Making a Log Cabin Quilt 

A log cabin quilt is a simple design that *could* come together relatively easily and quickly. Did this one? No, it did not! 😆

It took me over seven months to create this quilt, despite the fact that it was somewhat small (64” x 64”) and there were no technical problems along the way. I must have really enjoyed working on this quilt, and wanted to stretch it out!

Fabric Pull

I started with the Dahlia bundle from Bundlebarn fabrics. This particular bundle has since sold out, but you can find their whole bundle selection here.

At the time that I purchased it, I didn’t know what to make with this fabric. Luckily, Brittany from Lo and Behold Stitchery came out with a free Log Cabin Block tutorial as I was searching for inspiration and everything clicked into place.

I loved the caramel coloured fabric on the top of the bundle, and decided to make it the center of all my blocks. I didn't have enough of that exact print, but had some yardage of a similarly-coloured fabric from the Heirloom collection from Ruby Star Society (still one of my favourite lines they’ve ever released).

With the addition of some extra fat quarters (both print and low volume), I had all I needed to get started.  

Cutting Fabric

I followed Brittany’s tutorial to a tee, and made a couple of test log cabin blocks. They turned out so well that I knew this was going to be a special project. 

After taking this photo, I can imagine myself standing back and saying “Oh… this is going to be gooooooood.”

I used my trusty Stripology ruler to make quick work of the cutting, and had a gorgeous array of strips in no time.

Block Assembly

The log cabin quilt is such a simple design - if you wanted to you, you could chain piece the heck out of this project!

But for some reason, I chose not to do that with this project. Instead, I would work on sets of three blocks at once. 

I found the pace to be slow but satisfying - I really liked that after a session in my sewing room, I had new completed blocks to admire. 

It took me MONTHS to get all the blocks finished. I was obviously in no hurry, and would work on this project between others. Sometimes it’s good to take your time!

Block Layout

My sewing room is small but hard working, and I’m always trying to improve its functionality and efficiency. When it came time to lay out my log cabin blocks, I wanted to see if I could rig up some kind of a temporary design wall (rather than crawling around on my “design floor” which I normally do). 

You can see my efforts in this Reel, but the end result worked really well. It’s still a temporary measure, but it did the trick for my log cabin blocks.

Webbing blocks  

I’m a huge fan of webbing my quilt top. It’s a technique that was popularized by Suzy Quilts, and helps you sew all your blocks together withOUT mixing up their position, accidentally rotating any, and it saves a tonne of time. 

You can (hopefully?) see in the photo above how all of the blocks are attached to each other as I sew the rows together. 

It’s amazing how quickly your blocks become a finished quilt top.

Preparing for quilting

I made a popular Reel, blog post, and YouTube video  about these next few steps, but I followed my normal routine for preparing a quilt for longarming.

First, I sewed a Victory Lap™ around the perimeter of the quilt top, which ensured that none of the seams popped open.

Next, I gave it a good press so it would lay nice and flat under the longarm needle. 

The most annoying part of this process (IMO) is clipping loose threads on the back of the quilt. I don’t love it, but it’s got to be done. 

Next, I marked the center of the top with a piece of tape, and then folded it on the bias. 

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to quilt it for a little while (because I didn’t have any backing fabric), so I wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any harsh creases when I pulled it off the shelf for longarming.

Folding quilts on the bias isn’t hard, but sure does make me feel like a rockstar when I end up with a neat little parcel. 

You can learn more about this process here. 

Longarming my Log Cabin Quilt

Sometimes I make quilts just for fun, with no intended purpose. But halfway through making my log cabin quilt, I knew that I wanted to keep this one!

Because it was the dead of winter, my instinct was to make it as warm, cuddly, and poofy as possible. 

I treated myself to wool batting and a Minky backing - two things that would make ANY quilt squishably delicious. 

Because I know someone will ask: those yellow pieces of plastic that are attaching my backing fabric to the longarm frame are magnets! Specifically, they’re Sew Tites Magnums. You can learn more about using them to load your quilt here, and you can use my code MATANTE at checkout to save 15% off your entire Sew Tites order. 

After debating for an eternity, I decided to go with a classic fan look for the quilting design. Since I like to make things easy on myself, I chose the Easy Peasy Baptist Fan pantograph. 

I absolutely love the way it turned out!

Favourite things about my log cabin quilt

There are so many things that I love about this quilt! 

I love that although it’s a pretty soft palette, it still looks great in our neutral-coloured living room. 

This quilt is now in heavy rotation on the couch, and I don’t see it moving any time soon (even though Spring is approaching). 

It also looks great hanging up in my sewing room! 

It’s almost too short to use as a video backdrop (because you can see the bottom of the quilt), but maybe I can find some way to make it work. 

It also turned out to be one of the most squishy, soft, poofy quilts I’ve ever made!

I love that the texture turned out to be even better than I imagined, and that the fabric and quilting give it an heirloom look. I predict that I’ll consider this quilt a “stunner” for many years to come! 

For the binding, I chose yet another caramel-coloured print from Ruby Star Society (this one is from the Sugar line). It’s safe to say that I’ve depleted my stash of this particular hue! 

Although I’m a big fan of Big Stitch binding, I chose to hand bind my log cabin quilt in the “regular” way. 

The stitches turned out really nicely, and I think they look supes profesh (which is to say that they’re barely visible). 

All in all, I love this quilt to death. It took me a long time to make it, but I had fun each step of the way, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Do you have a quilt finish that you’re over the moon about? Let me know in the comments!