Gus, on the paperpiecing part of your reply, give the folded freezer paper method a try. I like it so much better than sewing through the pattern and there's no paper tearing. QuiltnNan uses this method also. I found a number of tutorials on the internet that were somewhat confusing, then I ran across Twiddletail's (that quilt) tutorial and she did a terrific job explaining and picturing it. Now I often paperpiece blocks that could easily be pieced just because it's so accurate.