Last week I shared my step by step tutorial for the gorgeous Log Cabin block, and I'm sure you've been sewing up a storm and made a huge pile of your own blocks. ;) So, what now? What do you do with these blocks? How do you lay them out into a quilt design? Today I'm going to show you how one of these Classic Quilt Blocks can create at least fifteen stunning and unique quilt designs. One of the reasons I love this block so much is its versatility. It may be a simple block, but it creates visually sophisticated quilt designs. Playing around with different layouts is always fun, and there are so many possibilities with the Log Cabin block - it's hard to choose a favorite layout actually. I've drafted up fifteen unique quilt designs to inspire you to sew at least one of your own gorgeous Log Cabin quilts, and these are not actual patterns just ideas to inspire you. Simple layouts make stunning quilts. Both options are visually appealing, and even in a basic colour palette they are still eye catching - imagine how they would look in bright colourful scrappy fabrics. All of my examples are designed using the same Log Cabin block I used for the step by step tutorial and you can add more blocks or use a larger sized block to create your quilts. For those who grabbed the paper piecing templates, you can use a block with more strips to change the look of each design even further. You'll find that in a few of these examples the Log Cabin block creates some lovely movement in the quilt just like the blue quilt on the left. The design flows around the quilt and it looks spectacular - like a gorgeous big windmill. I also like the peaks or furrows of the pink quilt. It creates a visually stunning pattern and you could really play around with this layout and sew something wonderful. Alternating where you place the light and dark sides of the Log Cabin blocks will also change the look of any of these quilts. Don't be afraid to reverse the order of these layouts - make it your own and play around until you're happy! Regardless of whether you flip and rotate your blocks or set them in a straight setting, like the quilt on the right, you're always guaranteed a stunning quilt when you use a Log Cabin block. I love both of these designs - the purple one has that gorgeous Sawtooth Star centre and how cute are the orange pinwheels? I'm a sucker for pinwheels and Log Cabin's as pinwheels in a quilt, well...be still my heart! In both of these layouts you really have to look for the star and the pinwheels, so it adds a little interest or a talking point when your showing off your quilt. Once you see them though, then that's all you see. So fun! I can imagine both of these designs as either a mini quilt or a quilt with super-sized blocks sewn into a large throw. Big blocks will make a dramatic impact and will result in a quick finish which we all need from time to time. Don't forget to use the chart I shared last week to sew your blocks bigger or smaller to achieve the quilt size you require. If you want to replicate any of these examples you should be able to count the number of blocks in each quilt and use the diagrams as a guide for block orientation. How stunning are these ones? I love the cross effect the Log Cabin block creates, and I think this would have to be my favorite way to set these blocks. The quilt design looks far more complex than it actually is, so blocks like the Log Cabin are encouraging for beginners. They can create a visual masterpiece using one simple block which is pretty special. Both of these designs are stunning, but my favorite would have to be the pink one. I love how it creates a snail trail pattern around the quilt. If you're not familiar with the Snail Trail block, then you might learn more about it in future Classic Quilt Block posts. ;) I don't know about you, but I want to sew one of each of these quilts - each one seems prettier than the last one, don't you think? How about we just sew Log Cabin blocks for the rest of our quilting journey and see how many stunning quilts we can make? You in? ;) And I saved my absolute favorite layout until last. This is the layout I chose for my first Log Cabin quilt. Mine is a scrappy version with predominately country colours against a cream background. It's a stunning quilt and I really must quilt it one day - I've always wanted to free motion feathers in the light sections but never had the confidence to just sit down at the machine and do it. This is an old picture I found of my quilt, and it was taken as I was piecing the blocks together. :) It's so pretty! Have any of these quilt designs inspired you to sew your own Log Cabin quilt? I hope they have, if not now then sometime in the future. It's fun to see how many ways you can use this Classic Quilt Block and I'm sure there are many, many more ways to set these blocks. I hope I've inspired you to at least play around and see what you come up with for your next Log Cabin quilt. Next week is the last week of my Log Cabin Classic Quilt Blocks posts and I have a gorgeous log cabin inspired mini quilt for you to sew. It's so pretty and the perfect way to celebrate this wonderful Spring weather we're having at the moment. Until then... Happy quilting :)
Among the plethora of quilt designs, the Log Cabin quilt block stands as an enduring symbol of tradition, warmth, and innovation. With its
Starting a new log cabin project? Read this article to learn how much fabric you will be needing to make a log cabin quilt.
You've come to a point where some quilting patterns are not challenging anymore. So, why not try these log cabin quilt patterns we've collected in this post?
Looking for something different? Here are forty different versions of log cabin quilts - from traditional to modern and for all skill levels.
Looking for something different? Here are forty different versions of log cabin quilts - from traditional to modern and for all skill levels.
