Last Friday was my good friend Katie’s birthday and, in addition to a pretty bottle of pink champagne, I wanted to give her something handmade. Lately I’ve been noticing some sewers, including fabric designer Denyse Schmidt, doing very cool things with the very classic and very easy log cabin quilting design. The basic block begins with a central square, and then strips are stitched in sequence around the square. I think Denyse’s beautiful quilt below will make you see tons of new potential in your fabric stash!
This reminded me of a great stashbuster project we featured in the April/May Sew News. Designer Erin Gilday used a basic log cabin block to create the pocket for this very cute apron:
I had quite a few fabric scraps on hand to make a gift for Katie, but not much time, so rather than stitching the entire apron, I just followed the basic concept for stitching the apron pocket. Then, I layered the log cabin block with batting and backing fabric to make a quick and cute potholder. As a finishing touch, I appliqued the letter “K” on the center square for a bit of personalization. I love when one idea leads to another, and can’t wait to experiment making more projects with the basic log cabin idea as a starting point. To make your own log cabin apron (or potholder!), you can get the April/May ’09 issue of Sew News here. Don’t forget to send us pictures of what you make!
