002 Block Study: Log Cabin

My first large quilt was a log cabin pattern. It was a wonderful use of small bits of fabrics I loved.  It was also a color value study, as I separated the fabrics into lights and darks.  The traditional Log Cabin block has a red and yellow square at the center.  The red represents the hearth of the home, a warming fire to gather around.  The yellow represents a lantern in the window, a guiding light to home.  I love metaphors, so this was rich with meaning for me.  I had just come back to my hometown, transferring from the first college I attended to complete my degree at the university there.  My transition was literally to home, but figuratively I was coming closer to my full identity, finding my place in the world.  

For the traditional Log Cabin, I gathered all my favorite bits of fabric, sorted them by value and then pieced them on the machine, using the chain-piecing method.  For this block study, I wanted to try a modern version of the block.  Since joining the Modern Quilt Guild, I have enjoyed learning about improv piecing.  I used this method by Coriander Quilts to make Wonky Log Cabin blocks.  However, I wanted to retain an element of the traditional block in this modern one, so I decided to include the two center colors, red and yellow.  I dug through my scraps to find some reddish and yellowish pieces, as an echo of the original.  Then I pulled pieces that looked long enough for the layers in the blocks.  I separated these into darkish and lightish piles.  I knew I wanted the blocks to be finished at 9” since I have a 9½” square ruler. This would make sizing and trimming easy.

 I decided to make two blocks at a time, so I could trade off piecing them and not cut the thread from the sewing machine.  This worked well.  I sewed the first two pieces together, red and yellow.  I trimmed a clean edge, found a long enough piece to cover the length of the next side, sewed it down, pressed, and trimmed for the next edge.  This process slowly rotated counterclockwise around the block, two light strips, then two dark strips.  

After a couple rounds I could see the sides of the block form around the center.  The centers were not centered, but that made the blocks look whimsical.  Adding evenly sized strips kept the block more or less square.  I added a wider piece to the second block, which turned things more rectangular.  I ended up with a block that was far wider than 9 inches.  To keep the proportions of light and dark, I ended up cutting down the piece and restitching the strips to be more square. 

The picture shows the two Wonky Log Cabin blocks I created for the study, and the traditional Log Cabin block quilt I created in 1996.

Overall, it was a really fun and simple process.  I liked being able to use my scraps from other projects.  It would be interesting to veer from the traditional red/yellow center and try other shapes, as the video showed.  My sense of order and design would prefer a similar center fabric to anchor the piece, even if the shapes are not square.  It would be fun to see what happens if I scale the center block up to a larger center piece. Maybe fussy-cut the centers?  Or even make a small block pattern as the center, a block within the block?  This will be a fun block to experiment with in the future.