Tanya's Log Cabin Quilt

Tanya has been reading and commenting on my blog since its very beginning, which has always made me a little nervous.  She is a technical writer for a defense contractor in Washington, D.C. and a blogger who often makes humorous observations on the misuse of quotation marks and dashes and other writing faux pas (like too many parentheses).  I am sure my writing drives her nuts, but she never corrects me and for that I am grateful.

In November I declared my intention to make a quilt for each of my Spackman nieces and nephews.  When Tanya read that she burst into tears (or so she said) at the thought of getting a quilt from me.  In response to my questions she gave me some input.  She preferred cotton over flannel (which is cotton, too) and liked cool colors like blue, purple and grey.  She said that I hadn't posted a single quilt that she hadn't loved but that her favorites were first Seth's, then Heidi's and the one I donated to the family reunion because it had stars (I hadn't known that Tanya majored in astronomy in college).

I thought about the three quilts that Tanya mentioned and realized they all used some form of log cabin block and were scrappy.  I also immediately thought of a pattern that I had loved for years but had never made.  I searched for it and when I found it knew that Tanya would love it too.  It is called "Simple Tribute" and is from the June 2003 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.  The pattern suggests it in red and blue for a patriotic quilt but I didn't see any reason why I couldn't use purple and blue.

In fact, I can't imagine liking anything more.  It was so much fun to make and is one of my all time favorites.  I love it!  To start with, I went through my scraps and stash and pulled out all the blues and purples I could find.  I also found the yellow print used in the log cabin centers and yellow sashing stars.  It was left over from a skirt I'd made for my granddaughter Mckenna a few years ago.  I used every inch of it.

Last February I went on a shop-hop and carried my collection of fabrics around with me.  I had a large variety of fabrics but not a very large quantity.  I purchased about fifteen additional fat quarters in blue and purple and a few lights as well.  The toughest thing to find was the blue for the sashing and border.  I wanted it to have a vertical line and finally found what I was looking for at "The Cotton Patch" in Keizer, Oregon.

I began working on it soon after that.  Log cabin blocks are just so much fun to sew, especially after all the tedious cutting is completed.  There are 48 log cabin blocks in this quilt and they all start with the 2 1/2" yellow center square.  My method is to take those 48 center squares and attach the purple or blue 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangle to each one and then take that whole pile to the ironing board.  Then I add the next rectangle to all 48 blocks and around and around you go, sewing them all and then pressing them all.  Each block finishes at 8" square.

The layout of this quilt makes it look like there are 12 blocks but it is the careful placement of those sashing stars that give that illusion.  The assembly instructions say this:  "Lay out the Log Cabin blocks, light sashing units, gold sashing units, the remaining dark blue stripe sashing strips, and the gold print, light print, and dark red print (purple) sashing squares in 11 (15 - I made Tanya's bigger) horizontal rows."  Even I had to look at the picture to figure it all out.

The goal is to end up with a white star in the middle of each set of 4 log cabin blocks.  I grouped the blocks together by matching the inner corners - all blue or all purple - and alternated that layout.  I needed some method to the madness of randomness.  I'm a little nutty, I know.

After the quilt center was assembled all that was left to do was add the 4" border and have it quilted.  I purchased the backing fabric from Hollyhill Quilt Shop and hoped that Tanya liked yellow. 

I delivered it to June at Quiltmasters in April along with all the others and chose the "Puzzle" pattern because of its simplicity.  I couldn't be happier with the final result.

 

I gave Tanya her quilt on August 20th at my daughter Abby's house in Odenton, MD.  When I decided to make this quilt (and Aimee's, too) I had no idea that I would have two children and two brand new grandchildren living just outside Washington, D.C.  But because I do, I was able to deliver this quilt in person and see the joy on Tanya's face when she opened it.  I love quilting! and my family even more.

NOTE:  I've thought that it would be fun to make a quiz to go along with some of my quilts.  It could include questions like "How many different fabrics are in this quilt?"  I tried to keep track on this one but kept adding fabrics and eventually lost count.  In log cabin blocks I try very hard not to repeat a fabric within a block.  I did however discover that I did just that on one block.  Have you found it yet, Tanya?  Don't look too hard because it might bug you once you've found it.