At Last! A Square Mariners Compass.


I’ve been an avid follower of Carol Doak for many years now and have never ceased to be amazed at the amazing plethora of ideas she comes up with. I think it would be fair to say that Carol’s specialty genre is foundation piecing and she has a wonderful library full of books and patterns that she has created to satisfy even the most passionate cravings of this foundation piecer.

Carol’s latest publication is titled Mariner’s Compass Stars and contains 24 stellar paper-pieced blocks and 9 easy quilt projects. I’ve attempted Mariner’s Compass blocks for many years now and have always given up trying to get those points to an accuracy I’m happy with. Carol has thought outside the square (pardon the pun) and has designed the Mariner’s compass with in the square, and has managed to turn an extremely difficult technique into a pure joy to complete.

Carol has named each of the 24 star blocks after a country and has cleverly matched fabrics to the personalities of the countries she has chosen. I especially like Australia (not just because I’m an Aussie), but the colours are spot on Carol.

This book is a joy to read, with clear precise instructions and supporting photographs and diagrams. I suspect many long hours have gone into writing the instructions in such a way that there is no ambiguous distractions, Carol is very explicit with her directions.

Carol has spent a great deal of time in the first part of the book, describing how to go about putting these foundation blocks together and has come up with some fantastic tips. Tips such as this one on page 17: “For a few dollars, your local print shop or office supply store will cut the binding off this book and replace it with a spiral binding to make the book lie flat for easier photocopying”. A great idea when you need to copy the foundation papers (for your own use only, of course!).

Another great tip from Carol on page 22 covers the difficulty of measuring fabric sizes for the individual foundation pieces. Carol has dumbed this down to very succinct instructions that are very easy to understand and implement. Great work Carol.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the instructions, the dynamic designs, the whole kit and caboodle. At last a chance to make the Mariner’s compass patterns I adore, and achieve the quality results I desire.

I would also urge you to take some time and pop into Carol Doak’s website. It’s chock full of wonderful stuff and some great free patterns to boot.
Click here for Carol Doak Website