STUDly Mail!

Tis the season for stacks and stacks of mail order catalogues.  It is like baseball or football season.  It has a definite beginning and a definite end.  It commands your attention weather you want to give it or not.  And, it can be a very expensive couple of months.  The only difference.....the catalogue people never go on strike and delay the start of the season.

Yesterday, my plethora of catalogues was spiced with a parcel from Scotland!  Want to see what was inside?

I was so excited that I took pictures without letting the dear little quilt freshen up.  It was beautifully sunny.  The colors in this photo are fairly accurate.  Stunning.

Michelle, a.k.a. LochsideQuilter, included a passel of goodies too.  A charm pack of sari fabric....Sari's are made of  the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen.  This little bundle is a treat.  A card of embroidery thread in Christmas colors dyed in Africa.  A window cling with an intricate Celtic design on it.  And a nice note with a picture of the town she lives in.   I want to live there!

Thank you Michelle for being such an awesome, and internationally minded partner.  It is wonderful to receive a package that has a little bit of the world stuffed into it.

HSTs, I love you!

Have you seen Cosmo Cricket's new line for Moda?! Circa 1934 is a vintage looking collection of typographic designs. Perfect for the nerds and geeks in your life.

It is rich with color without being over powering and uber-girly. Again, perfect for guys....especially the nerdy and geeky.

I started with a layer cake....just one, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I just knew that I had to have it.

My plan was to make a quilt for one of the boys that has been a part of my son's life for the past 14 years. He has been blessed to be friends with two godly young men, and their families, since they were all 2. I love that. This year they all turn 16.

As it has been my habit in the past, I did the same for his older brothers best buddy, I want to make quilts for each of them. (hmmm, have I implied that my son's friends are nerds and geeks......) I do not want to spend a ton of money or time making these quilts. Enter the half square triangle.

First off, they have a really dumb name. HSTs are not triangles at all. They are squares. Imagine, a square bisected on the diagonal. You have two right triangles of equal size, stuck together along the hypotenuse. (We should really call them "half triangle squares", and I would, but then no one would know what I am talking about.) When one triangle is consistently colored darker than the other the design possibilities are endless.

Check out these photos, all made with the same hst blocks by "IamSusie"

When I went to my lqs on friday this is what I was planning to do. I went to purchase a solid that I could blend with Circa 1934. I found the fabric and went to check out. Got out my customer appreciation card....they record your purchase, after 6 purchases they add up the totals and give you 10% back in shop credit. I had $48 and some odd cents. Holy layer cake Batman! Shout out to the gang at Happiness is....Quilting in McKinney Texas - I love you guys! I got a second layer cake of Circa 1934.

I made my hsts on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday afternoon I sewed them in this arrangement. It looks awesome on a bed.

I used the solid that I purchased to add a border.

Adding leftover blocks, don't ask me how I managed to have extra blocks, I was able to extend the barn raising pattern into the border.

One top down. One to go. Do you think hsts could come to my rescue again?