Earthy Cabin Pillows

As you may have picked up on, I've got a thing for log cabin blocks.

Improv earthy cabins. 

I had picked up this fabric (below) a while ago at Britex in San Francisco. While it was totally impractical, I saw it and knew I needed some. I think my mom actually got it for me as a souvenir (my favorite kind of souvenir). I didn't note down what it was at the time, and all the selvage says is 'Foxy', so I still have no idea who made it.

Looking 'Foxy'. And somewhat cyclopes/zombie-like. 

I brought it home and it languished. I had several other projects to finish up, so that was my excuse. Then I just didn't know what I wanted to put on the other side! I knew I wanted this fabric to make up one side of each of 2 couch cushions, I just wasn't sure what would go with it! One day it hit me: neutral log cabins! Probably not the lightning bolt you were expecting. Or maybe you were, based on the title of this post, and that first picture (spoiler alert - too late?). While I was choosing fabrics for the seaside baby quilt I saw a bunch of chambray fabrics, which really fit the texture and color scheme of the Foxy fabric. I was initially going to go brighter, to match the stomachs of the foxes, but in the end I chose a more muted color scheme.

Two completed panels.
When I see them next to each other it makes
me want to buy some oakshots and make
a huge improv log cabin quilt. 

I cut strips that were 1", 1.25", and 1.5" wide by WOF and 32 smaller squares for the center ranging from 1.5" square to 3" square and many variations between the two. I just kept the four colors in the same order and alternated strip width as I felt while building them up to 5.25" square. Now each panel measures 19" square (or thereabouts), which will be a nice fit for the 20" square pillow forms I've got waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And they'll wait some more because I finally decided how I'm going to quilt them, and it's by hand. So, hopefully I'll have new cushions by the new year. I'm going on vacation next week, and I think all I'll bring is these panels to quilt - although I don't know that I'll actually get to them what with all my r&r... 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Night Music in the Desert

I've decided to enter my Night Music in the Desert quilt into this fall's Blogger's Quilt Festival. I'm entering this bad boy into the Original Design category, where it faces much stiff competition.

I was so excited when I finished the top!

In this quit I really embraced my love of log cabins and improv. I used 5 solids for the top, mostly Kona Jade (I think)

I had seen some log cabin quilts on pinterest...or someone's blog...or somewhere in the internet. Of course I didn't pin it myself. I'd also had the color scheme in mind, and it lead to some test blocks. Unfortunately, the test blocks didn't quite cut it, so I turned them into potholders for my sister and one of her friends. 

Test blocks become potholders. 

Eventually I got my act together, and sketched out a pattern (which looks vaguely like the finished quilt), and realized if I wanted to go forward with the design I needed to add in some additional colors. I started by incorporating improv color strips into the center row, and I knew that it was the right decision.

Center complete. Now let's just let it sit for a few months...

So, back in January, 2014 I was well on my way! Just a few more blocks and I'm done! It only took me 7 and a half  months until I was actually done! As is often the case, the quilt kept hitting the back burner. I would sew in spurts, six log cabins here, 4 here, until they were all done.

Fun with Courthouse Squares. And extra threads. 

Finally, I got the quilt finished, picked out a backing and brought it to my parents house (much easier to baste there). I got it all basted together and then didn't.know.what.to.do. 

After a couple more weeks I realized a square spiral would not push my skill set too far, and would complement the top without distracting too much from my piecing and color choices. 

All quilted up and in the park!

Now the quilt sits on my couch. It's covered in pet hair, which clearly means it's much loved. I'd show you it's natural habitat, although I'm a little too embarrassed!

It was a great exercise in spontaneous piecing, as I just threw in colors when I felt like it, and then hoped for the best. Know how many extra blocks I made, so that I could play around with layouts? None. I feel like it helps me stretch my creative muscles, and work on compromise. Not everything has to be perfect! At least that's what I tell myself when my quilting stitches change length randomly and my lines wiggle too much. We'll see if I can keep up this mentality on future quilts.

I had created the layout for the most part (the only wild cards were the flying geese rows on the top and bottom), and then added on the borders while everything was on the design wall. The quilt measures somewhere in the ballpark of 60" by 72"...I think. I don't know where my measurements are and that's my estimate based on counting the blocks and attempting to recall their sizes. 