Today Christine Baker of Fairfield Road Designs shows us how versatile log cabin blocks can be when making a quilt. She continues to work on her bed runner and shares the next steps in her free pattern.
Read this guide on log cabin quilt patterns and learn about the log cabin quilt, its history, variations, some essential tips, and patterns.
I just finished this custom beauty for June. First I'll show the pictures then a little bit on how we collaborated on the quilting design and the tools used. There were things flying everywhere in the studio with this one! Templates, rulers, stencils, marking tools, manila folders, all of it all over all the time, what fun! You can find June Bacchi on Facebook for more info on the wonderful quilt. This one has two layers of batting, Hobbs wool on top, heirloom 80/20 on the bottom. Glide 40 wt thread on top and 60 wt in the bobbin. Man, my machine LOVES this combination! Now, wasn't that something. The pattern is Hearth and Home from Today's Quilter Magazine. They have a facebook page as well. These blocks were really big and I'm not accustom to such large blocks. For this I really wanted to try the pattern on the actual size block (rather than marking something up on the tablet). I used florist cellophane (you can get a large roll from Amazon for less then 10.00 delivered to your door). I use painters tape on the edges so it's crystal clear where the cellophane ends and the quilt is unprotected. Then I just draw right on the plastic. I had some ideas about some simple feathers in the colored part of the log cabin (without the house) and drawing that simple idea I quickly found out that was NOT going to work. I was drawing a few ideas for the white area of the same block, one of them involved cat tails ( the plants not real cats :). June then thought 4 seasons would be good (which really is a great idea) but then she thought of the hearts, which was a fabulous idea. After a bit of back and forth together we came up with the quilting design. And that is how one idea leads to another which leads to another.... I love the collaboration. It brings things that neither party would have come up with on their one. I was just in love with this. I added a heart in the colored area a bit larger and that made the feathers much easier to quilt in that area. Then took the heart and put those on the door and above the door. That unifies it all - my home is my heart as June puts it. Home definitely is where the heart is for this quilt! Good tool to find out what *doesn't * work. The ones on the right were original thoughts until I drew then full size, then on to plan B Other tools that were used once the design was done - the sashing and first border needed a serpentine spine feather. In Margaret Solomon Gunn's book Featherless Feathers she shows how to use adding machine tape to calculate (hehe) the curve for the space. Fold in half as many times as you like, then mark the centers, add your curve and cut. I used a really thin paper, so I took a complete piece of the arcs and made a template from a manila folder, one for the border, one for the sashing. Worked like a charm. I just used one of my many curved rulers for the corners. Stencils - I used a couple of stencils for this project. The clam shells and the 1/2 in cross hatching were used on the roof and the bricks. Deloa Jones has some wonderful grid based stencils I had one stencil with two hearts just the right size for the door and above the door. No reason you have to use the entire stencils, just use the parts you want!! I didn't have stencils nor did Santa bring me a set of circle templates, so I made my own hearts and circle again. I add registration marks to the templates for ease in placement. Rulers - of course I used used Linda Hrcka's curved rulers this one used the 20 and the 34, first time I got to use one of the big curves. Was perfect for this big blocks! I also used Bethanne Nemesh garden line straight edge and quilters Rule curves - that is just a great one for same curves, used it on the curtains. The usual marking tools no change here. I'll be sad to see this feathered beauty go, Thanks for letting me quilt for you June, loved the collaboration and what we came up with for the quilting plan together! I was having so much fun with this feathers that I neglected Good Fortune, but I did get a couple of the blocks done Just an FYI - I am not affiliated with any of the products that I show here, I'm just a very happy customer and highly recommend their products.
Log Cabin quilt blocks are a timeless, and simple pattern easy for any quilter to master. However, more experienced quilters still love them, as Log Cabin blocks can be made many different ways.
"The log cabin quilt design is one of the classic, most-widely known designs in quilting, both with beginners and experts. There are so many variations you can do, even with something as small as throwing in a colorful triangle. Nearly every quilter has done a log cabin quilt at some point. YouTube is a wealth
The log cabin quilt block design is a classic! Learn to sew log cabin blocks to make a beautiful quilt or something else like potholders or a tote bag.
This site contains affiliate links from which we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!Last week I taught a Log Cabin class… and used Eleanor Burns’ Quilt in a Day Method… Now the first time I made a Log Cabin quilt, I cut each and every...
Starting a new log cabin project? Read this article to learn how much fabric you will be needing to make a log cabin quilt.
A tutorial on how to make easily a Log Cabin block, without calculating the length of the strips.
Hey everyone! I missed seeing everyone at the meeting this week, but I’m super excited about this month’s Giving Committee Quilt Block. We heard a little rumor that some of the group wo…
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