Daily Archives: August 8, 2012

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Log Cabin Quilt top finished

I got the top done.  I purchased this top because I love the rustic look. (See the post about the top here for before pictures)  I think the irregularities make it charming.  I did not want to make any changes to it but I had to do some work to make it flat enough to quilt.  I took it apart and did a lot of pressing and a little trimming and put it back together.  I had to work around the red fabric.  That was a real part of the appeal of the top to me so I had to keep that the size that it was and make the wonky log cabin blocks fit in.  And this is the result.

I had to cut down 3 blocks on the bottom in order to fit them into the red fabric, and that doesn’t bother me a bit…I think it fits the quilt.  it is a good-sized top…8o x  96, and now I will think about how to quilt it…something simple is in order and I hope that I can stick to that!  I always seem to get carried away and quilt the heck out of them.

Here are some of the blocks which show the irregular piecing that I wanted to preserve. (click to enlarge) There are patterns and pictures all over for what they call “liberated log cabin”  but here is  a quilt that was 100 years ahead of its time.

Happy quilting

Tim

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Log Cabin re-do begins

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Remember this quilt top that I got a few days ago…..I could not resist starting work on it.

The first step was to separate all the blocks and press them to see what I had to work with.  The blocks are so very uneven and irregular that I will have my work cut out for me putting this back together!

look at this block next to a ruler

and now look at this one

the difference is about 2″…no wonder the top didn’t lay flat!

here are a few blocks stacked up …see how they are all different sizes

there are 3 blocks there….bottom is blue, then pink check, then double pink….and no straight lines in sight.

I don’t want to take apart the blocks and re-do them….I want to leave the top as close to the original makes work as possible, this is a restoration not a re-design…but I do want to make it flat and quiltable.

I can’t cut them all down to the same size with out loosing a lot of fabric!  but what I can do is use similar sized blocks in each row….as long as the width of each block on each row is the same I should be able to make it work…some will be 11″ wide (and various lengths)

and  some will be 12″…I think I can make that work.

the lengths will all be different but as long as each row turns out to be 92 inches total after they are sewn together I will be able to re-attach the red fabric and have a flat top.  If I need to add some additional length I can add a strip of vintage fabric (essentially another log) to a block or 2.

A few of the blocks had some logs almost completely cut out in an effort to make them fit…they will need some fabric replacement

I did find that a few of the blocks still had the fabric label attached to the back.  Today fabric has the “label” right in the selvage…lots of writing in there…old fabric had a sticker , and this quilter didn’t bother to take it off.

Pressing vintage blocks is sometimes a challenge.  These blocks are all far from square but I can get them a bit closer to square if I spray them with water and then pin them down to the pressing mat as close to square as I can get them and then press.

The other part of pressing fabric this old is that there is often a lot of starch in the fabric…starching was a fairly common part of ironing so many blocks are loaded with it….why would that be a problem?  look at the iron!

A good cleaning is on order when the project is done.

check back soon to see the progress

Happy quilting

Tim