log cabin love

March 11, 2007 at 4:02 pm | Posted in I love to make things..., wardrobe refashion | 10 Comments

I made my first-ever log cabin squares yesterday and just snapped a photo of one before I turn it into a pillow:

my second log cabin quilt square/pillowtop

The other one, in a different color mix, is tucked away in my flickr instead of posted here because it’s a gift and I don’t want the recipient to track it down yet. And that’s all I’ll mention about that, until April anyway!

I really love the look of gorgeous all-patterned log cabin pillows, but I’m a compulsive project-alter-er, so I changed the proportions a little. I wanted to show larger sections of my patterned fabrics so I made the center square 4 inches across, the patterned strips 2.5 inches wide, and the solid corduroy strips 1.25 inches wide. The finished size is 15 inches square.

I really like how the thin corduroy frames the busy patterns and calms them down a bit. I cut up two pairs of Andrew’s frayed old Levi’s cords and salvaged lots of the material, and all the other fabric was from my stash. Oh, and I found it easiest to press all the seams facing toward the center, I’m not sure if that’s what everyone else does, but it worked for me. I’m a total quilting beginner, but I’m feeling a bit more confident with one successful patchwork project done.

So I think I’ll stitch up 14-inch pillow forms with plain fabric and polyfil I have here, so it’s a self-contained project I didn’t have to leave the house for or spend any money on. Very Wardrobe Refashion!

For more log cabin inspiration, I absolutely love the work of Lisa Congdon and Denyse Schmidt… they make such beautiful things.

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  1. I keep thinking that a log cabin is going to be the next installment in my little quilts. I even got out the pattern in the Crafter’s Companion. (Sadly, I think more yo-yo’s are calling me first!) Yours turned out quite cute. Is that a Japanese print in the center?

  2. Sarah, thanks! The center fabric is one of the Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy Free Spirit prints. I love her stuff. (And the center of the semi-secret one on flickr is vintage.)

  3. Susan, that’s adorable (like so many of the things you make!). Will you show the final product? And, did you reinforce it with batting or interfacing before finishing it?

  4. I’ve been collecting fabrics for a log cabin pillow for friends for awhile now- and with their birthdays coming up next weekend your posting of this is just in time! I really need to just sit down and start cutting the fabric for it.

  5. beautiful!

  6. I like the twist on the log cabin. And don’t you just LOVE using old clothes to make quilt blocks?? One of my favorite things to do. I love quilts!!

  7. [...] I recently got up the courage to try quilting after years and years of sewing, I’m extra excited to use these lovely squares in a project, [...]

  8. [...] the chance to do some fun spring sewing lately, after a busy winter! I finally machine-quilted my log cabin pillow top — which is mostly vintage and Denyse Schmidt prints, bordered with reclaimed brown corduroy [...]

  9. [...] finished my first log cabin pillow on Saturday! I love looking at it, I’ve been intimidated by quilting for years and was so [...]

  10. I’m making a log cabin cushion for someone as a gift and i’m lucky to be the owner of one of Lisa’s log cabin cushions too!


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