celebrate CREATIVITY in all its forms

Quilts, Gardens and a Day in the Country

If only quilts really did grow on trees.  What a wonderful world that would be.  

Yellow and green are my favorite colors and since this quilt uses shades of both, that makes this one of my favorite creations.  

This is called a Log Cabin quilt but this particular pattern with its appearance of large squares inside of larger squares, is called the Barn Raising. 

One of the amazing things about the Log Cabin quilt is that you can achieve a variety of designs depending on how you arrange the blocks.

I'll tell you more about this Log Cabin quilt in just a bit, but I wanted to first share something about where all the photos in this post were taken.

The photo below is a shot of the Maryland-area farm were I grew up.  This 144-acre farm has been in my family now for five generations.  Except for the four years we lived overseas when my dad was in the Peace Corps, this has always been home base. 

I may have learned to love the big city but deep down I'm a country girl at heart.

This is also where my mom enjoys maintaining a small but diverse vegetable garden. 

You may remember meeting Nana Banana earlier this year when she modeled an apron for me for another blog post.

Nana Banana produces a bumper crop of delicious veggies every year including beans, tomatoes, lettuce, corn and beautiful squash just to name a few savory selections. 

Mom often says she thinks people should know how to grow their own food and she finds great pleasure in working the earth to produce her own healthy and hearty produce.

 

During our recent visit to the family farm Cameron and Jordy got a chance to collect some of the ripe vegetables. 

I love to see my kids get their hands dirty with new experiences like this.  Next, I'll have to introduce them to some of the trees I used to climb when I was their age. 

 

I couldn't resist including this photo from Nana's garden.  This is an interesting take on a scarecrow, wouldn't you say?  Gotta love those lashes.

My mom says while her improvised creation may work scaring off the birds, unfortunately it has little/no effect on voles, groundhogs and other small pests that sometimes steal her garden goodies.

Jordy focused most of his attention on the peas which is ironic since you can't even get him to taste a pea.

In this photo I think you can almost hear Jordy saying "ooh, look what I found".  He was quite earnest in his vegetable picking and pretty proud of his haul too.

While Cameron and Jordy packed their baskets with veggies on one end of the farm, I went in search of some backdrops to snap a few photos of my quilt.

I made this Log Cabin years ago when I first started learning about quilting.  While the fabrics used are French-Country inspired, the colors have always reminded me of Nana's country vegetable garden with all the various shades of green and pretty squash-colored yellows. 

If you've never made a Log Cabin quilt, I think this pattern is among the easiest.

Log Cabins are made up of dozens of identical blocks.  You can achieve an almost endless choice of patterns by simply re-arranging the blocks which feature a collection of light-colored fabrics on one end and darker fabrics on the other.

Here's a sample sketch of the Barn Raising pattern.  You can see how moving these identical blocks around could create a completely different design.  That versatility is at the heart and beauty of the Log Cabin design.

You can see another one of my Log Cabin quilts in a zig-zag design if you click here.

      

The backing fabric can also be found as one of the quilt top borders.  I use this technique all the time as a way of helping to tie all the fabrics in the quilt together.

I think it gives the quilt an all-around coordinated look.

This is also the only quilt that I've ever made with a straight edge binding.  You may know by now that I have a penchant for scalloped edges.  However, in this case, I think the straight edge is perfect here given the busy designs in this particular fabric.

For the record, I think a straight edge binding (especially around the corners) is much harder to make than a scalloped one.

There are actually three borders on this quilt and I decided to miter each corner for a more seamless integration of the lines in the fabric. 

If you're working with more than one border fabric, it's a good idea to sew all your borders together first and then line up the design for mitering.  That way you only have to miter each corner once.

This mitering did take some extra effort and practice but I really like how it blended each corner together for near-perfect points.

I think it's time now to check in with my little vegetable gardeners.  Looks like a pretty good crop so far.  

I'd say these two are pretty pleased with their pickin's.  They really loved filling their wicker baskets with all the raw, natural food.

I love that Cameron and Jordan get an occasional taste of country life like this.  I think it's good for them to escape to the great rural outdoors from time to time.

