If you know me, you know I love a scrappy quilt. The first quilts I was aware of were crazy quilts and scrappy quilts that were probably made by a grandmother. They were just there, I don't remember when they arrived at our home or where they came from and sadly no one else in my family can recall now either. (Maybe a good incentive to label your quilts). These quilts from my memory were heavier and they were tied with wool or floss rather than quilted. They were utilitarian quilts made for warmth. We make quilts for all kinds of reasons now, mostly because we need the creative outlet. If you're like me, you just need to sew and look for all kinds of reasons to “justify” your hobby. I like to use my quilts in everyday life and look for ways to do that. The following is a tutorial on how I make a table quilt. Some people like to make runners but I like a topper that covers my entire dining room table edge to edge with no overhang.
I like to make crazy log cabin blocks when I feel the need to sew but don't want to be too careful. With this technique you don't have to have a perfect quarter inch seam allowance, you just need to sew a straight line. I've added lots of pictures to help out along the way. I hope you'll join me for a little recreational sewing time – just give it a try and see if you don't enjoy sewing this way too for a change.
First I choose a variety of fabrics for the block centres – a traditional log cabin block has either a yellow centre or red – I think yellow to signify sunshine and red to represent the hearth? Don't quote me on that though – if you know something different, feel free to comment.
I'm starting with yellow so I picked all the yellows I could out of my scrap basket for this project. Whenever I make a scrappy quilt I like to have some unifying element and this yellow centre is just that. No matter how many fabrics I use in the blocks, the yellow centres kind of hold it all together. I don't use this colour anywhere else in the blocks.
Then I cut the yellows into squares – they're odd sizes and not really tidy squares. I did use a ruler which I don't always do but I didn't measure.
Now to decide on the overall look of the project – I like brights (but you already knew that) so I chose a bright print from my scraps and used it to pull my colours together. That's it in the centre of the picture – a nice bright tropical print.
I chose colours that are in the print and added some others that I thought would work well with those. These brights are the lighter side of my block and for the dark side I chose dark navys, purples and greens – similar to the dark colours in the print.
I sorted my fabrics into lights and darks and put them into two separate trays.
I used photocopy paper box tops but pizza boxes would work well too – or pick up a couple baskets from the dollar store. (what did we do before the dollar store?)
Each scrap should be cut into uneven strips – they don't need to be too tidy but should have one straight edge. It's good if the strip is narrower at one end and wider at the other. I like to use strips around 1 1/2” to 2” wide. A variety of strip widths will add interest to your blocks.
To get started, lay one of your light strips right side down on the bed of your machine and anchor it with the needle. Then slip in a starting yellow square underneath it right side up. Using the straight side of your strip as a sewing guide sew the two together, add another yellow square underneath the strip and continue sewing.
Keep going until the strip is full of yellow squares or until you've reached the number you want to start with. I like to start with about 10 yellow squares, working on 10 blocks to get started. If I'm making blocks for a particular project, I'll decide in advance how many blocks I want to make and what size will be appropriate.
This is what it will look like.
Lay it out on your ironing board with the strip on top and press to set the stitches. Tidy up your seamline by trimming your seam to about 1/4”. Then flip the strip out and press well.
This is what it looks like. Cut them apart and you've got your starting pairs.
The next step is to add another light strip to this set. Log cabin blocks are light on two adjoining sides and dark on the other two sides.
Lay down your next light coloured strip, right side down. Slip your starting pairs under the strip one at a time – always keeping your most recent addition at the top. Sew the strip to the block using the straight side of the strip as a sewing guide. See the photo.
The newest strip that was added to the yellow centre block is the first to go under the needle. If you keep this orientation in mind you'll keep your logs moving in the right direction. With the addition of any strip you have the opportunity to slip your block under the strip at a bit of an angle, adding a bit of personality. Remember, you want it to look like you made them wonky on purpose! Before you press the blocks, trim away the excess from the seam allowance, keep it tidy. You want wonky, not sloppy.
As the blocks get bigger you may find it easier to cut the blocks apart before pressing.
Press as before and this is what they look like now.
Now move that tray of light fabrics way across the room so you're not tempted to reach into it. The third strip must be a dark fabric, again remember that the last strip added is the first to go under the needle. Remind yourself that you're sewing around the yellow centre.. Choose a fabric that will give you good contrast. These first few rounds are the best time to use up the shorter strips, save the longer pieces to use as the blocks get larger.
This is how your blocks should look so far...
Keep adding strips in this fashion until you've got a block big enough to trim down to your desired size. I like to make my blocks around 6” for a table topper. That way I can use enough blocks to get an interesting overall pattern on a small surface. You can decide how big you want your blocks to be. Feel free to make whatever size project you like.
This is my first set of 12 blocks.. They look pretty raw don't they? I want to square them up to 6” so I've let them get a bit bigger than that.
This is what they look like all cleaned up
– better eh?
I like to arrange the blocks on the design wall in a few different settings and take digital photographs before making my final decision.
Ok, after all that arranging and rearranging I settled on a completely different setting and sewed my blocks together in a 5 x 9 block setting. I'm working only from my stash so I put my blocks up on the design wall and auditioned several different border fabrics. Finally settling on the best one I cut my borders and added 6” borders to the length and 7” borders to the sides. My top so far is 41” x 60 1/2”.
I always use Hobbs fusible batting on quilts that I'm going to quilt on my home machine. (as opposed to the B-Line frame). Isn't fusible batting the best - NO Pins! Now, I quilt the living daylights out of it. I want a lot of quilting as this thing will be washed and used on a weekly basis – it's going to take some abuse. It's got to look pretty and protect my table at the same time.
After the quilting is done I serge the edges and machine wash my quilt. I want to get any shrinkage out of the way before cutting it to the size I want it to finish at.
After quilting it is 41 x 60 1/2”
After washing it measures 41 x 58 1/2” - interesting that it only shrunk lengthwise... most of my starting fabrics would have been prewashed and the backing was too but the batting was not.
I'm squaring up to 37 3/4” x 56” before adding the binding.
I want this to fit on the top of my dining room table which is 37 ¾ by 56”.
