My attraction to this quilt top probably has something to do with the fact that I am pretty particular about my piecing. Don’t get me wrong — I often substitute prints, and I don’t mind seaming a piece when I don’t have large enough scrap, but when I sew the pieces together, I like the seams and points to match. But that doesn’t mean I’m not drawn to a quilt maker who doesn’t play by the rules.
This quilter didn’t worry at all about the width of her log cabin strips. She hand stitched them to her muslin foundation and when she started sewing the blocks together, she just trimmed off whatever fabric was required to make them fit. Did she not finish the quilt because it wasn’t square, and was a little lumpy? I’ll never know, but I wasn’t going to let a little poor construction stop me. I adopted her carefree attitude and trimmed two edges to square up the top.
I think her addition of a few black and pink fabrics to the light sections of the quilt makes it more interesting. The original double pink fabric faded when I soaked the top (it had tons of surface dirt), so I replaced those pieces with a double pink from my stash of old fabric. There were also a few small holes in the indigo pieces, which I decided to darn, rather than replacing each piece.
The quilting is the same circular pattern I used on my last quilt, but this time I used Uki 10/2 perle cotton in red. The quilt is thick, cozy, and definitely wonky. It isn’t something I would have made, but I love it just the same.
Antique Log Cabin Quilt
Hand pieced by unknown quilter
Hand quilted by Martha Dellasega Gray, 2015
63″ x 75″
Lovely quilting Martha. Suits the quilt so well.
Beautiful quilting Martha, a beautiful finish. Its nice to step outside of our comfort zones sometimes isn’t it?
Yes it is, Jessie — I have a couple of other quilt tops that are unlike anything I would make, and I’m looking forward to quilting them. One of these days I’m going to try making a freeform quilt of my own.
A lovely quilt and lovely quilting. What is your set-up for hand quilting? Do you use a lap hoop or a floor frame?
Thanks, Sharrie — I use Edmunds wood hoops in different sizes. I bought a beautiful floor frame when I was younger, but I could never get the hang of it.
I love this piece and your choice of quilting it with red thread is PERFECT! Your circles are so perfectly round, do you use a stencil ? Anyway, I love the quilt; it is cheerful! Hugs, Mickie
Thanks, Mickie, and yes — I did cut some circles out of template plastic.
Martha,
It’s so funny, I might have seen that quilt top in an antique store and would not really have given it a second glance, as you said, the piecing and all. But you have taken it and loved it and with your beautiful quilting have made it something that is very striking. That’s one thing I like about blogs, seeing things from another perspective. Thank you for showing us all your projects, I love to see each of them! You are very inspiring.
Beth F.
The circle design works well on the log cabin quilt. I have only once seen an antique log cabin quilt for sale in our antique mall stops. Wonder why.
Both the quilt and the quilting are beautiful. You suggested in your post that the creator of the quilt didn’t play by the rules. She probably just made her own rules. (I do that sometimes, too.) Thanks for sharing this quilt with us, Martha.
The quilt looks great. I wish I could have done what you did with the one I have that is also a log cabin. I took it apart because it could not be hand quilted the way it was. The construction was so wonky the bubble in the quilt top could not be hand quilted out. The only thing uniform in the quilt top is the center of every log cabin block The bubble was in the center of the quilt. You are aware of how much work /love it it takes when an entire quilt top apart is taken apart ti be reconstructed. Mine is sitting in pieces.
Your hand quilting is always above par! I love stopping to see your creations. I hope you put labels on the back of the quilt. It was nice of you to share what you used to hand quilt. Is the back of the quilt white? That would showcase your stunning hand quilting.
Happy Thanksgiving.