Meanwhile, I'm glad I thought to bring my Log Cabin quilt along for this ride to the country.

I'm always on the lookout for interesting ways to not only practice my photography skills but also showcase my projects for this blog in more appealing and creative ways.

      

There's nothing like a trip to the country.  It's wonderful to be able to walk the farm and find old, familiar sights as well as a few new ones here and there.  

I feel really fortunate to have the opportunity to share this natural environment with its crisp, clean air and wide-open green space with Cameron and Jordy.  This was definitely a great way to spend a lazy Sunday.  

Here's to quilts, gardens and day in the country.

   

Spring is in the Air

Can you believe it's March already?  While the official beginning of Spring is still a few weeks away, I suspect just about everyone reading this is probably ready for much warmer temps.

I love Springtime and it can't get here soon enough for me.  As we all wait for the rise in the mercury, perhaps this colorful quilt project will warm you up a bit.

   

I made this quilt out of fabrics from designer Heather Bailey's Freshcut line by Free Spirit. 

The soft, fun colors of these pretty fabrics remind me of a tasty bowl of orange sherbet.  Yummy, that's one of my favorite desserts.

The pattern I used is a super simple one that involves a series of rectangles sewn together to create each block. 

This quilt was made with 12 identical blocks and you can see how the first one came together in the photo below.

I stitched the 12-blocks together and ended up with three rows containing four blocks each.  Then I simply stitched the three rows together.

      

By the way, this is the same quilt pattern I featured in a previous post entitled From Start to Finish.  Here's a side by side comparison of the two quilts in the photos below.

Both quilts have an orange palette but you can see how a simple change in fabrics can yield a different look and feel despite the use of the exact same pattern.

  

On a side note, I had a fair amount of scraps after cutting the quilt pieces for this latest quilt.  Since I hate to throw away good scraps, I put them to good use by making these cute pincushions.

You can see more of these fun pincushions in another previous post entitled Scrap Happy and Fabulous Fat Quarters.

             

Getting back to this latest quilt, after sewing the three rows together, I added an 8-inch border.  I selected one of the same fabrics found within the block. 

Thanks to my son Jordy for being my cute quilt-top handler.

          

I picked up a coordinating orange marble fabric for my backing and I think the daisy quilt design really stands out against this selection.

  

Because I love the look of a scalloped quilt edge, I have to use a continuous bias for the binding.

Making continuous binding takes a bit more time but if you have a scalloped edge you must use this technique. 

  

Continuous binding is actually pretty easy to make.  For more detailed instructions on making binding, you can click here.

Because this type of binding is created on the bias (diagonal to the fabric grain) it has the necessary stretchiness to bend and fit nicely over the curved scallops in the quilt. 

Attaching the binding is a bit time consuming for me because I use a ton of straight pins.  I think the more pins the better because it really helps keep the binding from puckering as it's stitched to the quilt.

  

Once the binding is stitched to the quilt all the way around, fold the binding over and iron and then slipstich the open end of the binding to the other side of the quilt.  Gently iron to get the finished binding flat and crisp.

Trust me when I say, once you scallop a quilt edge, you may never go back to straight edges ever again.  I think there's just something about that scalloped look that makes a quilt so appealing.

       

I love the colors in this quilt.  You may already know that green is one of my favorite colors anyway.  I really think this soft peach and the apple green contrast is a wonderful combination.

Even though all indications suggest Punxsutawney Phil may have been correct in his "late spring" prediction, we can only hope that the cute little groundhog was mistaken this year. 

In the meantime, this light and colorful quilt at least makes me feel like Spring is in the air.

A Bursting Star

Over the last several years, I've made more than a dozen quilts and this one was not only one of my very first quilts-it remains one of my favorites too. 

I love the soft peach color and rose patterned fabric along with the red that makes this Bursting Star quilt really pop. 

       

This is another one of those quilt patterns that may look difficult to construct but is actually quite simple.  The wonderful pattern is created by combining 1/2-squares and 1/2 triangles which ends up creating multiple designs within the quilt top.

That's the beauty of a pattern like this-there's so much more to it than initially meets the eye.

     

This finished design reminds me of one of those Rorschach ink blot tests because depending on how you look at it, a different design may be more prominent to your eye.

