Hidden Threads

The graphic above is an elementary block for a quilt – one of the most beloved quilt blocks of all time. It’s called the log cabin, a deceptively simple combination of strips sewn around a central square. It’s been speculated that there are more log cabin quilts made than any other style. Here’s why. Using a basic light and dark variation, making all the sewn strips on two adjacent sides of the block very light in comparison to the strips on the other two sides, magic happens.

 This is the Way Quilts Are Made

Lets back up for a minute. Quilts are composed of small pieces of fabric that are sewn together. Often blocks, like the one above, are the units that quilts are made of. These blocks are assembled into a quilt by sewing them into rows, and then sewing the rows together. This is the easiest way of constructing a quilt top. If you count the individual strips of fabric in our graphic, you will see that there are 13. So thirteen strips of fabric comprise one block in this design. A quilt may use many of these blocks assembled into patterns.

You will see from the two log cabin quilts below that there are an endless number of possible variations when it comes to arranging blocks, and integrating color, fabric, and texture into a quilt design. You could spend years making hundreds of log cabin quilts and still not exhaust the possibilities that even this single, simple pattern offers.

This is one small example of the creative power and potential of quilting.

Special Note:  If you were feeling energetic, you could probably make a log cabin quilt in a single day. In fact, a very popular professional teacher and quilter has based her career on that very claim.

Courtesy of Monika at Etsy, these masterful but simple quilts use the basic log cabin block above.  The light and dark sides of the block are rotated to make patterns.  Neat huh?  And it’s easy.  Really.

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