Half Square Triangle Quilt

 I finally, FINALLY finished my version of the Half-Square Triangle Block of the Month Quilt for 2012 by Jeni Baker.  It only took me a little more than a year to complete.

 For one thing, I had a lot of unwanted help.  For example:

 I would say that my cat Sushi is not so much a Quilt Inspector as a Quilt Inhibitor and overall Highly Effective Cat Blocker at any activity that prevents her from sitting on my lap or putting her face in my face.  She knows very well that her tail is interfering with the one thing I am trying to concentrate on.  In this case, cutting 3.5" strips for the back of the quilt.

 Here is Sushi holding down the cut strips for the back of the quilt for me, in case a sudden gust of wind finds its way through our house.  Or another cat gets close and tries to claim the fabric.

 Here we are sewing/preventing sewing the strips together.  There wasn't too much of a plan for the back of the quilt except to use up as much of the leftover material from the HSTs on the front of the quilt. 

 

Excuse me for trying to use the sewing machine.  

 Here we are quilting the HST quilt.  This is the first time I used my old-timey Singer to quilt and bind.  It was the next-to-last time I used the white new Singer to piece, as I busted it on the next project.

And here is the quilt, made for my husband and just in time for Father's Day 2012 2013!  But wait...  something is not quite right...

 There are 16 squares for a 12-month block-of-the-month quilt...
Long story short, I started this tutorial in early 2012 but ended up having some significant surgery and recovery starting in May.  At some point, I just decided to try to do what I could, as fast as I could.  So, I started doubling up blocks - I did two of the same block.  I still didn't finish in the summer, and so I just ended up picking my favorite blocks from the whole year and doing two of each to make 16 total.  Seems fitting that I am missing some months' blocks as I felt like I missed some months from last year myself!

 This is the strippy back.  I ended up organizing three sets of strips in an intentionally imperfect tone gradient and then flipping the middle set to create some contrast.