#mariners compass

I got the go ahead from the husband to spend an ungodly amount of money making my next project lol.

My brother is getting married in March! I just now got the Save the Date, and we won't be able to fly out to Alaska on such short notice for the ceremony 💔. Plus I'm expecting this spring to be chaotic for beekeeping, so I don't think I could leave if I wanted to.

He doesn't have a registry, just a Venmo for the honeymoon lol. I'm going to Venmo some money for drinks (they're going to Hawaii I think?), but I have been wanting to make him a Mariner's Compass quilt forever now, so I'm going to gift that as well. Can't have enough nice blankets in Alaska!

Surrounding the center star are dozens of tiny paper pieced compasses, framed in a border of pieced silk or Silk Radiance (my guess - the Artist's Statement didn't say).

"Eternal Beauty" by Sherry Reynolds of Laranie, Wyoming. Winner of Best of Show for this radiant Mariners Compass medallion.

My favorite element is this pieced border. Simple squares set on point look like they're floating above the surface, thanks to the quilting in the sashing.

Porcelain Tea Caddy, 19th century

A Mariners compass by Pedro Freir, 1789 

Inside walls are constructed with eight panels, all having original paintings with various themes. Each of the four corner blocks titled on the top by the land mass -- America, Africa, Asia and Europa --, and has a rendering of an indigenous native of the continent and features a portrait of a famous explorer with ornate hand-painted borders and backgrounds depicting ships and the sea.

Explorers include Vasco Da Gama, Infanted Heriq (Prince Henry), Chritov Colon (Christopher Columbus) and Bartolam Dias (Bartholomew Diaz). Portraits inscribed along the bottom: "Vasco Da Gama Primeyro defcobridor da India Oriental" (Discoverer of the East India); "Infatned Heriq de Portugal defcobridor das primeyras terras, que Portugal tem immediates em Europa. & o" (Discoverer of first lands that Portugal discovered from Europe to the East); "Christov. Colon Primeyro da America e Indis as Ocidentaes discobridor" (First to America and discoverer of the West Indies); and "Bartolam. Dias Defcobridor en Africa do Cabo La boa Speranca" (Discoverer of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope).