, sure, but it's also rewarding to wind up with stacks that are ready to be sewn together. I'm going to give weekly (or biweekly) updates on my progress so you can see how this comes together in real time—keeping in mind that this is my "travel" project since it's small, so I will be working on this whenever I'm on a train, plane or in an automobile. And I guess, during non-rush hour trips on the subway.