Half Square Triangles - You are so pretty!!!

I recently participated in a half-square triangle (HST) exchange with my daughter-in-law Diana. The theme was patriotic given the time of year. The rule was to sew a light and dark fabric together on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper with grid marks and sewing lines. They then get cut apart into these perfectly stitched HSTs. Each sheet yielded 8 HSTs. I made a total of 21 sheets so I ended up with 168. It's fun to get them back and see all the different color combinations that were used. It's a great way to get lots of variety for your scrappy quilt. Let me tell you though...the cuttimg apart and tearing the paper off of them is not the most exciting thing to do but the end result is worth the pain of it. Below is a picture of my HSTs with paper on them and my little scrap container to catch all the paper that is torn off of the blocks.

Here they are all pressed and ready to go! Since the color theme was patriotic (blues/reds/tans/golds), I decided to sort them into two stacks...one red and one blue. That way I could alternate them when I sewed them into blocks.

I chose the Depression Block for my quilt. When you use a light and dark on your HSTs you get a fantastic layout of color that forms a diamond in the center.

Here is a sneak peek at what this beautiful quilt will look like when it's sewn together. I can't wait to finish the rest of the blocks.