Yes - More Log Cabins!

Yes, more Log Cabin quilts. Today I'm featuring the Greek Key Spiral Log Cabin blocks. They are really the Courthouse Steps version of Log Cabin with the last log added in a magical position. Very easy and it's a "fool the eye" block that I enjoy making. As you can see, I have two lap sized quilts made from them.

These are 8" blocks that were pieced the old fashioned way - using no specialty ruler. Just precise piecing. I call this Red Hot Logs.

Red Hot Logs: 42" x 50"

 Here is a photo of four of the blocks.

Four Greek Key Blocks

 And 12 of the 20 blocks:

12 blocks of the 20 total

I pulled out my Kaffe Fassett fabrics and proceeded to whip up another version of the Greek Keys. I got in trouble with the center four pink/pink blocks because I wasn't sure how to arrange everything. But it all worked out. This was quilted by Lee Taylor in the Sew Lovelee Quilt Shop in southern Virginia.

Rainbow Log Cabins

Both versions are included in my Craftsy pattern. The multi-colored one is a real scrap buster.

Let me show you two Log Cabin quilts using the Hexagon Log Cabin ruler. These were also fun to make. They were patterns for Creative Grids, and unless you have those rulers, the pattern won't make much sense. But I'm working on an alternate piecing for these, so stay tuned.

Hexagons in Paradise was a popular seller. She sold a lot of patterns! These are Log Cabins with a hexagon center. But you could also see these as Pineapple blocks, too. This has since been gifted.

Hexagons in Paradise

And this second one was also a favorite. Here are a few shots of the blocks in process:

The beginnings of my Hexagon Pineapple block

 Here is one block:

"Squaring up" my Hexagon Pineapple/Log Cabin block

Now for the table topper:

Lucky Seven Hexagon Table Topper

Hexagons and Log Cabins play very nicely with each other, don't you think? I loved using these luscious glittery fabrics from Blank Quilting for the blocks.

And, yes, I have more Log Cabin quilts to share. Probably next week. I'm off to North Carolina to teach for 3 days and when I get back I'll cross a few more Log Cabin quilts off my list.

More Log Cabins

You didn't think I was done, did you? I made a list of my log cabin quilt creations and it keeps growing. Remember, I've been doing this for 25+ years and I have all my original files from when they were published in various magazines.

These were made using some Benartex fabrics called Dwellings. These pot holders are made from panels that look like Log Cabins. Cut, stitch, bind, done!

Log Cabin Pot Holders

This is the fabric on the back:

Pot Holders backing fabric

I submitted these to Modern Patchwork Magazine and they said, "Sure. But you need to remake them with actual fabric strips!" OK. Pay me and I'll do it. (I did; they did.)

Log Cabin Potholders that appeared in Modern Patchwork Magazine 2014

 How the pot holders appeared in the magazine:

Single pot holder

I rewrote the entire pattern (9 page pdf) with a color cover page and color throughout with four full size foundations for making these. One of my daughters promptly snatched these, of course! Check out my Craftsy pattern for these (only $4.00).

What else did I make with these fabrics? I cut out more of the log cabin motifs and added roofs (a simple Flying Geese unit) and here she is. Fun, huh?

Mi Casa es Su Casa (My House is Your House)

One more quilt made with another Benartex collection. I call this Warm Welcome Home. I used the 8" Creative Grids Log Cabin ruler for the houses and a Flying Geese unit for the roofs. The center block with the squares on the diagonal came from cutting two blocks along the diagonal and sewing the dark sides together.

I have the multi-page patterns in hard copy (and color) which shows BOTH ways to create these blocks (with or without the ruler). I sell them for $4 plus $2 postage (USA and Canada only). I will get this up on my Craftsy site sometime soon. Send me an email for more info: kratovil@his.com.

Warm Welcome Home: 34" x 34"

Do I have more Log Cabin quilts? Of course. And I hope to share those with you soon. Hope you enjoyed the show.

Log Cabins

I have made a few dozen log cabin quilts and I'd like to share a few of them with you today.