Which patterns do you first see within the quilt-the stars or the squares?

I found this pattern in a nice quilt book called Plentiful Possibilities which is filled with beautiful designs which are quite easy.

      

I've already started a new quilt using this same easy pattern which features a brown and green fabric combination.  I'll use this partially completed quilt to show you a few of the steps involved in creating this starburst design.

A large square is the center point of the overall block.  If you want a particular pattern in the center of this square, you can fussy-cut the pattern.  I did the same thing for the peach-colored quilt so that the pretty rose was dead center. 

Since there is some amount of fabric-waste when fussy-cutting, remember you will need to calculate additional fabric yardage if you plan to do any selective cutting.

Dozens of smaller squares also help create the starburst (and the square) pattern.

After cutting squares (left photo), some of them will be cut again diagonally.  The triangles from that cut are sewn together to produce a new square that contains two different fabrics as shown in the photo on the right.

The specific placement of these various squares is what creates the starburst pattern. 

The photo below shows how all the individual squares are ultimately lined up to create the pretty design.  

Here's a side-by-side comparison between the un-sewn squares seen on the right and a few completed blocks on the left which have been sewn together to create the first row of this quilt.

Meanwhile, I'll share this completed brown and green quilt later in an upcoming post.

Now take another look at the finished peach quilt.  You can see how all the squares come together to create the bold starburst and square designs.  The addition of an 8-inch matching floral border adds size and continuity to the finished quilt.

I really love working with lots of fabric pieces like this that create several designs within a design.  This is also another example of a pattern that may look complicated but is really super simple to make.

    

The quilting is typically most visible on the back, which is why it's a good idea to select a lighter-colored fabric so you can actually see the intricate design. 

This pretty rose and leaf design has always been one of my favorite quilt patterns and I've used this rose design on several projects.

I think scalloping really adds a nice touch to any quilt and a scalloped edge is always my preference.  Out of all the quilts I've made, I only have one that has a straight edge. 

 A scalloped edge is such a pretty, feminine treatment for any quilt project.

     

This quilt has 12-starburst blocks and with the added border measures about 78-inches by 96-inches, which is just shy of a queen-size. 

Of course, you can make this quilt larger or smaller by changing the number of blocks used as well as the width of the border fabric you select.

      

This is one of those patterns that is fun and simple that will give you a great result every time regardless of your fabric choices.  It's that versatile.

Try this pattern for yourself and this will be one bursting star that you'll be bursting at the seams to show off.

From Start to Finish

Let me start by saying my twin sister Paula really does love my quilts.  She even has her eye on one in particular that I haven't been able to part with yet.

Now, having said that she doesn't mind telling me she just does not share my affinity for cutting up lots of fabric into tiny pieces and then sewing it back together.

I always tell her that's precisely the fun of it-and of course the beauty of it too.

For those who may not be that familiar with quilting, allow me to walk you through the basics, from start to finish.  Of course it all begins with your fabric selection.

The fat quarters below are from the fabulous Lotus Collection by Amy Butler.  Fat quarters are equivalent to 18 x 22-inch cuts of fabric. 

I don't know about you but I love to see fat quarters all stacked up like this.  Brand new fabric is so crisp and fresh looking.

Just like scrapbooking, many quilt companies offer kits which include the pattern and all the necessary fabric to complete the quilt. Quilt kits are good for beginners too because all the fabric comes pre-selected for you.

This is my first-ever quilt from a kit.  I picked it up at The Pine Needle, which features wonderful on-line shopping for quilts and related projects.

The quilt pattern I used is called Cheaper By the Dozen by Legacy.  While the pattern was included in the quilt kit, the pattern is also available separately.

The Cheaper By the Dozen quilt requires 12-fabric choices. The project is actually just a series of identically-sized rectangles cut from the various fabric selections.

The rectangles arranged in the photo below will appear in this order within the quilt blocks.

When you're working with multiple fabric patterns, it's a good idea to have a swatch key to help you keep up with what you're assembling. The Cheaper by the Dozen pattern includes a blank swatch key form and you just staple a small sample of each fabric right onto the sheet.

