I'm learning paper piecing and loving it. It's so precise. I love that about it. It's great that your friend is helping you so much by cutting the pieces of fabric to help you. She's really wants you to quilt badly. Keep going. Sew those pieces together and finish the block. You'll be happy when it's done. Really pretty fabric you chose. And I like the pattern also. So, I'm learning paper piecing just like you. It's different than regular piecing. It twisted my brain until my mentor sent me a DVD on how to paper piece. Then I bought a 1/2" ruler and picked up a postcard and now it's so much easier with the tips I have learned. I taped the postcard to the ruler like Carol Doak's does in her DVD and I'm really working faster that way. It's actually fun when you get the tips and tricks to it. Good luck! Check out Carol Doak's. She might have something on YouTube that would help you. Some tips or tricks or something.