Red Pepper Quilts: Log Cabin Quilt ~ Fields and Furrows

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Log Cabin Quilt ~ Fields and Furrows

Work in Progress

I love traditional quilts and designs. That is no secret. And Log Cabin Quilts are a particular favorite. I love the repetitive piecing, the various ways that the use of fabric can impact the design, and then the many layout options.

For this quilt I had predetermined the layout - a traditional Log Cabin Quilt layout called Fields and Furrows; diagonal lines created by the use of light and dark fabric (which look like the rows in a freshly plowed field), and so I set out to make Log Cabin Blocks with light/solid and dark/printed fabric.

For the light fabrics I have solid fabric (Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in shades of white and off-white including the following colorways: White, Snow, Butter, Natural, Sand, Ivory, Oyster, Bone, and Cream). The printed fabrics are a selection of fabrics from stash, some older and some recently arrived. Traditionally the center of the Log Cabin Block is red to symbolize the heart of the home, instead I have chosen to work with a number of solid fabrics that complement the color palette of the printed fabrics.

My Log Cabin blocks are big - 10 inches x 10 inches - not huge, but certainly bigger than what I usually work with. This seemed to throw my ability to envision the finished quilt and a design wall would certainly have saved me from having to lay out the blocks many times, each time still uncertain as to how this was going to work. It wasn't until the blocks were sewn together that I could see the impact that the use of light/dark fabric had on the quilt. I am so glad I persevered.