Staycation - A Finished Log Cabin Quilt

My second fully finished quilt of 2020 is Staycation.  It is 80 inches square so my quilt holder is struggling to hold it up.

If I had to choose a favorite quilt block, I'd have a hard time deciding between sawtooth star and log cabin.  This must be the 5th or 6th log cabin quilt I've made.  It was a good stash buster as most of the fabric came from stash, leftovers from a few other quilts I made in the same colors.

My blocks are based on the Sweet Escape pattern by Thimbleblossoms but I chose a different setting from that in the pattern directions.

Karen Thompson, my longtime longarm quilting collaborator, did the quilting and I love the open, lacy feather design.  It looks especially good in the lighter areas.  

I designated 2020 as my year for stash busting and this quilt helped because even the backing came from my stash.  This is a wideback fabric I bought some time ago with no particular use in mind.  But when I see widebacks I like, I usually buy some, particularly if the price is right, because they are easier than trying to piece the back for the a large quilt.  The design on the fabric is a greatly enlarged post mark, like you see on the stamps on postcards.

I did "splurge" on new fabric for the binding.  I had an idea in mind but didn't have the perfect fabric in my stash.  This lime green and white stripe fabric went perfectly with the blocks.  It is cut selvage to selvage, on the straight of grain, because I wanted that look with the stripes straight.  This is a big departure for me as I almost always cut my binding fabric on the bias.   

Mr. Main Street and I had a major vacation planned for this spring, two weeks in Europe including a 9-night cruise from Athens to Venice by way of some of the Greek islands.  The trip had to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  While we are re-booked for next year, 2020 will likely be the year of the staycation, and that's how I came up with the name for this quilt.

Sashed

I pieced the sashing on Monday evening then last night I began sewing the whole quilt together.  More to do but you can now see how the design comes together once you add the pieced sashing to the blocks. 

Kim Diehl, the designer of this quilt, called her version Twilight Hopscotch but I need a new name.  At the moment, I am partial to All Is Calm, though this does not need to be a Christmas quilt exclusively so maybe something else would be better.  What I mean is, do you have a suggestion?

Another Finish

I have another finish to show you!  Unveiling...Stargazing!

I made this quilt with a Miss Rosie Quilts Co. pattern called Ginger Belle.  It is a variation on Double Irish Chain, with a star added to the open blocks. 

I sent the finished top to Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  Linda did a fabulous job with the quilting.  Her work really brought this quilt to life; a good example of how much the quilting adds to the beauty of a quilt!  Linda quilted feather wreaths in the open space around each star and a simpler motif along the chains. 

I used a solid flannel for the back but you can see the quilting in this photo.

The fabrics in Stargazing are from the Rural Jardin line by French General for Moda.  I had a fat quarter bundle which supplied the scrappy look, and I used one of the small-scale red prints for the binding.  the finished quilt is 82" square, a good size for a full-size bed.  Miss Main Street likes the quilt very much so it may be going on her bed after she leaves for college. 

Originally, I was searching for a French name for this quilt, something that would incorporate the word "belle" from the pattern name and the Frenchiness of the fabric.  I was toying with belle etoile (beautiful star) and etoile brillante (shining star) but was never entirely comfortable with either.  Then Stargazing just came to me.  One of the dictionary definitions for stargazing is "to indulge in dreamy thought" and I thought it was perfect. 

Seven Ways To Name Your Quilt

When you label your completed quilts, do you give them names?  I do.  Here are seven ways I come up with an original name for each quilt.

1.  Does the quilt remind you of a favorite food?  I have several quilts that I've named for different foods, and someday I must make a chocolate quilt.  I named this quilt Watermelon because that's what the color combination reminded me of.

Watermelon

2.  Does the quilt remind you of a place?  I designed Aquarium to evoke the look of the giant tanks at the Baltimore Aquarium, one of my daughter's favorite places to visit when she was little.  Cider Mill got its name because the color combination reminded me of a cider mill my family used to visit in the fall when I was a child. 

Aquarium

Cider Mill



3.  Name the quilt after the pattern designer.  I named Blooms in the Snow after the designer, Bloom and Blossom.  Well, her real name is Roslyn, but I know her by her blog name.  She called the design Sweet Menagerie when it appeared on Moda Bakeshop but I gave it the name Blooms in the Snow in tribute to the designer (Bloom) and the winter-themed fabric jelly roll (Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda) I used for my version.

Blooms in the Snow

4.  Give the quilt the same name as the pattern you are using.  I made this quilt using a pattern called Shasta Daisy and could not come up with a better name myself.  So, Shasta Daisy it is. 

Shasta Daisy

5.  Make an indirect reference to the pattern or fabric collection you are using.  I used a pattern called Ginger Belle and a French countryside inspired fabric collection called Rural Jardin... 

...to make this quilt (still just a flimsy).  I think it would be appropriate to use a French phrase for this one and  Thelma suggested I use the word Belle in the name.  I like that idea so have been trying to come up with a French phrase that includes Belle.  L'Etoile Belle is a possibility but I'm still brainstorming this one.

The quilt to be named at a later date

6.  Sometimes the fabric used suggests a name.    My mother brought back some fabric from a trip to Amsterdam so the quilt I made from it is called Dutch Treat.  The quilt below used a panel of small floral bouquets for the squares in the center of each block, hence the name, Tussie Mussie.

Tussie Mussie

7.  Don't rule out random inspiration.  Occasionally, a name just comes to me.  Someday, I'm going to make a quilt totally from stash and call it Inventory Control. 

We Return Now To Our Regularly Scheduled Project

Before Paris, I was working on this project from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine; it is called Follow The Leader. 

I resumed work this past weekend and have made quite a bit more progress.  This is not a difficult pattern (so far, at least), but it is rather labor-intensive because of the pieced border.

I started putting together the "columns."  The uneven 9-patch blocks are joined with setting triangles in long strips, then the strips are joined using a thin strip of dark lattice between each pieced strip. 

I have five of the seven columns pieced.  I numbered each with a pinned on label as an aid to getting them in the right order when I sew them all together with the lattice strips.  This is something I learned from experience, the kind of experience you don't want to have, when it all goes wrong!  But now I know to label!



The name Follow The Leader probably came from the flying geese border.  I'm looking for a name for my version, am thinking something to do with traveling.  Maybe Flying South?  Or Traveling Light?