Monday, May 15, 2006
Log cabin + paisley
When I first saw, in person, my laundered Kona cottons for my swap blocks, I decided I just HAD to try a log cabin.
Log cabin quilts never appealed to me much before, but that's because, in many of their incarnations, they are too darn busy for me. But one of the cool things about sewing solids is that you can really notice the beauty and craftsmanship in a seam.
I know, I know. You pretty much have to be the ultimate quilting nerd to fetishize the SEAM the way I do, but and intricately pieced block all in one or two solid fabrics just gets right down to the point: cutting the fabric and sewing it back up just makes it better. It may sound like an exercise in futility, but if you look at a log cabin block, you know that's not true. Materials + time + effort + know-how = craft. It all adds up.
So a two-tone log cabin seemed perfect, especially since I wasn't loving the squash and curry fabrics in and of themselves, but I did like the way they contrasted with the mint and robin's egg cottons.
So I eagerly got to it, and here's what I made:
Pretty, isn't it? Too bad my know-how is a bit lacking on the math front, and it didn't add up to 10.5 inches. I set it aside, disappointed, but reasonably sure it would make a nice potholder or something.
After receiving my final blocks, the dearth of mint led me to want to make a whole mess of new blocks of my own to add on. Unfortunately, I'd used up so much mint on the blocks I sent away, I wasn't sure how to make that happen, unless I really embraced the old, "use what you have" spirit. And since I was already doing that with the blocks I received, I decided to pull out my inadequate log cabin and add a funky half-border.
What's funny is that, initially, that's exactly what I didn't want to do. I mean, I could have saved the whole situation by adding that little border and tossing it into the out-going pile, but I just wasn't feeling it then. I didn't want to throw off the symmetry, or add another color or pattern. Now, though, I'm happier with the log cabin + paisley version than I was with the perfectly symmetrical log cabin. Go figure.
Log cabin quilts never appealed to me much before, but that's because, in many of their incarnations, they are too darn busy for me. But one of the cool things about sewing solids is that you can really notice the beauty and craftsmanship in a seam.
I know, I know. You pretty much have to be the ultimate quilting nerd to fetishize the SEAM the way I do, but and intricately pieced block all in one or two solid fabrics just gets right down to the point: cutting the fabric and sewing it back up just makes it better. It may sound like an exercise in futility, but if you look at a log cabin block, you know that's not true. Materials + time + effort + know-how = craft. It all adds up.
So a two-tone log cabin seemed perfect, especially since I wasn't loving the squash and curry fabrics in and of themselves, but I did like the way they contrasted with the mint and robin's egg cottons.
So I eagerly got to it, and here's what I made:
Pretty, isn't it? Too bad my know-how is a bit lacking on the math front, and it didn't add up to 10.5 inches. I set it aside, disappointed, but reasonably sure it would make a nice potholder or something.
After receiving my final blocks, the dearth of mint led me to want to make a whole mess of new blocks of my own to add on. Unfortunately, I'd used up so much mint on the blocks I sent away, I wasn't sure how to make that happen, unless I really embraced the old, "use what you have" spirit. And since I was already doing that with the blocks I received, I decided to pull out my inadequate log cabin and add a funky half-border.
What's funny is that, initially, that's exactly what I didn't want to do. I mean, I could have saved the whole situation by adding that little border and tossing it into the out-going pile, but I just wasn't feeling it then. I didn't want to throw off the symmetry, or add another color or pattern. Now, though, I'm happier with the log cabin + paisley version than I was with the perfectly symmetrical log cabin. Go figure.
# posted by Jennicakes @ 8:50 PM 
