Log Cabin

I get quite frustrated when people say there are no new designs out there! There are heaps if you only open your eyes and your mind.

I get even more frustrated when magazines print patterns for a Log Cabin quilt, and it uses one of the half dozen or so common settings yet again.

These settings are popular for a very good reason. They are good designs! I love the Barn Raising setting, and one day might even make a scrappy Log Cabin quilt  and use the Barn Raising setting. It is a simple setting which shows off scrappy blocks to best advantage, as do all of the commonly used settings.

However, there are probably thousands of other designs which are never used. I have been playing, and in one afternoon I had saved over a hundred layouts in an Electric Quilt project file.

I started by drawing up a block and adding a limited range of fabrics as a lot of these designs really need very clear differences between the light and dark sides of the block. The block is easily made with a square cut 1½ x 1½inches, with logs cut 1½ inches wide. With four logs added to each side of the centre this makes a nine inch block when finished

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Then I have used a straight set, 8 by 8 blocks, using 64 identical blocks, and shown below are some of the most common layouts.

And here is one you may not have seen before.

Be very aware that there are more to come!