The Log Cabin Man Quilt part II

 

 

So here is a finished block, it’s a pretty easy block to put together.  To the right is a simple picture of the block. 

So with this one little block we can make many different larger blocks.

 

 

  So in my search for layouts I found this one above in a large star pattern.

I also started playing with some of my squares, this one I did a chevron pattern.

Diagonal stripe.

And Boxes, I like this one and a simple layout.

for my quilt I’m doing a large box of sorts. In the center you start with a small box and make concentric boxes outwards. I’ve put a couple of pictures(above) so you can sort of see what i mean.  For the next post I’ll show how I’ve been working the quilt top together.

The Man Quilt Update

Well I'm a bad llama, I've been working on my next post for the Man Quilt when i discovered some measurement issues and some missing blocks.  SO ... I went looking for the fabric I had set aside from when i was originally making the blocks, only to find that I have no idea where they where put during the the last round of  'Spring cleaning'.  So off I went to the local thrift shop to restock.  I was in luck, home I came with a dozen or so new shirts and set to work making the required blocks.  So now I have 12 blocks give or take sitting on my sewing machine.  I got a little distracted reading .. I had decided to find out what all the fuse was about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, made it through the first book in 2 days.  Not my typical book of choice when it comes to reading but I enjoyed it and went and got the second one from the library the same day... and again had it done in 2 more days, and my poor quilt pieces sit lonely on my desk waiting for more attention.  Okay so now on my fifth day of distraction and I'm trying to get my hands on the last book of the set ... and would you believe it all the copies are out!!  With the book on reserve I set back to work on my blocks once again only to be interrupted yet again. This time it's my back .. can you believe it ...I've thrown my back out and haven't been able to sit at the sewing machine for two days so far and I have no book to keep me busy AARRGG!! I did download the preview to my e-reader ( one chapter is what i got) So now I lay in bed on an itty bitty laptop typing this brief message for my few readers.  Hopeful that maybe tomorrow I can manage sitting at my desk for a bit.

The Log Cabin Man Quilt part 1

This has been an ongoing project due to its size.  When finished it should be about queen size,  aprox 90 X 108 inches for.  Each block is about 7.5 in. finished and there is a lot of blocks.  The whole quilt is made out of old dress shirts.  As with all my up-cycle project I cut them apart so they’re easer to work with.



So I started with some sketches, this is the one I’m using for  laying out the finished pieces so it is not to fancy, just coloured pens and some highlighters.  The pattern drawings have gone miss at the moment.  So log cabin I thought would be a good block the use.. a nice manly square right? Any who…  I set to work collecting what I’d hoped would be enough shirts to make the entire quilt top. I used about 15 shirts or so and a 1/2 meter piece of red cotton for the centers (could not find and red shirts for the life of me at the time.)



 


Next I cut out a crap load of 2in. squares out of the red for the centers (there is about 100 finished squares) and I did a few pieces at a time for the strips of each colour and threw them into a bucket I keep beside my desk, the strips are 1 1/4 inches wide, and I left them in long strips instead of trimming them to size.  When the bucket was full I would sew some squares.

  
 
I left the 1 1/4 in. strips long so I could run them through the machine one after the other in a long chain, and when on ran out I would grab another out of the bucket at random and continue on.  Making sure to grab the right colour 2 blue then 2 white ect…





So I did this many many more times. After each row you have to cut apart the chains, I used my handy dandy quilting ruler to make sure I was square as I went.  and pressing the seams before attaching the next row. I did 3 rows of each blue and white







Here are a few of the finished blocks all trimmed up and ready to go.  In part 2 I’ll show you some of my layout ideas.

Until next time!