Paper-piecing

I decided that paper-piecing is pretty much the easiest thing to do while I'm still pregnant and my hands are the way they are.

Here's my first block for the baby's star sampler crib quilt:

The Mariner's Compass!

Isn't the Fairy Frost just gorgeous? It all just sparkles, just like bright stars in the night sky. I love it!

This is the Tennessee Star, or Liberty Star. It's on my Quilt-Pro program as Liberty Star, and Sylvia's Bridal Sampler as Tennessee. Basically, you just paper-piece strips together and cut out the diamond shapes, and put it together like a LeMoyne Star.

And here's the replacement Mariners Compass, in progress, for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.

Did I tell you that story?

Last January, my cousin still in high school had a multi-genre project to complete. She chose to gather stories about our grandfather (history subject), who passed away April 2012, and make a quilt (math and sewing) featuring some of these stories, to present to our now-widowed grandmother. She needed to type these stories and her own thoughts into a report (writing assignment).

She contacted a bunch of us in the family to contribute memories of grandpa and blocks for the quilt. I think that only I responded, along with our aunt, who also sews and makes quilts, contributed blocks. Sad, huh? A few others contributed stories and memories. (I still have not seen the results of this project.)

I decided that since she gave me so little time to respond, that I would sacrifice my Patriotic-colored Mariner's Compass block (and make another later). I chose to write my memories of my grandfather centered around the theme of the Mariner's Compass. Some reasons I used the Compass as a symbol for my grandfather:

1--he was a family man.

2--He knew how to work hard and play hard.

3--he was a religious man and faithful, constantly reading and learning and living his beliefs, with the Savior Jesus Christ as his guiding star (like the Compass guides the sailors or travelers)

4--he served an LDS proselyting mission to the Hawaiian Islands, during the time when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, and has memories of the attack. When he returned home from his mission, he joined the then-Army-Airforce and trained and served in California during the rest of WW2. So I used the Mariner's Compass as a symbol of his military service.

Here's the completed star that I contributed to the project:

Now I'm linking up to Kristy's weekly Paper-Piecing Party at her blog Quiet Play:

http://quietplay.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/paper-piecing-party-upcoming-patterns.html?m=1