Christmas Log Cabin Quilts

Once again, I am thinking about making Log Cabin Christmas quilts for family. This time for all the great grandchildren. I made 9 Log Cabin quilts with red white and green fabrics for Christmas 2000. I  made one quilt for each married couple and one for each grandchild. You can read about those quilts here.

Now I have 7 great grandchildren, maybe I should make a couple extra quilts.  That would be 9 quilts and if I start now I should be able to get them done in time for Christmas next year. I think that I should make 9 identical blocks and let them find the blocks in their quilts, as I did the first time.  Maybe I should just make some extra identical blocks and if more GGkids come along I can use those blocks in quilts I make later.

I got these boxes down from the closet shelf.  The top box is 2 inch strips of all colors; I will pull out what I want and cut them down to 1.5 inches.
The center 2 boxes are Christmas fabrics, some are strips and some are pieces.
The bottom box is 1.5 inch strips. I will pull out the colors I want  and then I will put these boxes back on the shelf and make a new box(or boxes) for the strips I want to use. I like having a lot of the fabrics I used before. When  I made a family quilt in the past, I included something somewhere in the quilt from everyone else's quilt.




I found these seven blocks in my "odd block box" and I will use these as a start.  




















The first time I made the Log cabin Christmas quilts, I finished ALL of my UFO's, yes, every last one! Log cabin blocks are labor intensive and become boring after a while. Sometimes I needed a break from them but I would not allow myself to start any new projects. So, when ever I needed a rest from the log cabins, I worked on a UFO project. I think I will do the same again and first up will be the Fancy Forest 2 quilt.

This is a good time to get started because the weather is such that we will not be going out for a few days. I do regret that I might not be able to get to the quilt shops to take advantage of the Christmas fabric sales. I will keep an eye on the weather and we'll see if there is a chance to get out. Of course, there is always the Internet.

Another start



First block



I started a new quilt; I saw the Converging Corners quilt here at Film in the Fridge. It looks like too much fun to pass up so I am giving it a try. It is one of those quilts that you kind of have to figure out the sizes to cut for each block as you go along. I paid so much attention to the sizes to  cut that I was almost done with the second block before I realized that I made both corners the same and I want to make them different. I unsewed the last set of logs on one corner for the second block and added one different fabric I might do the same for the first block too.



second block





 I am making 12 inch blocks and I am using Kona Bone for the background. Most of the center blocks are from 2 Moda charm packs, Central Park and Fresh Squeezed. I have a few other squares cut from my stash that are a  good fit color wise. I was gong to stick with the  Citrus colors but decided to go with more variety as in my bathroom quilt but a bit heavier on the orange yellow and green.  I cut some strips and squares yesterday and I will have to take out  all  of my bright scraps from their zip lock bags and put them in the shoe boxes so I can maintain some sort of order. they are easier to stash away in the zip locks but  I found that the  shoe boxes work well when I am working with the strips. It is easier to control the disorder and it helps maintain my sanity.

This ought to satisfy my need to work with color for a while after all the black and white doodling.

On a more  personal note, today was our 60th anniversary. Sixty years is a long time but it doesn't really seem  that long. It makes me wonder how we got here so fast. I guess it's true that time flies when you are having fun. Yeah, we still have fun.



We went out to breakfast this morning because Jack said he wasn't going to cook on our anniversary. This evening our kids took us out to dinner. We had a very nice time; it is nice to spend time with just the adult children once in a while. I love seeing the great grand kids and am always up for a visit, anytime, but afterward you realize that no matter how many adults were there you never really had any adult conversation.

Wonky Half Log Cabins

First, I want to tell you that spell checker is not working so bear  with me. I am a terrible proof reader. If you come across any typos that are really hilarious just have a good chuckle.

These  blocks are a good way to use up all my small scraps and smallish pieces of fabric. I got turned on to making them when I was making 3 Friendship blocks. My blocks are 4 1/2 inches and 4 of them will  make an 8 inch finished block; the ones I made for Friendship group are 8 inches.                          

Here are 11 blocks on my ironig board with the first log of the second round sewed on. I will trim them on the left side before I sew on the second log. I like  sewing on the  second log of the rounds  because I don't have to decide what fabric to use.

These are most of the shoe boxes lined up on my work table and on a tray table. This is working out pretty well. I don't have to dig through and tangle up all of the colors I can just dig through the box with the color I want. When I finish with a round I put all the pieces back in the  right  box. It is also very nice when something gets pushed off the table like that box that looks ready to fall (it did); I just pick it up and shove it all back  in the box without sorting anything.So far there isn't too much mess. I wouldn't be so concerned about the mess if my space was larger but when I have no place to sit or to put anything without piling it on something else it gets overwhelming.

 So ........ here are 48 blocks that I have made so far. Actually, they will be 12 blocks when I sew them together in groups of 4. They are not in order yet, I just stuck them up on my wall as I finished them so I can see what I need. I see that I have 2 blocks turned  the wrong way right in the center. I probably should fix them now just in case I decide to sew everything together without rearranging them. I am not quite half way done making the blocks and by the time I get them all finished I might just forget to fix those 2 blocks. I expect by the time I get them all done I will not notice something out of place until the whole thing is quilted. 

I have a question????  Do you think it would be better to notice something like that after it is quilted or after it is layered and pinned and ready to quilt?

More Friendship Blocks

Since my sewing room was  nice and neat and all my scrappy strips were halfway neat  I decided  to make the other 3 Friendship blocks. Lori wanted 8 inch wonky half Log Cabin blocks with 3 sets of added  strips.  After a false start in which I started out too small and added strips that were too narrow; I started over with wider strips.  Uh-oh, I really do know how to count or I  thought I did. I added 4 sets of strips but I think it is OK because Lori's instructions said add sets  until it is big enough. If they are not OK will make 3 more replacements.

Here are the three that I made and 2 of the small ones that were not going to grow up to be 8 inches. I like the way they are going to look and I have started a few more. I am going  to square them up to 4 1/2 inches. This should help me to use up all my smallish scraps.

I was looking through my boxes of fabric and realized that my stash is rapidly turning into mostly pieces that are too small to use for anything but scrap blocks. My goal was to use up my stash and I might just do it. I have a few pieces that are 2 to 3 yards and  a few that are 1 to 1 1/2 yards and  I have a  lot that are less than 1/2 yard and a lot more that are less than a fat quarter. I also have a lot  that are very small.  Those very small pieces are impossible to organize. If I  sort them by size it is hard to find the color I want when I am making scrappy blocks and if I sort them by color I find myself digging through all  the pieces to find a piece the size I want. I  have pieces and  parts in a bunch of different boxes and there is no order at all to them that I can recognize; although I know there was some reason that I put them together. Maybe probably the reason was I was cleaning up my room and had to get everything put away. 

At any rate I am tired of being  driven to distraction trying to organize that which it is impossible to organize. I went to Target and bought some shoe box size containers for all my small scraps, sorted by color. Then I am going to make 4 1/2 Inch wonky half Log Cabin blocks and also blocks for the collaborative quilts project until those boxes are empty. We'll see how that goes.I really like the 8 inch 1/2 LC blocks  better but I want to use up my small strips and they are mostly too narrow or too short to do very many the bigger blocks without cutting more strips. (when I said they are small I meant small).   I am not opposed to cutting more strips but I really do want to use up these small  ones.