Housetops by Deb Rowden 2010 Deb's wall quilt is one of my favorite quilts. Vintage quilt top---1950s Her inspiration was a four-block quilt based on the half-a-log cabin much like the one above. Wool Half-a-Log, about 1910 Now a Half-a-Log is actually a quarter of a log cabin block. The pattern doesn't have a BlockBase number because I indexed published patterns and nobody published a name until after 1970 after I stopped indexing. But the pattern did exist back into the 1880s or so. Here's a top I own from the 1940s or '50s And a similar shading arrangement from perhaps the late 19th-century. It's one of the vernacular patterns or folk patterns that was passed around outside the commercial pattern network. You don't see many vintage half-a-log-cabin quilts although it's an easier pattern than the traditional full log-cabin block. No set-in seams. This one looks to be about 1890 Here's a fabulous example from around the same time. A great asymmetrical composition from the 1940s or '50s with extra- wide sashing strips. Chrome orange and white, a tied version from about 1900 in which she actually used a ruler. The pattern is very popular today because we've all been inspired by the Quilts of Gee's Bend, Which is why we call them Half-A-Log. That's what they call them in Gee's Bend, Alabama. The pattern seems to have been a favorite of the Pettway family. The quilt above was made by Lillie Mae Pettway. Here's one by Rita Mae Pettway, about 1975 And a full-size quilt made of one block by Lucy Pettway in 1945 I have a lot of 2-1/2" strips so I am thinking of making one using my Civil War Jubilee repros for the darks... and adding lights from the Moda line Mill Book Series Circa 1835, plus a Turkey red repro from Moda's Bella Solids line (Christmas Red #9900-16). My inspiration is Becky Brown's log cabin below. Courthouse Steps by Becky Brown Each month Becky comes up with a block for her quilt group to stitch. She made up 30 kits (2" cut strips) so her friends could make 4 blocks each for their quilts for vets project. Yay, Becky! Yay, Friends! 14" Finished Block Add the logs in the order shown beginning with the square 1 Here's the cutting information---if you wanted to use a ruler. You cut the strips one width (2-1/2") or use a Moda Jellyroll precut pack. There's a formula here. You add to the length of the strips in 2" increments (6, 8, 10 etc) 1 - Cut 1 square 6-1/2" 2 - Cut 1 strip 2-1/2" x 6-1/2" 3 & 4 - Cut 2 strips 2-1/2" x 8-1/2" 5 & 6 - Cut 2 strips 2-1/2" x 10-1/2" 7&8 - Cut 2 strips 2-1/2" x 12-1/2" 9 - Cut 1 strip 2-1/2" x 14-1/2" Rather than measuring you could just add the 2-1/2" strips and trim. And keep going the way Lucy Pettway did for her one-block bed quilt above. A mid-20th-century version from the Quilt Complex See a contemporary version by Linda Nussbaum here: http://creativentropy.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-space.html And for a whole different direction see this collage by Sandy Donabed: http://www.sandydonabed.com/collagequiltsDetail.php?siID=190 Here's another post I wrote about the Half-a-Log here: http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/05/quarter-log-cabin-or-half-log.html