Renata - Improv Log Cabin Variation Writ Large

Renata

Approximately 98” x 98”

In public, she is a force of energy and joy. Alone, she is introspective and prefers to cuddle up with her puppies and a bowl of pasta. In public, people want to hear from her and they listen. Alone, she would rather keep her mouth shut and hear what others have to say. In public, she gives. Alone, she regroups.

This quilt started as a sample on how to use an ugly or simply hard to use fabric. In my case, it was this vintage fabric with cocktail scenes. So very Mid Century Modern, which is why I was gifted it. But it sat for years because I had no idea what to do with it.

Now I have this gorgeous, giant quilt to gift a friend. Improv log cabins to the rescue! Well, three sided logs.

To finish her I rented time on a long arm. I wasn’t planning any fancy stitching but the long arm is a lot more efficient than basting and wrangling this large of a quilt through my domestic machine. Wavy lines to evoke some water inspiration (see it in the fabric?). And nothing to take away from all the gorgeous fabrics I used.

I’m on a finishing kick here, and this was the first one in that. I quilted 4 that rental and another 3 a few weeks later. Which means I have been binding a lot! Having used all my fabrics in this palette, and then some, I did have to shop for some binding. This green was perfect. Nothing fancy on the back, just a serene pale grey in case the recipient needs a change.

Vintage Inspired Log Cabin Variations

Phew! That was a lot of sewing.

When I started playing around with the blocks I did not anticipate a quilt at all. It was just play. Standard, for me, of course. It was a challenge to use a fabric that I had laying around with no clear idea how to use it. In all honesty, it was a sample for a class I was teaching on using ugly fabric. It’s not actually ugly, but I was stuck on how to use it.

So, together with my students, we played around with some ideas. In the end, I settled on a three sided log cabin, made with fabrics picked to match. I stuck to lights and low volumes in order to keep with the breezy feeling of the inspiration fabric. I made a few blocks, smiled, then packed them away. A few years later I pulled them out and made a few more. Then, earlier this year I noticed that a quilt I gifted a friend is getting worn out - it is very well loved. I started a replacement, nearly finished the top, then realized it was completely the wrong quilt. But these blocks? Perfect!

Knowing she uses her quilt on her king bed I went for big ambitions. We know I love a big quilt! But it meant a lot more blocks. And more fabric. Then judicious use of the new fabric with the original fabric so it didn’t look like two different quilts coming together.

It is all improv, so trimming is where I found some order. Each column is unique in width, made up of blocks cut to maximize their use/minimize trimmings. Of course, each column wanted to be a different length so some additions were made here, some subtractions there. It all worked in the end.

Off to quilting so I can get her a fresh quilt before the weather changes.

Log Cabin Play to Recover

In all my years of teaching I have never screwed up what class I was teaching. As in, taught the wrong class. Well, there is a first time for everything. Back in November, just a few days after I returned from my epic adventure to Buenos Aires, I was set to teach for a group in Vancouver. Indeed, a group that I’ve joined before. Well partway through our Zoom event I got asked a question which made me realize I’d been teaching the wrong class the whole time!

Yikes!

(To be honest, I was rather apoplectic, but I did a quick regroup for the rest of our time remaining and then recorded a session to share with the group to make up for what we should have been doing the whole time.)

What we were supposed to be doing is playing the One Colour Challenge, Improv style. Thankfully, right before my trip I had organized my scrap strips by colour so I grabbed them and we started playing.

These log cabins were that first bit of play. I wanted to show that within a single colour - blue - fabric gives us so many variations and by sorting our fabric accordingly when we use it, we can get some pretty great results.

Not every sample I use to teach becomes a quilt, nor every experiment. But this time? I couldn’t resist. I just had so much fun diving in to the scraps and making these improv log cabins. Do you see that single curved seam in each one?

Each block was squared up to 7”. An odd size, I know, but that’s what the first ones turned out to be and I stuck with it. You can’t always control the size when you are working with scraps.

At the end of each day after that, I would put on Stewart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe and make a handful of blocks. My goal was to use up the blue scraps. But some of the blues were a bit more teal, some turquoise. Which then led to green. I kept going. I dug in to my regular scrap bins when I ran out of strips. I may have cut a piece or two out of the stash but stopped myself from doing more. The quilt is this size because I wanted to stick to 99% scraps.

And any bits leftover? I’ve already pieced them to go on the back. Use it all up!