free piecing study - january - block 2 - log cabin house

long time no see, huh? school started again, and ballet and piano did too. and soon soccer - ack! life is busy, and sewing time has shortened. also we've been moving some stuff around in our house, including my sewing stuff. but i'm all set now!

i must say that i'm thrilled with the interest in our free piecing study. my husband was a little surprised that that many people are interested in what i'm doing. don't get me wrong. he loves the stuff i make, but i don't think he realized what a huge crafting/quilter community is really out there.

today i made my partner, molly, a log cabin house block. her colors are lime, aqua, pink, red, orange and black/white. there is a tutorial over in the sidebar for the log cabin house. to me, a log cabin house is a log cabin block with a roof part thrown in. the overall block still looks like a log cabin. i took pictures while sewing this morning, and i thought i would share them with you and share a bit more of my process.




i started off buy digging through my scrap bin looking for a balance of her colors reminding myself that i was sewing for someone else and to stick to the color palette and leave the i spys in the box.




when i sew with scraps, i like the piece i'm sewing on to have a straight edge for my stitch line to follow. if it's a small piece (3" or shorter) i generally use my scissors to make that straight edge. i also use my scissors to trim the extra off before i press my seam open.




if it's a longer piece, i use my ruler and rotary cutter to make the straight edge.




keep sewing logs on your block. notice how i adjust the angles of the logs. i like to give just a little wonk. i don't angle every log. some people like really wonky. it's up to you. then cut a roof for your house. now, you need a background for your roof. you can cut a background from one piece of fabric like i did in the tutorial.




or you can use two different fabrics. you could even piece some fabric together for the background piece. i happened to have this triangle piece of citrus fabric in my scrap bin leftover from another house. fits perfectly with no trimming at all!




i cut a piece from a square of fabric by laying the roof on top of the fabric and using it as a guide to cut with my ruler and rotary cutter.




sew the roof piece onto your log cabin and trim the sides leaving 1/4" on each side for the seams. i originally planned to have my log cabin with the orange log on bottom. but i switched it around because the green log would interfere with the green background piece of the roof making the house look skinnier than i wanted. you're probably thinking "huh?" after making lots of these houses, i have found that if a log near the background of the roof is the same color, it "disappears" into the background and makes the house look skinnier and the roof look like it hangs over/past the house. it's just my personal preference. [just sharing my thought process here]




sew a few more logs on, and you're finished!


want to join? share what you've made? find a partner? see all the wonderful blocks made so far? pop on over to the group!