Log Cabin Quilt Patterns

Many log cabin quilt patterns can be made by arranging the blocks in different ways.

When a few log cabin quilt blocks have been made, these can be turned into a lovely warm quilt.  Most of the hard work is in the making of patchwork blocks using either the basic, Log Cabin, Ohio Star or Sail boat patchwork method.

Now all you have to do is make the required amount of blocks and put these together to make a quilt. It  is a lot easier said than done. If you were good with the cutting ,measuring and sewing the blocks then they should fit together nicely, otherwise a little tweaking may be needed.

I got carried away while publishing the Log Cabin patchwork design page and have now got 28 blocks in a blue/beige colour.  The part that symbols the fire is black material with beige and blue flowers so those colours were used to set the dark and light sides.

Several types of block patterns can be used alternately to show the many design available with a result of making a lovely quilt. The other types of blocks are Ohio Star, Sail Boat, Dutchman's Puzzle, Roman Pin Wheel and Bow Tie to name a few.

In the last quilt I made with log cabin quilt blocks,  all the blocks went the same way and the look turned out quite good.  A border was added to two of the sides out of the darkest of the dark strip. This completed the look as otherwise two sides would have been the lighter colour.

Different Log Cabin Quilt Patterns

There are varying ways in which to can make the log cabin quilt patterns out of the log cabin blocks with the light and dark sides making a striking effect when making a patchwork quilt.

One of the best patterns is to have your own completely random design so your quilt is very unique.

Some of the more well known design are shown below.

Light Dominant- The blocks can be arranged in larger blocks of four with all the lighter sides meeting in the middle and the overall look is that you see the stronger lighter design.

Dark Dominant- The other side of the light dominant is by having the darker side more prominent. The picture above isn't helped by the fact I put the blocks on a beige carpet but you can just see the edges.

Barn Raising- The effect of this pattern is a diamond shape. Start by using four blocks with the darker halves meeting in the middle and then add the other blocks firstly matching the lighter sides to get the diamond. The wider the quilt the bigger the diamond will be.  The darkest strip used in the picture is possible too dark as it shows a square shape but if you look beyond the dark strip to the boundary of the beige the blue diamond is there.

Arrow- This design shows the chevron arrow pointing up or down. Again with the choice of the darkest strip, in the picture above, squares off the effect but the beige half of the block shows the arrow. The arrow is then continued up the quilt alternating the dark and the light sides of the block.

Zig-Zag- Looking at the beige side of the block the zig-zag pattern continues up the quilt.

Field and Furrows- This design gives the effect of diagonal stripes alternating with the dark and light sides of the log cabin block.

It takes time and patience to sew all the blocks together so the different strips match up properly. When this is done the quilt wadding and the backing material are added. This can be done similar to making up the quilt inside a quillow.

When making a patchwork quilt from blocks other than log cabin the effect will be very different. Strips of contrasting or background fabric could be used between the blocks along with an edge.

When you have reached that stage all the layers need to be stitched together with invisible or matching thread.

The stitching is done along the lines of the quilt pattern to accentuate the design. The more stitching that is done the more secure the quilt will be but you need to make sure the fabric doesn't gather up.

The stitching can be done by hand using a frame to add tension or by machine when the stitch lines will need to be pinned and the quilt rolled up.

Lots of different fabrics can be bought a Minerva Crafts  to help make lovely patterns.

Enjoy making your log cabin quilt patterns into a patchwork quilt as it could end up being a family heirloom.

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