Blog comments and Log Cabin Block

Hello Everyone :) (WAVES)

I was just wanting to know are you happy that I have started posting on the blog again? 

If so can you please comment. 

Your comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 That way I know.....you are loving what I am sharing :)

Any suggestions on things you would like to see or hear about on the blog.. 

or 

Has everyone stopped following?

Today .... I would like to talk about the Log Cabin Quilt block... 

This is probably..... out of all the quilt blocks out there ... this one is my favorite!

If you don't know what a Log Cabin Quilt block looks like,
 Here are some example photos of them.

You can either sew your blocks by using strips you have cut out using a rotary cutter.
Then sew directly at your machine using a 1/4 inch seem allowance, 

 or you can do a paper piece technique to sew them together. 

Usually the blocks colors..... radiate out from darker fabrics to lighter fabrics,

 like the two blocks in the above examples.

You can also do a wonky log cabin block like this one from quiltn queen.

Here is a very pretty block by mybearclaw.

A history from American Quilters Society:

Log Cabin Quilts – A Short History

Log Cabin Library Block by Karen Griska

The Log Cabin quilt pattern  is one of the most beloved and recognized of quilt designs. However, it may be both older and newer than you might think. While it’s natural to assume that this traditional block originated in the United States during the pioneer days, the origins of the block seem to go back much further in time and location. Similar designs have been found on ancient Egyptian mummies and in an English  quilt predating 1830.

Log Cabin quilts first made a wide-spread appearance in the United States in the 1860s during the time of the Civil War. The block name may very well have had a connection to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The Log Cabin quilt became wildly popular and was identified with the pioneer spirit and values of America.

Early Log Cabin blocks were hand-pieced using strips of fabrics around a central square. In traditional Log Cabin blocks, one half is made of dark fabrics and the other half light. A red center symbolized the hearth of home, and a yellow center represented a welcoming light in the window. Anecdotal evidence, based on oral folklore, suggests that during the Civil War, a Log Cabin quilt with a black center hanging on a clothesline was meant to signal a stop for the Underground Railroad.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century many Log Cabin quilts were made by the foundation method with a muslin base. Wools, velvets, satins, and other nontraditional fabrics were used. Log Cabins of this period often had strips that were folded and laid down, creating a three-dimensional effect. For this reason, many late-nineteenth-century Log Cabins do not have batting, but are backed and tied like Crazy Quilts.

Variations of settings appeared with names reflecting the themes of the times. The White House Steps, Court House Steps, eight-sided Pineapple, Barn Raising, and Sunshine and Shadows are just some of the hundreds of name and pattern variations.

As Victorian quilts of wool and silk fell out of style in the twentieth century, Log cabins were more often made of cotton prints and pieced with a running-stitch seam, either by hand or machine.

Today, Log Cabin quilts are natural candidates for strip-piecing and can be made in a fraction of the time it took our ancestors. Log Cabins are still a favorite choice for scrap quilts and there is even a resurgence of Crazy Quilts made using Log Cabin blocks.

It’s virtually impossible to run out of ways to make beautiful Log Cabin quilts. The Log Cabin is certainly a pattern not likely to go out of “style” any time soon.

Here is a tutorial on a quilt as you go Log Cabin Quilt.