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biwako_of_abi

For Vanislegirl88--my log cabin quilts

biwako_of_abi
17 years ago

Here they are, as promised. The darkest colors in both look close to black, but they are actually lighter. Sorry the second quilt is so fuzzy and looks as if it were made of flannel. Both quilts are cotton.

Made for a young friend whose family has just bought their first house

Made for the daughter of an old friend as a wedding present

Comments (15)

  • rosajoe_gw
    17 years ago

    I love log cabin quilts. The colors are beautiful. A very nice gift, I an sure they will love it.
    Rosa

  • gerizone5
    17 years ago

    I also love log cabins. They are beautiful quilts.

  • grammyp
    17 years ago

    What beautiful quilts. I love the piano key borders. I have used them on several of my quilts also.

    beverly

  • Vanislegirl88
    17 years ago

    Thanks for posting these. They look great. I also love log cabin quilts. I'd be interested to see a picture of the backs...do you have one? I can visualize how to join the blocks from the front, but I'm not sure how to join the backs...I'm trying to picture what it would look like....

  • easystitches
    17 years ago

    I love those quilts!
    Your colors are scrumptious.
    I want to do one, but I'm a little confused about the back?
    What happens when you sew the blocks together?
    Jill

  • biwako_of_abi
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thank you for the nice comments.
    VanisleGirl: I'm afraid I don't have pics showing how the back looks when the blocks are joined. I just put them face to face and stitch, making as nearly as possible the same width seam as I did when stitching the strips within the block. Sometimes I trimmed the batting to make it easier. The beauty of this type of quilting is that, although of course we would like to have everything perfect, when it isn't, the overall pattern draws people's eyes so they usually don't notice! lol

    When I have made a strip as long as the quilt is going to be (minus the border), then I make the next one, checking carefully to make sure that neighboring blocks in the two strips will have the necessary places matched up.

    You don't "join the backs" at all. Oh, now I see what you were getting at. Well, after joining the blocks and strips as just described and ironing the seams flat, I overcast along them to hold them down, only taking up the seam itself and the batting. And then I put a big back on that covers the backs of all these blocks and hides the ugliness of their joins. I do not put backing (apart from the thin backing used under the batting just to keep it from catching while I sew the strips on) on individual blocks for these log cabin quilts. I usually pin the border strips, one at a time, facing the quilt top, while facing the quilt back, I have the backing for each border strip (That is, the piano keys border, stitched directly onto its batting, and the final backing for the border sandwich the main part of the quilt to be stitched on to it. I stitch all the borders on and then bind the edges of the whole thing with bias.

    Beverly: Thanks for telling me the proper name for this sort of border. It is really a good name for it!

  • maryliz
    17 years ago

    Thanks for the explanation of your assembly method, and the great pictures of your beautiful log cabin quilts. I will keep all these ideas in mind when I start my own log cabin quilt. But first, I have to get all these UFOs out of the way!

    Thanks for the inspiration.

    MaryLiz

  • glassquilt
    17 years ago

    I see kitty peeking out from under the quilt.

  • biwako_of_abi
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Jill: I hope that the explanation I posted for Vanisle Girl about 2 minutes after your post (which I had not seen yet) will help you, but if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer.
    Glassquilt: Yep. That is Siphon, much younger than in the picture I posted on "Faces for Bon."

  • quiltdiva
    17 years ago

    Beautiful log cabins! I love your color choices.
    Kay

  • ddavisgray
    17 years ago

    biwako,
    Logcabin are my favorite. And you made them beautiful.
    I love the colors. The arrangment of the blocks in the second one is stunning.

    Thanks for sharing,
    doris

  • msmeow
    17 years ago

    They are both beautiful! Siphon looks pretty annoyed to have the quilt thrown over him for the picture!

    Donna

  • laurainsdca
    17 years ago

    GORGEOUS. Fantastic job. Those are just beautiful.

  • easystitches
    17 years ago

    Biwako, I'm still confused (sorry I'm writing this so after the fact)
    Is the back of the quilt a huge piece of fabric the same size as the quilt? Or maybe it's the size of a row?
    Sorry to be so confused, I'd really like to do this so I'm bugging you, sorry! Thanks, Jill

  • biwako_of_abi
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    You're not bugging me, Jill. It's always a pleasure to talk about quilts. On the back of each block, there is thin material where the stitching shows and isn't very pretty, then the blocks are sewn together and a huge piece of fabric (the size of the quilt minus its borders) covers them all, along with their unseemly seams. The border is sewn on with its own backing in the same fabric as the huge piece. I hope this description isn't confusing. The way I handled the backing may not be orthodox; I don't remember how the original directions said to handle it.
    Thanks, everyone, for all the nice encouraging comments.

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