Half Log Cabin // Tutorial
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 First off, thanks for the feedback from the yesterday's boy baby quilt! I received a few texts, tweets, and comments, so much so that I thought I would share a little mini tutorial today. Also, I finished another one that I plan on posting to etsy, even though I'm so in love with it. But I do enjoy seeing a quilt go to a new happy home.
If you Google "Half Log Cabin" many different tutorials pop up of all sorts of options that you can create with this simple block. When I was beginning to plan this quilt, I couldn't find the exact proportions that I wanted to make, so I improvised and wrote out my own. Here are my own measurements:
Cut two of each of these measurements. Then starting with the square, sew (with a quarter-inch seam) to the top and bottom the 3" x 3.5" strips, then to the sides 3" x 8.5" and so on. I found it was easiest to press the seams outward after sewing each strip. The block should measure 20" x 20".
Make four of these blocks. For this quilt, I mixed high and low value prints in each block, and randomly placed the fabrics in different spots within each block. I found that this made for a more random, evenly placed look when the quilt is finished.
After the the four blocks are made, I numbered the big blocks, then stacked the quarter blocks. I arranged these blocks a pattern. I found it easiest to look at the longest strip of the blocks to distinguish them from one another. Then, I attempted to have one of each of the four blocks in each horizontal row, and one in each of the vertical rows. That way no two blocks were right beside each other. Finally, I looked at the orientation of the longest strip and tried to make sure that each block faced all four ways. However, in marking this photo, I realized that the number 4 block faces left twice. But overall, you can't tell, and I think it makes for a balanced quilt!
Finally, sew each block together. I like to sew the horizontal rows together to make long strips. Then sew each row together to make the quilt. You have yourself a quilt top! For directions on making a quilt sandwich and quilting it, there are many great books on the topic, Modern Log Cabin by Susan Beal or The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman are two great books to start with and they are local to Portland! ;)
Or if you're in the Portland area and want to learn, come to the class I'm teaching at Modern Domestic! I'm really excited to be one of the new teachers there. We're offering a beginning quilt class from start to finish! Click here to check out the Baby Block Quilt and to sign up.
This Half Log Cabin quilt is very addicting, as soon as I finished this one, I knew that I wanted to make another one with my Echo fabric by Lotta Jansdotter.
If you have any questions, let me know! I'm happy to help! ;)
Happy Quilting!
Reader Comments (2)
I love the color combination you used on the bottom quilt and the circular top stitching - really lovely Heather! Smaller quilts seems like a good way to learn quilting, the idea of making a full size quilt is totally overwhelming to me, haha.
Gorgeous!