This first one was made almost 25 years ago. I know you can tell by the fabric!

Curved Blocks made years ago!

This is my Sunshine Butterflies pattern made using the Curvy Log Cabin ruler by Jean Ann Wright for Creative Grids. It is 47" x 47" with 12" Butterfly blocks.

Sunshine Butterflies: 47" x 47"

And a quilt shop in Michigan made a shop sample. I love it in these colors, don't you?

Sunshine Butterflies by Quilting Divas Sewing Boutique

One of my favorite little quilts is this one in Black, Red and Gray. The strips are tiny and the blocks are only 4" in size! It is 23" x 23" as seen here. Very scrap friendly. This also was a Creative Grids pattern and has since been retired. I'm trying to rewrite each of these patterns to make without the rulers. Almost there!

Little Logs

And you remember this quilt where I combined log cabin blocks with appliqué. My Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam quilt that ran in Keepsake Quilting as a kit. I sell the 16 page pattern on Craftsy. Full size templates for each of the 9 blocks. And steps for making those 8" Log Cabin blocks.

Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam Quilt (48" x 48")

Each set of 4 Log Cabin blocks (16" x 16") provides the center for each of the 9 appliqués. I used solids for the appliqué blocks and simple zigzag machine stitching for the raw edges. Those of you who love hand appliqué would enjoy that process, I'm sure

Have a Heart Sue

 Here's Windy Sue!

Windy Sue block

And Have a Heart Sam:

Have a Heart Sam

 And the vintage Overall Sam!

Overall Sam

I got so ambitious with making these Log Cabin blocks that I made another whole set. Of course, I am partial to 1930s prints. But you can probably envision any fabrics for the Log Cabins and the centers accommodate 10" high figures!

Flock of Birds Pattern

I love the sound of birds. It is different in the Fall from how things sound in the Spring. I thought of my calendar block for today, Flock of Birds. Here is the block as made by Patricia Bryant of Australia. Click the link and you can see all 7 of the blocks she made from that week in the calendar!

Flock of Birds by Patricia Bryant

Now, can we see it up close? Yes, it's small, but that's how I had to make it for my Block a Day Calendar.

Flock of Birds

When I created the hard copy calendar, I also created a CD version of all the blocks in TWO sizes and 12 quilts. The CD is no longer in print (neither is the calendar). I offer the blocks in monthly pdfs at my Craftsy store (links at the end of this post).

Here is the page from the October blocks (31 blocks in 2 sizes and 2 quilts). This is how each block is presented in the the version I created for the CD. You can make Flock of Birds in two sizes (12" and 18").

Go check out each month's listings at my Craftsy shop. You will find the pdfs contain over 40 pages of blocks (like you see above) and patterns for one or two quilts using those blocks.

• January Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• February Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• March Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• April Blocks with 1 quilt pattern
• May Blocks with 1 quilt pattern
• June Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• July Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• August Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• September Blocks with 2 quilt patterns
• October Blocks with 2 quilt patterns

Thanks for stopping by! And hope you enjoyed seeing my Flock of Birds block!

Windham Wednesdays with Gypsy and Bedrock

Wow! That's sound like some sort of coded message: the Gypsy is hiding in the Bedrock? Not so.

I had sewn and written my Gypsy post when THESE came in the mail yesterday! Now I can finish my little blocks (which you will see below).

What an awesome print that will be my border

I received two beautiful pieces of the Gypsy Collection a few months ago (I think they were the "first cuts" that the factory sends to the vendor, which is Windham) and found an awesome use for one of them when I stitched up some OLD blocks into a new quilt center. This is a new sample for a revived workshop, Dogwood Blossom:

Gypsy main print is perfect for my border

I was left with a 12" x 18" piece of the dark print and 1/2 yard or so of the other:

50569-3 from the Gypsy Collection

The colors in the real fabric are SO MUCH more vivid than this image from the web site. Let me show you. I pulled 6 fat quarters of Bedrock that will go perfectly with my Gypsy remainders. Bedrock is a blender collection of 70 colors that Windham released in January. I think it's going to be around for a long time!

