Cabin Fever

We've had several flurries and snow days already this year, and that just makes me want to curl up by the fire in a log cabin in the woods in front of the tv with a log cabin quilt. (Let's be honest: a log cabin in the woods would have mice and spiders and terrible internet service.)

This month's Island Batik ambassador challenge was to create a quilt using the traditional log cabin block, but like usual, I wanted to challenge myself to make it a bit more modern.

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When looking through the fabrics left in my stash of fabrics Island Batik has sent me this year, I found quite a few 5" by width of fabric pieces from their stash builder rolls (my favorite precut!). Most of what I have left are earthy tones, but mixed in were just a few pastel fabrics. (The fabrics are Island Batik Foundation Basics and Blenders).

After a bit of brainstorming and quilt math, I came up with a 36" square quilt made of just one log cabin block that would use only five of the strips and solid white fabric for the background. (I love Island Batik's solid white! The thread count makes it such a better quality than other solids!)

I started by cutting a 5" square from the pink strip for the center square, then cut all the remaining pastel fabrics into 2 1/2" strips. From these strips, I cut the various lengths needed for the logs.

To give the block more of a "modern" feel, I decided to add 1" strips of white (that finish at just 1/2") between the colored logs.

After three rounds of logs, I added a wider 5" strip of white before adding the final round of logs. I finished the quilt with a round of 2 1/2" strips. The extra sections of background fabric were really a way of disguising the fact that I didn't have enough pastel fabric to make the quit any bigger!

For backing, I sewed two 1/4 yard pieces and one 1/2 yard piece together. Then I pin basted the quit on the floor with Warm & Natural batting.

All of the piecing was done with 50wt Aurifil #2324 Stone. I picked 50wt Aurifil #2479 Medium Orchid from my thread stash for the quilting.

I wanted to quilt a "spiral" on the quilt, but in a square shape. I used my Hera marker to mark a small square in the center of the quilt, then used my walking foot on my domestic Juki sewing machine to start quilting from the center out.

I just eyeballed the distance I wanted between the quilting lines (about 3/4" or so), but did work diligently to keep the lines evenly spaced and straight. 

Once the quilting was done, I used more of the green fabric for binding (I had a 1/2 yard cut of it in my stash!) and sewed it on by machine.

I've actually had the quilt done for several days, but I've not wanted to venture out in the cold to take photos! As my mom would say, I put my big girl panties on (and a coat!), and got outside to take them today. The lighting wasn't ideal, but just like with a quilt - finished is better than perfect!!

This is my 60th quilt finish for the year! (See all my finishes here.)

I think this would be a fabulous quilt for a baby girl! I love the softer color palette. I even think pastels are trendy right now??

My husband is behind most of the quilt photos, but this photo shoot was actually a family affair! Both my five year old and three year old took turns being the quilt holder too.

Now for a bit of hot cocoa!

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