Sammy’s Quilt

We all love picking out or designing a pleasing pattern and then making a quilt in our favorite colors. That is always fun! Sometimes we need to reach a little further when making a custom quilt for a friend.

,As part of an exchange of art, I agreed to make a quilt for my friend of a friend Sammy. I went with my favorite – the log cabin – as it is quick-ish and easy (because I have made a lot of them!). A log cabin is also very flexible as the blocks can be made into dozens of combinations/designs.

I did up a quick log cabin mock up in EQ8, using a 4″ center (which makes a log cabin go even faster!). Then the color question was asked. “I like black and green.” That’s it? Black and green. “Yes, it should be black and green.” That’s it? “Yes.” Can I use white, too? For contrast? “Sure”.

Making a quilt can be challenging with a limited palette. It is particularly difficult for me as color is one of the reasons I love to sew! I had a similar challenge last year when I made a quilt for a grandson.

Making a mock up in EQ8 is very helpful, because you can try out and swap fabric choices. I spent some time finding a basic black fabric, a deep green (which would prove to be out of stock, so I found a substitute locally), a deep charcoal with a dark gray swirl, and a white with small black rectangles. The quilt is 92″ square.

Because Sammy wished to keep the palette simple and direct, I decided to give him an option where the “light” log cabin squares are all the same fabric. The flecked white and black added a lot of texture and movement white keeping to the limited palette. I gave him 4 pattern layouts to choose from and he chose the one above.

I admit it; I got a bit bored while assembling this quilt. But it went together quickly.

The quilting is simple, given that the pattern is the star of this quilt. I do love the strong graphics that can be created with log cabin blocks. I experimented with 4 different threads, choosing basic black in a glossy 40 wt.

The center has a mandala with feathers. Although the circle is fairly easy to see, the feathers are not. Large echoed swirls are done throughout the rest of the quilt, giving it a nice textured surface.

For the wide border, I used a deep teal, 40 wt variegated thread and did a row of feathers and a row of waves. The binding uses the swirl gray fabric and is machine stitched on the top with a deco stitch.

Sammy is very happy with his quilt. “That looks so awesome. Thank you very much.”

May all your quilts put a big smile on someone’s face! I never tire of that joy.

Lennea