Gypsy with 6 prints from Bedrock

Now, I know what you're thinking: how in the world can she do something with less than 1/6 yard of that dark print and 1/2 yard of the light print and a few fat quarters? Well, if you're asking that, you don't really know me. I love a challenge like this!

Maybe you remember what I did with 4 of these fabrics back in July? Eat Your Carrots is a small quilt I made with a simple foundation piecing pattern I designed. Check it out.

Eat Your Carrots

Now back to Gypsy!

I cut a bunch of 4-1/2" squares of that light print. I cut a variety of strips from Bedrock:

Four 4-1/2" squares, two 1-1/2" x 6-1/2" strips and one 1-1/2" x 9-1/2" strip

I stitched them into this sashed 4-Patch:

Adding strips

 Ready for the outer thin strips, to make this an 11" (finished) block. Yes, I know where I'm going!

Block measures 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" unfinished

Adding outer orange Bedrock 1-1/2" (cut strips)

• two cut 1-1/2" x 9-1/2"
• two cut 1-1/2" x 11-1/2"

First of several blocks

Now what? I cut and pieced some blocks using the dark print in the center (cut those 6-1/2"). Added strips cut 3":

• two 3" x 6-1/2"
• two 3" x 11-1/2"

And here they all are, waiting for me to stitch them together into a very scrappy (and yet controlled) quilt center. Actually, this is 11 of the 12 blocks. I'm still deciding on one that reads too light in the center. But, I've run out of the floral fabric, so it just may get in there!

11 of my 12 Gypsy and Bedrock blocks

So, you see I can make a few more blocks into a 44" x 44" center (4 blocks by 4 blocks) and use that beautiful turquoise print I showed at the top for my border.

This really is a SCRAP BUSTER block pattern. The colors unify everything. I'll keep you posted on how I finish things up. Thanks for stopping by!

Two Small Quilts from One Charm Pack

Five years ago I received a charm pack of Briar Rose fabrics from Windham. I'm not crazy about 5" squares, but I thought I'd see what I could come up with.

5" squares of Briar Rose

This was 2013 and I was busy teaching several English Paper Piecing workshops. These squares worked very well with 2" hexagons. Don't you just love that little froggy sitting by the river, reading his book?

Some squares became 2" hexagons

 I put those into a table runner:

My Zig and Zag of Hexies table runner

Here is the quilting up close. Love my walking foot! My Zig and Zag of Hexies was first a much larger table runner. You can see it here!

Straight line quilting

I had some extra charms and was able to get two Dresden Plate wedges from each. Then I finished up the base with a triangle instead of a 1/4 circle. So easy! I quilted it this weekend and I love the happy colors, don't you?

Briar Rose with other Windham Fabrics for finishing

This is an 18 degree Dresden tool. I used the 5" height on the ruler and was able to get two wedges from each square.

I am teaching my Modern Vortex class in another week in North Carolina and I'm taking several of my Dresden Plate quilts to show them all the variations you can get from this simple tool. I know they will be inspired. I could present an entire trunk show using my 2 dozen or so Dresden Plate quilts!

October Flower Vase for 2018 Tea Party BOM - FREE

How can it be October already? Don't talk to me about Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas yet!

This is Block #10 and I call it the Flower Vase. You can call it anything you want. As you can see, mine lacks some flowers but, I have plans.

I found a good sized scrap of one of my favorite fabrics and I think it's lovely how that one leaf is centered!

Flower Vase: Block #10

As you already know, I like to use freezer paper to make my templates. I placed a piece over the full sized paper template and traced.

Tracing the template

Then I ironed the freezer paper to fabric that had fusible webbing on the wrong side and cut it out.

Flower Vase cut out and ready to attach to my background square

You can find the pattern here: October Flower Vase.

You can see the other 9 blocks here: 2018 Tea Party Block of the Month with links to the blocks on Craftsy. Remember, each block is FREE only for the month in which it is released.