Grandma’s Compass Block

I’m really glad you guys found this other compass block to replace the hand-pieced one, but it still gave me a fair amount of trouble!  The paper-piecing was really easy, and went quickly.  My trouble started when it came to putting the block together.  I thought I should be able to add the “B” template pieces before putting the sections together, but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get that to work.  I finally gave up and decided to just put the circle part together first.

I think my biggest problem was that I was expecting the circle to be evenly divided into 8 sections (like a pie), but that’s not how it went together.  It went together in unusual quarters, like this:

Then, the halves looked like this:

So, I finally got the circle together, and it actually looked pretty good, with the brown triangles lined up even!  At this point I was feeling pretty good . . .

So, now I needed to add the brown background.  I had no idea how to use the “B” template pieces, so I decided to do my own thing.  I cut out a big square of the background fabric – I went with a 14” square (just in case I needed to re-square it up afterwards), and it was a good thing I did!

I ironed creases into the block and then centered the compass on it.

I drew a line around the circle, and then cut 1/4” inside that line.

I pinned the background around my compass,

and started sewing around the circle.  I was being really careful, but no matter how many times I tore out stitches and readjusted, I still had too much background fabric!  I was getting pretty frustrated! 

Finally, I just cut a slit in the background fabric and overlapped it so that it would fit around the circle correctly.  Then I hand-stitched  the slit like a hem.

Not a great solution. but with the patterned fabric, it doesn’t show up when you look at it from a distance!

Lastly, I needed to add the center circle.  I had read a tip somewhere for applique circles, where you cut out a cardboard or plastic template of your circle, and cut the fabric about 3/8” bigger.  Then you do a running stitch around the circle and gather it over the template.

This gives you a nice neat circle to applique on, and then you can pull the template out through the opening in the back of the block.

Finally, I cut away the excess background material and squared my block up to 12-1/2”.  The finished product doesn’t look too bad!

So, it was just March 31st, and I was all caught up with my blocks!

Now I’m ready for the next set . . . maybe!!  Time for you guys to get caught up!