Be sure to make a copy of the blank sheet that comes with the pattern before adhering your samples. This way you'll have the original sheet that you can use if you decide to make the project again.

Your fabric key will help you keep up with the order in which you will sew each piece of fabric to the next. 

In this case, sew the three rectangles on the top row together, then you sew the three rectangles on the second row together.

When you sew these two completed rows together this will create your first BLOCK as in the photo below. 

Thanks to my smiling block-handler.

   

Repeat the same process with the next two rows of rectangles to create BLOCK #2.  Ultimately you'll end up with 12-blocks, that will then be sewn together to create one very large square.

To make this 12-block square even larger, I added 8-inch wide fabric strips to each side.  This is now the quilt TOP, which is similar to a queen size sheet.   

Thanks to my two helpers here.

   

Imagine the unfinished quilt is a sandwich in which there are three main parts.   

The TOP, which  resembles a large sheet as in the photo above.  Next there's the BATTING, which is the middle cotton layer which ultimately helps add thickness, and finally, there's the BACKING  which makes up the last layer and is similar to another large sheet slightly larger than the top.

When choosing your backing you may want to choose a lighter fabric than your top, so your decorative quilting stitches will be more visible when the project is completed.

I selected this soft orange/swirled fabric called Fall Jewels by Red Rooster Fabrics.

Quilting is the process of putting these three main pieces (top, batting and backing) together using decorative stitching.  Many people do this by hand, which can be very time consuming.  Others use their regular sewing machines, which can be difficult for larger quilts if your machine has a narrow throat.

There are also many quilters who use long arm quilting machines.  The long arm quilt machines, like the one in the photo below have a very deep machine throat with ample space for the three layers of the quilt project to be rolled up and then easily glided during the quilting process.

I would never be able to successfully roll up this large quilt under my own standard-size sewing machine.

Nearly all of my quilts have been professionally stitched by my good friend Joni Baumli who uses the most awesome long arm quilting machine.  She owns a successful quilting business called Threadplay here in Illinois. 

Joni's quilting machine is pretty fabulous and I dare say that Joni's quilting skills and quest perfection rival no other in the region. 

  

Joni's long-arm quilter is linked to a computer program called the Statler Stitcher which is truly technology at it's finest.  After a decorative design is selected (she owns thousands) the design is loaded into her computer which is linked to the long-arm quilting machine. 

The Statler Stitcher relays the decorative pattern directly to the long arm quilting machine and the needle is guided by these instructions.   The photo below shows the paisley pattern as it appears on her computer screen. 

Because the computer guides the long arm, every design stitched is consistent and flawless throughout the project. 

It's also pretty cool to watch the long-arm in operation. 

Take a look at the decorative stitches from the back of the quilt.  This is why you want to be careful about your fabric selection for the back.  You definitely want these beautiful stitches to be clearly visible and not lost in a fabric choice that is too busy or too dark.

Once this part of the quilting process is finished on Joni's end, the quilt is back in my lap to complete the remaining steps.  On this project I opted for a scalloped edge which is pretty much my standard application. 

I use a piece of mylar which I pre-cut into a scallop shape to mark the straight edge of the quilt with a cutting guide.

It does take some extra effort to scallop the quilt edge, but I think the end result is always a wonderful finishing touch. 

After tracing the scallop border with a chalk marker, I simply cut along the marked line to create the scalloped edge.

Remember, if your quilt has a scalloped edge you really need to use a continuous bias binding.  The pieces for this kind of binding are cut on the "bias" of the fabric versus the horizontal or vertical grain of the fabric.  This ultimately gives the binding a crucial stretchiness and flexibility which is needed to curve over the scalloped edge of the quilt easily.

For a link to easy instructions on making continuous bias binding click here.

   

Once you make your binding it will take quite a few straight pins to attach it to a scalloped edge.  It's actually better to use too many pins than not enough to ensure that the binding is lined up perfectly with the scalloped edge and there are no gaps or puckers.

Notice how the binding curves and stretches over the scalloped edge in the photo below?  Regular binding will not curve this easily over a scallop.