Thanks for stopping by! If you're so inclined, I've got a couple of other posts on the finished quilt and finished flimsy. 

Finished Night Music

Finished Quilt!

Well, I got home from that vacation and just went to town quilting. I am really attempting to minimize my works in progress, so I REALLY wanted to finish this quilt before starting on another...which I already have planned, and am motivated by the imminent due date of my old roommate's baby boy (as long as I get it to her while the baby is under 1 year it still counts, right?). Needless to say, the motivation was there, and I just had to figure out how to quilt it. I decided on a square spiral originating in the center of the quilt. Due to my aversion for marking lines it gets a little squiggly from time to time, and the crispness of the angles is off, but I think it works as a whole. I even used my walking foot guide, so these are the most even lines I've quilted so far!

Quilt Back

I backed the quilt in two prints I picked up that I felt really went well with the color scheme and feeling of the quilt. The one on the left is Anna Maria Horner and the one on the right is Tula Pink (not solid blue!). I forgot to add a label while I was binding, so I appliqued one on after it was all done. It's in the lower left corner, and is my typical stamped label (no close up - whoops).

The whole shebang. 

I designed the layout myself, and made it a row quilt. The center is made up of 12 blocks, then on each side there are two rows of 6 log cabin blocks, and the ends are flying geese. My process involved cutting all the strips for the cabins and adding in some red, yellow, and lighter blue strips in each size. As I went along I used the kona jade and black as my base colors and added in other pops randomly. I didn't get to see what it would look like until I put it up on my design wall. Regarding my design wall, I only have one when I've finally bought some batting and am about to piece a quilt top, so they are temporary fixtures in the apartment. I don't usually lay out blocks on the floor, so it's all guesswork until I get to the end. I added in some of my leftover fabrics as spacing between the rows and as a border around the quilt. I also bound the quilt in some of the scraps. I like how the quilt maintains the feeling of colorful chaos, but there are still places where your eye can rest. 

Quilt and end of summer flowers (not mine, I went to a park on the waterfront).

Now the quilt is resting on the couch under a cat, and I'm all set to start my next project!  

Summer Slow Down!

Well, it's about time for Summer VACATION! I'm working hard to finish up a few school related things, and a few quilt related things. Last week I posted about my log cabin love affair, now you can see how the blocks are going to be used! I'm still tweaking the layout a bit, and I'm loving the bold colors. They're all Kona solids. I think.

Nearly final layout. Some more strips,
and a narrow border will complete it. 

My goal is to at least finish the flimsy before I leave, keeping in mind my other commitments and that we're leaving for Honduras for 10 days next Tuesday. Plus I have a finish to share as well, and one other project I want to make before I leave!

I thought I said this was the summer slow down...guess that starts with vacation!

Any suggestions for the name would be appreciated as well. I've been working with Graphic Southwest and Pixelated Southwest, neither of which really roll off the tongue. 

Log Cabin Love Affair

When I first started quilting I took a hand quilting class, then a machine quilting class. Both involved learning to piece in the respective methods, and then a basic lesson on how to quilt. In each class we made samplers so we could learn about the different techniques for creating different types of blocks. I loved hand piecing for the precision it generates (never, ever lost any points, every block was exactly 12.5 inches every time!), and I loved machine piecing for the speed, and the rotary cutter friendliness of the pieces that got sewn together.

Something I hated? Log cabin blocks! I thought they were so ugly, so old fashioned. I wouldn't make one, or if I had to I modified it so it didn't look like a log cabin. And therein lies my current obsession: Log cabin blocks! It started with my Broken Umbrella quilt, and now I've realized how very versatile this block is, and I can't stop thinking about how I can use them!

Anyway, I've been making versions of log cabin blocks for my southwest inspired quilt top. They all start with a 1.5" square and I add on 1.5" strips. The blocks finish at 9" square. Here's some of what I've been working on:

Mixing up the colors changes the feel of these blocks

Example of how *I think* the two rows will be laid out. 

Now all I need to do is create a couple of smaller filler rows, and I'm done!

Linking up to WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.