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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comments

  1. Love the water tower! Proud resident since 2001 & prouder member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2005!

    Oh and if we're talking food let's not forget Koppe Bridge burgers. Mmmm!

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  2. I've never been to the US - yet !!

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  3. I haven't been, but it sounds like fun!

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  4. This is so cute. YOU are so cute. Miss you! xoxo

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  5. Given how similar A&M is to Virginia Tech, I would like to visit College Station to see how it compares to Blacksburg. The game day dress shop is too cute!

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  6. As a fellow Aggie, I must agree; seeing the water tower feels like home. So glad you decided to go with it for your block!

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  7. I was wondering how "aggie" the College Station block would be! But, this is super cute. I'm a Baylor girl so I'm going to add a Waco block before I combine these quadrants. Needless to say, I'm glad it wasn't a Johnny block! ;)

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  8. And I forgot to mention, I have been to college station. I visited friends when I was attending Baylor. And my eldest nephew will be starting his second year there this fall. We picked him up on our way to the Baylor/UT football game from Houston this last season! The game that sealed our first Big 12 title! Sic em Bears!

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  9. My dad was an Aggie and he use to take me to the football games when i was little. The best part was i got to look through his binoculars and watch the Corp guys kiss their girlfriends whenever A & M scored. Thanks for sharing.
    -modalissa

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  10. Howdy! I was class of 2010 and I still miss Aggieland most days. Thanks for representing us well!

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  11. years ago, but I have been there. :)

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  12. Yay! I've been to college station for a Bama game! Roll tide! Thanks for the chance!

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  13. my dad and my husband both are aggies and my grand daughter hopes to join them for class of 2018.

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  14. i have been to college station many times.

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  15. My family lives about 30 minutes north of College Station so I have been there plenty of times. Love the LoneStar Quiltworks shop. Thanks for the block, perfect. :)

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  16. I have never been to College Station but my husband has been there when he was in Texas on business. He went to a football game at A & M was was just amazed by the participation of the fans.

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  17. I've been more times than I can count. I'm married to an Aggie ('80) and my older son and his wife are both Aggies ('10) and we go to several football games each year. I've been to Lone Star Quiltworks but not to Pruitts ( I hope to go this year). I love your block!

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  18. Yes, we stopped at the place with the food and laundromat. Clever!

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  19. Hi Hilary! I have never been to College Station, but I would love visit their quilt shop!

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  20. Great block. I am soooo glad you did not do Johnny Football!! :) I a Texans fan, btw. But this block is really cute and fits CS perfectly. Love it! And your blog is cool.

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  21. I've never been to College Station, though I live in Texas. Shame on me!
    tstanulis@verizon.net

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  22. What a cute block! I can't wait to see the finished quilts from this QAL.

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  23. Hi, neat block! No, I've only been to Dallas. Thanks for sharing!

    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  24. FOLLOW > BLOG LOVIN' !

    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  25. Cute block. I've never been to Texas.

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  26. Never been there! Your block is so unique, I love it :)

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