Orange Improv Log Cabin Mini Quilt

sarah • December 7, 2020

During my Summer 100 Day Project to make Improv Log Cabin mini quilts I stumbled upon the idea to made a spiral in my log cabin.

This log cabin was precisely pieced. I sketched on graph paper to make my plan. Then got to work.

I decided to combine my spiral plan with orange scrappy slab. (I think I had a piece of orange scrappy slab started that I was able to build on to).

First think was to cut up my scrappy slab. I used 2 1/2" strips, trimmed down to size for each log.

My palette was limited to orange, black, and white, and I chose a black on black print for my contrasting spiral. These strips were cut 1 1/2" wide.

When piecing scrappy slab to neighboring fabric, sometimes it is unreasonable to press seams open given the bulk of the seam. These two photos show one area where the tiny strip of light orange will disappear in the seam, creating bulk.

And this shows where the tiny strip of orange and white print will be visible on the front, but required I press the seam to one side. You can see this super skinny strip of mostly white fabric vertically in the photo below, just inside the left most vertical strip of black near the upper corner. One of my favorite parts of piecing with scrappy slab is where these tiny slivers of fabric show.

Tada! Quilt top.

I used my favorite filler, a zig zag meander (which I also used in my red Improv Log Cabin), combined with echo quilting in the black logs. I actually spiraled in and then out all in one trip. Then I bound it in my solid Black Kona.

My quilt finished at 16 1/2" x 16 1/2".

You can read all about the other quilts in the series here:

This is day 7 of the 31-Day Blog Writing Challenge with Cheryl.

“Not Christmas” Bee Blocks • 4 Comments

sarah • December 6, 2020

For November, our prompt from Sarah was to create three blocks in shades of red and green, taking a broad view of what is meant by "red" and "green." She explained, "anything from pink to burgundy, seafoam to olive" and shared her fabric postcard as an example of the wide array of colors to include. Our blocks were to be any size and didn't need to be square (though mine all are).

I sure love color and this was a great opportunity to play with color. I enjoyed putting together different combinations, which is part of the reason why I didn't stop at just three blocks!

As a warmup, I made the 6 1/2" four patch.

Then I made my first 12" block, circular steps.

At this point I mixed and matched my remaining reds and greens and decided on three more blocks. A 7 1/2" pinwheel block. (I feel like it's a weird size, but could be trimmed down.)

Another 12" block, hourglass spin.

And an 8 1/2" sawtooth star, a favorite traditional block.

Purple Scrappy Slab Cuddle Quilt For My Niece • 18 Comments

sarah • December 5, 2020

There's a sentiment about how a first child's experience is different than a second child's. (We could talk about how my 8 year old doesn't have a baby book yet.) Apparently the same goes for niece and nephew. Within a couple months of my nephew's birth, he had a baby quilt. However, my niece just received her "baby" quilt for her 2nd birthday.

I started out with a different plan for her. My nephew's quilt had been inspired by the mural in his room and I wanted to do the same for her. But her African safari wall left me feeling like I "should" do appliqué... and I don't particularly enjoy the process of appliqué. Eventually I pivoted to focusing on the main color of her room, purple, a favorite of mine. I have a lot of purple scraps and I have been building purple scrappy slabs to piece for Jillian's quilt for over two years!

In recent weeks (months?) the quilt top has been my backdrop while I'm on zoom. I love reminiscing about the previous purple projects these scraps have come from. (There's a section in the upper right that's from my Ultra Violet All About Angles quilt.)

I'm really deadline driven. As Gretchen Rubin says, "things that can be done any time are often done at no time." And that really resonates with me for quilts that don't have a deadline. A challenge or quilt show submission deadline is really motivating for me. Quilt alongs and 100 day projects help, too. But "I'm making this for someone" doesn't usually have a deadline. As we approached her 2nd birthday, I decided this needed to be my hard deadline. I could hardly still call this a "baby" quilt, but at least it is sizable enough to be a good cuddle quilt for years to come.

I opted for simple walking foot quilting in organic vertical and horizontal lines. I didn't concern myself with perfection or equal spacing.

Then I added a little free motion elephant as a nod to her room. (Shh. I also have an elephant quilt in progress for her.)

My binding is more scrappy fabric. I usually opt for a bias binding, but this one was straight grain pieces, since I wanted to use scraps. I attached the binding by machine.