MbyY, in case you are not familiar with it, is the ezine put out quarterly, for free, by Benartex Fabrics. You can get your copy by going to their blog, Sew in Love With Fabric, where you will find the link to the ezine on the sidebar. When they contacted me to ask if I would like to design a digital block, the assignment being a modern twist on the Log Cabin block, I jumped at the chance for several reasons. First, I love a good challenge to my creativity and second, it was another opportunity to work with EQ8, and third, well, being published is always a thrill that never gets old. Fourth, I'd just played with a log cabin challenge for November's Island Batik challenge, so log cabins were still bouncing around in my head. You can see that quilt top here.
We could work with a full or quarter Log Cabin block, and we were given a few Benartex collections from which to pick. I chose to work with the quarter log cabin block, and the Limoncello fabric collection by Kanvas Studio for Benartex.
It is a little bit out of my comfort zone and not my preferred colours, which is always a good way to grow in the design department, in my experience anyway! I do love pretty much any colour paired with black, however. Here is the basic block from EQ:
You can vary it by making different widths of logs to create some pretty cool overall patterns.
Put a modern twist on the block was harder than I thought! After three or four attempts and 'meh' results, I came up with this block:
My twist was starting with a rectangle as opposed to a square. Then I did narrow logs alternating with wider ones. Instead of doing a light side and a dark side, I kept the narrow logs dark. I also stuck with the more geometric patterns in the collection as opposed to the more feminine floral ones (which I love btw). Finally, I interrupted the narrow/wide, light/dark pattern in the final round with a narrower light log, and a wider light log that itself was interrupted with the floral fabric square at the end. This, in effect, almost reverses the entire block's starting point.
When I put the blocks into a quilt layout, I got some cool results.
First, here is the plain layout, all blocks oriented the same direction. It's pretty interesting:
And then....
No sleight of hand here, just some flipping and flopping. Isn't that just so cool?! Is this potential quilt wiggling its whiskers and nose at me? Flicking its bushy tail? Yeah, you bet it is... I smell a squirrel! For now, I have to be content with feeding it some bird seed, peanuts, and mostly hoping it stays out of my direct line of vision...
Be sure to head to Benartex's blog, Sew in Love With Fabric, where you can download for free your copy of the ezine. There may just be some give-aways up for grabs!
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I can't find your pattern in the magazine. I love it. Can I get the pattern someplace??
ReplyDeleteHi Patti, you are a no-reply blogger, so I am replying here and hope you will see this. It's a digital block, so I wasn't required to make the quilt in fabric. Once I write the pattern and test it, I will announce on the blog where you can get it!
ReplyDeleteLove the second layout. Cool block.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool block, Sandra! Pretty cool to see how you can flip it and create a whole new look. Congrats on the publish!
ReplyDeletePretty cool, Sandra!
ReplyDeleteYou wiggled your way into a winner! That's awesome with that fabric. Congrats!!!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is wiggling its whiskers and busy tail! I'm always amazed at secondary patterns that show up when moving blocks around. Yours is so cool!
ReplyDeleteCool block! Playing in EQ8 is fun and I think the squirrel needs to come out.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things about log cabin blocks is how a quilt can be changed just with a rotation of a block here and there. Fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting twist on this very traditional block. Both the design and the fabric selection really made this a super modern quilt. I can understand why you would want to keep playing with those blocks. If you do, let us see what other exciting designs you come up with!
ReplyDeleteSo much fun!!! I always just graph paper to sketch out block ideas, but you are persuading me I need EQ!! Love your block and thanks for the link to the ezine!!
ReplyDeleteVery, very cool! I love the final floral block, a completely unexpected twist! Congrats on another publication :)
ReplyDeleteWOWEE! You are Sherry are in the same magazine, so after she autographs my digital copy I'm sending it to you. AND, published again!! Cool, cool, COOL. Both versions of this block are, too, but that second version. I have just been digging on the log cabin block again after disliking it for two decades. The versatility is almost as much as the HSTs. Amazing! I feel another squirrel coming on - oh no. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteGreat job! That fabric line isn’t in my comfort zone either, but your design has made it approachable and fun.
ReplyDeleteAlways so happy to see that you are in another publication. It looks like a really fun process. I can see that squirrel teasing you!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Sandra!!! Oh wait, is that a squirrel?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, what a fun spin on the traditional log cabin!
ReplyDelete