 

I always sew my binding to the top side of the quilt first.  Once I've attached the binding all the way around the scalloped quilt edge, I remove all pins and fold the binding over and onto the backside of the quilt. 

   

At this point, iron the binding neatly around the scallop.  After ironing, pin once again to temporarily secure the open end so that you can hand stitch it to the backing side of the quilt.

My apologies to the wonderful quilting purists out there, but this is the only part of my quilting process that involves any actual stitching by hand.

   

After the hand-stitching, I typically go over the entire scalloped edge with the steam iron once again to give the border a nice neat, crisp look.  I love how these scallops look.

I want to thank my friend and "quilting goddess", Joni Baumli who always helps my projects come to life with her skillful attention to detail and perfection.  She really makes all the difference in the final presentation of my quilts. 

I can't do what she does and I really admire her abilities.  It's also a pleasure to showcase her wonderful talents here and share pictures of her fantastic long-arm machine.

Feel free to drop Joni a line and let her know what you think of her beautiful work.  You can see more of her influence on my quilting projects if you click here.

Also, if you have a project you'd like quilted, you can e-mail Joni at Jonibaumli@aol.com.  She has many out-of-state clients and believe me, her work is always exquisite.

 

Meanwhile, many of you have asked about how I light my crafting projects when photographing them.  You can see my specialized lighting studio in the photo below.

OK, so it's not really a special lighting studio but my living room works just fine because of the large windows and abundance of natural light.

As you can see, there are quite a few steps in a quilt project.  I think it's well worth it in the end, especially when you're left with a finished project you're pleased with. 

I hope you're inspired to try your hand at making your own quilt and here's hoping it's picture perfect-from start to finish.

Trip Around the World

When I was a little girl, I had the chance to live and travel to many parts of the world as the daughter of a Peace Corps director.  However, I never took a trip "around" the world-until I made this quilt. 

Trip Around the World is the name for this quilt design which starts with a fabric square in the center and radiates outward with seemingly hundreds of other colorful squares that create one big square after another.

I'll admit, when I first saw the pattern for this quilt I was a little intimidated because I thought it contained far too many individual squares than I could possibly keep up with. 

The little 2-inch squares actually are not sewn together individually at all.  It only looks that way.

Since I completed this particular quilt a while ago without taking pictures of the process, I'm going to back-track the steps for you using leftover fabric from different projects.  Six different fabrics were used for this quilt so I just rounded up half a dozen remnants for this tutorial. 

Start by cutting 2 1/2-inch fabric strips out of each fabric selection.  Cut the strips the length of your fabric yardage.

If you make this project you'll be cutting strips much longer than the example in the photo below which is a scaled down version for purposes of this basic illustration. 

Sew the strips together using a 1/4-inch seam allowance.  I use a special 1/4-inch foot which attaches to my sewing machine.  It has a small black metal fabric guide to the right of the needle and the raw edge of the fabric rests right up against it as it's being stitched.  This is a great tool to help maintain a consistent 1/4-inch seam allowance.   

You can contact your sewing machine manufacturer or local sewing shoppe to find a 1/4-inch foot to fit your particular machine.

After stitching all your strips together, you'll end up with a very large piece as in the photo below.  Iron this piece flat making sure you do not stretch or pull the fabric during the ironing process.

Once the strips have been sewn together and ironed, cut across the width of the newly constructed piece to create new strips which are 2 1/2-inch in width.  See-thru quilter's rulers make this step a breeze.

You'll notice in the photo below that each new strip contains a 2 1/2-inch square from each of the six fabric selections.

The strategic and staggered placement of these strips is what creates the Around the World design.  Because of the 1/4-inch seam allowance on each side of the strips, your finished squares within the strips will end up measuring 2-square inches. 

Remember, your actual strips will be much longer than the ones in the demo photo below.  When sewing these strips together make sure you line-up your square seams and pin in place before stitching.

As you can see in the photo below, after staggering your strips per the pattern instructions and stitching them all together, you're left with the appearance of tons of individual squares. 

I think this is a wonderful pattern that actually suggests it's more complicated to construct than it really is.

Of course, it's no secret by now that I love a scalloped border on a quilt.  As always, I applied that technique to this project using the same green-checkered print for my binding that I used for the small border within the quilt.

