Sweet Tea, Pine Trees, and Pretty Stuff....

Sweet Tea Stars is the name of this block and if you're from the South (or Pennsylvania -- which as a surprising number of sweet tea drinkers), you're well acquainted with sweet tea.  As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here drinking a large half-and-half from McAllisters even as I write this.  A "half-and-half" is a beverage that consists of half unsweet tea and half sweet tea.  As much as I love my tea, I've eschewed white sugar for so long, that full-on sweet tea makes my teeth hurt.  The only exception to the white tea rule is my morning coffee -- and God forbid anything or anyone tinker with that.

Again, this is a pieced and appliqued block, so piece first, then applique.  The curves around the tea leaves are tight, so clip the concave curves carefully and work under with the tip of a dampened toothpick for best results. 

Audubon Pines is one of those blocks that looks so simple, you're bound to make a mistake.  If you love to do half square triangles, it's your party time!  As you assemble this block, just be sure that all your colored triangles point in the right direction.  I got this square completely put together and was tucking it away in my box when I realized I had one block turned the opposite direction...and it just had to be in the middle of the block.  So it took another half an hour to take the thing apart and put it back together.  This is one you definitely want to layout, look at, walk away for awhile, and then come back to with fresh eyes to make sure it's all correct.

Now for some pretty stuff...

I finished with all my blocks for this Southern Album Quilt, but still needed the material for my setting triangles, since this quilt is set on point.  I'm also one of these quilters that never buys the triangle material, backing material, or border material until I'm through with all my blocks.  Drives a lot of my quilt friends crazy, but this system has always worked for me.  So when I was ready to cut these triangles, I took the squares and trotted up to Dragonfly Quilt Shop on Eastchester and as usual, those ladies had exactly what I needed...

Isn't it beautiful?  Then, I found this thread to quilt it with:

Yummy....