Friday, March 01, 2024

Creating a mess

My strip boxes are overflowing. I need to get them under control.

I made 4 Housetop blocks with varying width strips to see if I liked making them and I did, but I can't cut them out of scraps alone. Those outer rings take 30" of a strip, and most of mine aren't that long. And the 1.25"strips are what I really want to get rid of. 

So I drew up the Log Cabin block I wanted to make using only 1.25"strips, and went through the boxes and pulled out every bit that wasn't 18" long. My chart showed every rectangle I needed to cut, so it was easy to measure a little strip, then cut the longest piece I could from it.

I dealt with the light strips in short order; it was satisfying to find a use for every little bit, down to a 1.25"square.

All these little smidgeons were converted to logs of the right size, with almost no waste.

Lots of teeny little dark strips found a home too. I haven't touched the larger scraps yet, and I have enough for more than 20 blocks. I have no idea how many I can make out of those 2 tubs, but it will be a quilt's worth.



                                   
All laid out waiting for me to start building. I was going to have 5 rounds, but I think I'll stop at 4 and that will make a 6" block. That 8.25"block just seems too big.


At some stage I will have to think about how I want the blocks set; there are so many possibilities that it's hard to choose.

I've always loved Straight Furrows, 



But then again I love Sunshine and Shadows, 



and Barn Raising.

In fact, my first quilt was a Log Cabin, made when I was 15, in the Straight Furrows setting.

I made it for my Mum, and she loved it, though it was all 70s dressmaking scraps, and pretty wonky.


Those decisions are a long way off yet, so I'll just keep on cutting and sewing.

3 comments:

  1. Your blocks look very nice. My favorite log cabin setting is barn raising but turning the corner blocks to make a different design. Happy stitching!

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  2. My first ever quilt was a log cabin!!! When I told my mom what I had made (MANY years ago), I received a small package in the mail a couple weeks later. When I was born, my dad was in the Navy in Oakland, California. One of my folks' neighbor brought over a small, probably 5" square, log cabin block and said "Someday Mindy (that's me!) would make a log cabin quilt!" Mom had never shared that with me until I got the package. It still kind of gives me chills. I immediately framed the little block and it hangs in my bedroom as a constant reminder. Log cabin still remains a huge favorite of mine! I follow Lea Louise, Inspired Quilts, and she's done a tutorial on YouTube where she miters the light strips and also the dark strips. You just whack off the length you need and the miter of 2 different fabrics in a strip is awesome! Absolutely love her idea!

    ~Mindy from Indy

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  3. Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilts has a log cabin pattern in the book, "I Love Log Cabins" which she calls "Mi Casa" which is made from 1.25" strips but the centers are 2" cut, I believe. The reason I mention that quilt is that it is set on point and looks really sharp. Here is a link to a photo of the quilt. https://modafabrics.com/2016/02/cabin-fever

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