I think when you repeat fabric selections like the binding and a border, it really helps tie all the pieces together for a nice effect that looks consistant and well planned. 

I just love how this checkered print looks against the green toile. 

Speaking of toile, my favorite part of this quilt is definitely toile print.  I've said here many times that I love just about all things toile. 

There's just something about this style of fabric that always speaks to me regardless of the color or pictoral depicted in the print.  To me, it's such a classy fabric.

I also think toile makes an especially beautiful backing for just about any quilt.  It just gives it that vintage look that really helps a modern-day quilt look much older.

Take a look at the contrast of the quilt backing with the other fabrics in the quilt top in the photo below.  I love this combination of fabrics which comes from a line manufactured by Marcus Brothers called Vintage Gardens Collection.

Here is another view of that scrumptious toile on the back of the finished project.  I think using a fabric like this for the back makes the quilt virtually double-sided because the back is as pretty as the front.

I loved this green toile fabric so much I ended up buying the entire bolt.  Needless to say, I have several other projects using some of this same stash.  I'll share those projects later in an upcoming post.

So next time you're planning an excursion, why not consider this trip around the world?  Just think, it's fun-filled and colorful, and you'll never need a passport.

Deal Me In-In the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  You know, I wasn't quite sure how my little blogging experiment would be received when I started it last summer, but I've been pleasantly surprised and humbled.  Thanks so much to all of you for your visits, encouragement and your support of all my crafting efforts here.  It's been wonderful connecting with so many like-minded crafters and artisans in 2007 and I look forward to meeting more of you and sharing lots of fun new projects in 2008. 

Thanks again for being along for the ride.  Now, let's get down to crafting.

Deal me in, when it comes to my first project of the new year.  There's a reason my latest quilt project is called Dealer's Choice. That's the name of this particular quilt pattern which looks like cards being shuffled in a deck.  Actually, it's a clever optical illusion that just looks like the squares are overlapping.  Trust me, if you are ever dealt these cards, it will never be a losing hand.

The picture below shows how the patterned squares look like they are actually overlapped. If you click the picture you'll get a larger view and you can actually see the block seams and the alternating placement of the various half-squares and quarter-square triangles that create the optical illusion.

The diagram below shows how the various fabric choices are ultimately cut. After cutting a determined number of squares, you then cut them into quarters. You'll also have to cut some of the fabric squares into halves. You then have to assign a different fabric selection to each of the pieces cut to create the final squares.

This can get tricky because at this point you are working with so many different pieces and fabric selections. I think the only way to keep up with all the different fabric halves and quarter triangles is to create a fabric key like the one shown below.

I just snipped a little piece of each of my fabric choices and attached them to the pattern instructions to keep track of the various fabric placements. I think this is the best way to keep from getting confused about correct fabric placement.

The diagrams below show what the completed squares will look like once sewn with the appropriate fabric choice. If you compare the two diagrams you can see how the placement of the squares in the left diagram are assembled to give you the card trick optical illusion shown in the diagram on the right.

Below you can see the how the card trick pattern is revealed in the completed project. This is actually a fun project to work on but you'll need to exercise a little patience to keep all the multiple pieces sorted correctly. It's also a good idea to double check your fabric placement against your respective fabric key diagram before you do any stitching.  However, don't worry if you make a mistake, that's why they make seam rippers.

Toile may just be my favorite type of fabric and I love the look of toile as a backing fabric for this project.  It really adds the vintage look to the finished quilt that I was aiming for.  I bought 6 yards of this beautiful red toile on a quilt shoppe clearance table years ago, for 2-dollars a yard.  Can't beat a deal like that and it's great to finally put this beautiful fabric to good use.

The picture below gives you a better look at how the backing looks with the top. By using the same backing fabric for some of the design pieces and border strips, it helps give the overall quilt a great coordinated look. I often use the same fabric for backing and borders for this reason. I used the same repeat effect with the red checkered binding by also using it in the checkered fabric strips in the quilt top.

