Little House on the Prairie Quilt: Block 16

Our last block for "Little Town on the Prairie" is a Sawtooth Star pattern, which you can see in the flag fabric surrounding the middle square.  The girls and I had not yet determined what we should do for this block, so when we visited Indiana a couple weekends ago, I brought the book along to browse for an idea.  As I was reading over the chapter that talked about the 4th of July celebration in town, I came upon a section that I just knew was perfect for this block!  It read that after a gentleman had finished reciting the Declaration of Independence to the crowd that had gathered, Pa started singing, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and the crowd joined in.  This is when Laura wrote, "The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America's king."  Back in Laura's time, I have to believe that there were far more people who believed that to be true than there are today.  Presently, there are so many people who are trying to remove God from everything...government, schools, businesses, etc.  They've even convinced churches to completely change their minds about what they have been preaching for hundreds of years.  However, Brian, the girls, and I believe the same as Laura and thought it would be great to add a block to the quilt that reflects that!  The quote in the center block (I embroidered this on) comes from a couple paragraphs later when Laura realizes, "This is what it means to be free."  After telling Brian's mom the plan for this block, she remembered she had some fabric with the American flag on it.  It was exactly what we needed!  I love that this quilt has fabric now from both of the girls' grandmothers, too!  Also, if you turn the block a little to the right, you'll see that the pattern also makes a cross!