Deep in the Heart of Texas QAL: College Station

Howdy everyone!! I am so glad you are stopping by on the Quilt Along today for my block for the great city of College Station.

College Station isn't my hometown, but it holds a very special place in my heart for several reasons. I'm a proud member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2011, I met the love of my life in College Station, and he and I had our little munchkin William there. College Station will always be my home away from home.

Here is a brief history of the beginnings of College Station:

"The City of College Station is a young municipality, with its beginnings in the founding of Texas A&M College.  Texas' first state institution of higher education, the College was inaugurated in 1876.

The campus became the focal point of community development.  The area was designated "College Station, Texas" by the Postal Service in 1877.  The name was derived from the train station located to the west of the campus.

Growth of both the community and college influenced residents' desire to create a municipal government. Citizens voted 217 to 39 on October 19, 1938 to incorporate the City of College Station.  The first City Council meeting was held on February 25, 1939 in the Administration Building on the A&M campus." --Source: City of College Station Website

College Station has grown leaps and bounds since its humble beginnings, and now it is one of the top college towns in the country.

College Station is home to a great quilt shop called Lone Star Quiltworks. Terry (the owner) and the ladies there are always so friendly, and the shop boasts an impressive amount of fabric. There is a good blend of modern and traditional fabrics, and of course a HUGE selection of maroon and Aggie fabrics.

The other local shop in town is Pruitt's Fabrics. They've been open since 1946 and they're located directly across from Kyle Field. Their fabric selection is a bit more modest, but they are the place to go if you need a custom game-day dress. I worked here during my sophomore year, and had a blast!

After you work up an appetite fabric shopping, you're going to want to get lunch at one of the many fantastic restaurants CS has to offer. My personal choices are The Dixie Chicken, or Fuego Tortilla Grill. I spent many an evening playing dominoes & eating cheese fries and a burger at the Chicken with friends. And Fuego has AMAZING queso and tacos! You really can't go wrong with either choice. 

Since College Station has a relatively modest skyline, the one thing that always stands out the most to me is the Welcome to Aggieland water tower. I always feel an immediate sense of home when I see it on the horizon.

So after going over and over what I wanted the block design for College Station to look like, (I almost did a  Johnny Football block)  I went with what felt right. The Aggieland Water Tower!

The block will end up being 6.5 x 6.5 inches, and the water tower is done with raw edge applique. We've done it a couple times now on the QAL so I know y'all have got the hang of it :)

Print the pattern for the water tower here. Print with no scaling.

 Your background pieces should be 2.5 x 7" and 5.5 x 7".

 Sew background pieces together and press the seam as desired. I pressed mine open.

 Fuse your water tower pieces onto the background piece. You can offset the water tower like I did, or you can center it.

Stitch around the applique pieces as desired (I just did a straight stitch, but you can do a satin stitch or blanket stitch too). Trim the block down to 6.5" square. Be sure to leave at least 0.25" of an inch around all sides of the water tower so it doesn't get lost in your seam allowances.

You can be done after the previous step, or you can do what I did and put "Welcome to Aggieland" on the water tower. I simply wrote it on with a gel pen that won't wash off, but you can embroider it on if you are feeling ambitious.

I can't wait to see everyone's water tower blocks on their quilts!

And don't forget one of the most exciting parts of this post! An amazing giveaway from Aurifil!

All you have to do to enter is use the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will run for 1 week, and I'll email the winner!

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