 

I found this pattern in the pages of Quilter magazine in an old March 2004 issue.  Yes, I do hang on to far too many magazines.  They're so hard to part with because I always think I'll need some info or tid-bit in them, after it's tossed.  Still, they take up too much space and I am determined to do some major magazine purging in the new year.

Scalloping the edges is generally how I finish off most of my quilt projects, as you may have seen here before.  I think a scalloped binding, as opposed to a straight edge binding will always add a beautiful and special finishing touch to your quilt.

I love the possibilities that can be created with just the right fabric selection.  Even though this is a contemporary quilt, I think this project has a real vintage look simply because of the fabric choices.  To me, that's part of the fun in working with so many wonderful fabrics on the market.

By the way, you certainly don't need a poker face to tackle this Dealer's Choice project.  I think as long as you use your fabric key, you'll be a winner every time with this card trick quilt.   

Like a Royal Flush, that's the kind of hand to play.

The Log Cabin

You can't live in this Log Cabin, but you can certainly curl up in it. If you've never tried your hand at making a quilt, this is the perfect project for you. Log Cabin quilts are among the easiest to construct, and they're also a lot of fun.

I just love the fall colors and the beautiful pattern that runs through one end of the quilt to the other. This has always been one of my favorite quilt projects and if you browse through the pictures below, perhaps you'll be inspired to try your hand at making one too.

     

The Log Cabin quilt starts with one block that is duplicated dozens of times over. The beauty and the fun of this quilt, is the ability to create different overall patterns in the finished quilt, by simply shifting the arrangement of those identical blocks. The block, like the one below, is made up of a series of 1 1/4-inch "dark" fabric strips and "light" fabric strips that are sewn alternately around a small square center or heart.

For this block I used eight main fabrics selections- four florals and four fabrics in the tan/brown family.

    

Even though the above block is shown quilted, I think you can still clearly make out my four floral fabrics to the lower left of the quilt heart. These make up my necessary "darks". The four beige fabric stips to the upper right of the heart make up my required "lights".

I arranged 56-identical blocks in a zig-zag pattern, using the diagram below as my guide. From this diagram you can see how the dark edges, and the light edges of the blocks are lined up to give you that zig-zag appearance. If you were to move the blocks around, you'd get a totally different look.

    

One of the best Log Cabin books I've found is by well-known quilting expert Eleanor Burns who is known for her Quilt in a Day series of quilt books and patterns. Her book featuring the Log Cabin pattern is filled with step-by-step instructions that are easy to understand. There are also loads of pictures of beautiful finished quilts and layout diagrams to help you arrange your Log Cabin blocks into a pattern that suits you.   

     

Of course, the more blocks you use the larger your project will become. The size and number of your individual fabric strips also impacts the size of your quilt. After sewing my 56-blocks together I added two different border-fabrics to make the quilt even larger.

This Log Cabin measures approximately 74 X 84 inches, which makes it slightly larger than a standard queen size but smaller than a standard king size.

Experimenting with the Log Cabin blocks is a lot of fun. It's amazing to see the variety of appearances that can be created by just moving the blocks around in different positions. Take a look at the photo below and you can see how the floral zig-zags run through the project.

There are also several ways to finish-off your quilt. Most quilts have a basic straight edge along the bottom which leaves the overall quilt in a large square. In this case, I decided to scallop the edge to give the project a little more whimsy.

Scalloping the border and sewing the binding onto a curved edge does take a little extra time and effort but I think the enhanced result is well worth the extra labor.

     

I also love how a beautiful quilt can warm up any room and I've incorporated several of my quilt projects into my home decor. I'll share some of my other quilts later in a different post.

    

My family members tease me all the time, because I never really want anyone to actually use any of my quilts. I think of them more as fashion than function, if you know what I mean.

However, I do make exceptions for the furry feline below. Allow me to introduce Clarice, who loves to curl up and sleep on my quilt projects. She's such a quiet, sweet kitty. 

Come to think of it... this cat is always sleeping!

That's because she's actually a furry faux feline.  I picked her up at a local gift shoppe to console my kids who badly want a pet but can't have one because my husband, Boris, is allergic to dogs and cats. 

For now Clarice fits the bill. She's adorable, never any trouble at all... and her litter box is always clean.  MEOW!