Christmas in July - Pieces from the Past Christmas

 

The Christmas in July blog hop continues!  

You can find a complete list of participants at the bottom of the page

(and my day 1 project here)

What follows is an excerpt from the Pieces from the Past Sew Along series that I hosted 5 years ago... and a bonus share for the Christmas in July blog hop.  It is a sweet little ornament that I designed by modifying the Corner Star pattern.

The series features letters from former German POWs that were held at a prison camp near Trinidad, CO.  Several of the prisoners were allowed to work on local farms.  After the first men worked on my Grandparents' farm east of Camp Trinidad, they discovered that my grandparents were fluent in German (as Germans from Russia that moved to the US as children).  

You can learn more about the series by following the link above.

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I read an accounting of a Christmas celebration at Camp Trinidad for the German POWs and how the tables were decorated with small wooden stars that held candles.  I wondered about the humble celebration the men had here in Trinidad, as well as how they may have celebrated after their return home.

Written in 1943... "First Christmas day as POW.  We spent Christmas evening with beer and wine, coffee, tea and cookies.  We met in groups, and games, conversation and when available, the music heard on the radio helped us overcome our melancholic mood, as well as longing and nostalgia.  We had a small Christmas tree in our room.  A truck took us to a forest and under the supervision of a forest official we were able to cut down a few trees and take them with us. . .   We also gave presents to each other."

"The Führer sent $9,000 to Camp Trinidad, with $2,250 for each section of the camp, and the Pope gave 2 Swiss francs per POW.  We have not been forgotten."

The population of Camp Trinidad never reached more than 3,900, though it had been built to hold up to 5,000 men.  The Führer's gift was approximately $2.30 for each prisoner.  Adjusted for inflation, $2.30 in 1943 is equal to $34.97 in 2020.  That is a nice little gift.

And the Pope's 2 francs equaled about .47 cents (US dollars) which is equal to $7.07 in today's US dollar values.

Indeed, these men were not forgotten while at Camp Trinidad!    

In the Mini Corner Star pattern you will find two sizes of the block - 3 inches and 4 inches.  Be sure that when you print the pattern pages, you are printing at 100% and that the 1 inch test square is accurate.  When making the 4" block you will want to trim the seam allowance after it is pieced to 1/4" (as indicated by the arrows in the picture).

Also, please note that the side (rectangular) pieces will be a little long.  Piece #4 on both rectangular sections with the star points will overhang the square body of the block. (shown in picture)

Press open and trim to the appropriate size - 3-1/2" or 4-1/2".

If you happen to make any of the mini blocks I'd love to see them!  Use the hashtag #piecesfromthepastsewalong or tag me on instagram @melvalovesscraps or post on my facebook page.

Merry Christmas! (in July) ;)

Keep Piecing,

Melva

July 24

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps ~ hostess

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Carol Andrews at Quilt Schmilt

July 25

Vivian at Bronx Quilter

Gail at Quilting Gail

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal