HST Column Quilt

I need a new project like I need another hole in my head..but..when did that ever stop a quilter???

A couple of friends have made HST column quilts and I got to thinking about a stack of HSTs that I have had from when I made my sister her quilt from the scraps of clothes that our Mom made us when we were little..and how cute they would be as a column quilt...

I was going to make them into pinwheels..and even had stitched a  couple up..but they were sad, sad lumpy, crookedy pinwheels...the HSTs were not all the same size and in my ignorance as a young quilter, I though I could just...make....them...fit...

NOT...

Anyway, the HSTs have been hanging around in my quilting studio, ripening, for a LONG, LONG time! First order of business was to deconstruct those two very sad pinwheels..and trim up the HSTs to an even size..I found the smallest one..and that is governing the size of the rest of the blocks...

It is turning into an interesting project...

I am using a gizmo my Dad made for me a few years ago...its called a Square Up (my design, his execution)

It is making the trimming of these blocks really, really easy..especially since I acquired a set of square templates at Retreat last year on the donation table that have a groove on the diagonal which makes it very easy to line up with the seam..the arm holds the template from moving, the base rotates (there are levers to make it go only one way or free rotate)...and it folds up and has a handle so I could take it to class if I ever were going to one that needed to cut blocks (not usually my cup of tea...though...this IS really easy to use - might have to reconsider that option!)

Here is a block before trimming:

That same block after trimming:

And the two stacks of blocks - the trimmed ones look soooooo much neater!

Will post more when I have all the blocks trimmed and laid out...