Log Cabin & Vanishing Log Cabin - Serendipity Quilts (2023)

Along with half square triangles, the "Log Cabin" tile block is one of the most used patterns and is also a simple and versatile pattern. Here I show you how to do it.

Table of Contents

The log cabin block

You probably know the basic shape of this "Log Cabin" block, which looks like this:

In the middle there is a square and around it longer and longer strips are sewn so that the block gets bigger and bigger. Traditionally, there is a light side and a dark side with a different colored square in the middle.

There are many different ways to sew and alter this block. Start with the size of the square in the middle. The stripes around it can be narrow or wide, they don't even have to be the same inside the block. Strictly speaking, the square in the center doesn't have to be a square either, a rectangle works too, and it doesn't have to be in the center either, but that's going too far :-)

A quilt can consist of many log cabin blocks or one large one.

You can also achieve many different effects with the distribution of colors within the block.

some variations

You can go a step further and add a sheet directly to the block:

You can also add squares or triangles to the corners. Kind of reminds me of the "Flying Geese" block, doesn't it?

The beam block is also ideal for processinggeléruller ylayer cakes, but you can easily do it with fabric scraps because it's so versatile.

The Moda Fabrics blog even has instructions for triangular log cabin blocks. It's something for me again ;-)

Sew the log cabin block

Unless otherwise noted, sew all fabrics from the right side with a ¼-inch seam allowance and bind off all seams at the beginning and end.

Let's start with a very simple example:

Log cabin Block stripes

To practice, we sew a log cabin block with 2 ½-inch strips, for example, from a jelly roll. Choose at least three different fabrics/colours so that the pattern is easily recognisable. Let's call them "Medium", "Light" and "Dark".

First, you need a 2½ x 2½ inch square of "medium" and "bright". Sew the two squares together right sides together, unfold and iron the seam.

From "Bright," cut a 2½ x 4½ inch rectangle and sew it to one side of your previous piece. Unfold the two parts again and iron them.

From "Dark", now also cut out a 2½ x 4½ inch rectangle and sew it to the third side of your previous piece. Unfold the two parts again and iron them.

Finally, cut a 2½ x 6½ inch strip of "Dark" and sew it to the fourth side. Unfold and iron again.

This completes the first "round" of your log cabin block. You can sew the block as big as you want according to this scheme. In this case, two consecutive strips are the same size and are always 2 inches longer.

Important it's just that inside a block and inside a quilt I always sew the strips together in the same order, either clockwise or counterclockwise. Otherwise, some patterns that depend on the correct distribution of colors may not work.

Log cabin block made from a layer cake

With a layer cake, you have more options when cutting. I'll show you two of them here:

Option 1

For option 1, first cut your 10 x 10-inch square of layer cake into 2-inch wide strips. Then cut these strips according to the previous scheme, for a total of eight rectangles.

Fare:for this option, you'll need an extra 2.5-by-2.5-inch square for the center that you can't pry out of the layer cake. So if you use all 42 squares from the layer cake, you will need another 42 squares. You get them from 3 2.5 x 43 inch strips.

The finished log cabin block for this option is 8" x 8".

As an example, if you process a full layer cake with 42 squares for this, you get a quilt size of 48 x 56 inches, or approximately 1.22 x 1.44 m, with a 6 x 7 row layout.

option 2

For the log cabin block in option 2, you need extra fabric (white) in a contrasting color in addition to your layer cake square (blue). This can be another layer cake or, for example, just 1.5 inch wide strips of a matching plain fabric.

If you decide to use strips, if you are using all 42 squares of your layer cake with a fabric width of 43 inches / 110 cm, you will also need at least 40 additional 1.5-inch strips of a suitable fabric or one strip per layer. layer cake square.

In this case, cut your 10 x 10-inch square into 1.5-inch wide strips and divide them into rectangles shown above. This option leaves a narrow strip per square layer cake, but it is 2.5 inches wide and will likely find other uses, such as on the back, as part of the binding, or on a matching pillow.

The finished log cabin block for this option is 9 inches by 9 inches.

As an example, if you process an entire layer cake with 42 squares for this, you'll get a quilt size of 54 x 63 inches, or approximately 1.37 x 1.60 m, with a 6 x 7 row layout.

Log Cabin Block med "Quilt As You Go" -metode

You may already be familiar with "Quilt As You Go". If not: With this method, the face fabric is sewn and quilted directly onto the stabilizer when the pattern is sewn. So it is not so important that everything is straight and neat, it can also be colorful and wild and it is again great to use fabric scraps.

I really like this technique for bags or handles for example!

Here's how I sew a log cabin block using the Quilt As You Go method. Later it becomes a small bag; more on that in my next tutorial ;-)

Log Cabin Block using the "Foundation Paper Piecing" method

If you want it extra precise or you're working with very small pieces I'm thinking of a log cabin pattern pincushion, you can also use the Foundation Paper Piecing technique for this patchwork block where individual pieces of fabric are cut out Sew on a sheet of paper.

Detailed instructions for the basic paper piecing technique can be found here:

I prepared the template for one 5-inch block and 2 2.5-inch blocks, which you can download here:

The good thing is that you can paint such a template on calculation paper yourself according to your wishes. If you need several identical blocks, make a copy of your template before you start sewing ;-)

Important:Don't forget the seam allowance around the block!

Prefer to work in inches but only have centimeter paper? No problem:

Collect log cabin blocks

When you assemble your Log Cabin blocks into a quilt, you "unfortunately" have just as many options as when you sew the individual blocks together.

Here, the "standard" blocks are simply rotated in different directions and completely different patterns are created:

Block #2 in the above examples has its center slightly offset. This creates the impression of a curve in the quilt:

As described above, you can also achieve many cool effects with movement between the blocks:

IEpida Studio I found a good overview with 40 different variations!

Inspiration

For inspiration, we have collected a lot of log cabin quilts on our Pinterest page:

(PS: The Pinterest board can only be displayed if you accept all cookies)

Disappearing log cabin block

Now that we've seen all the examples and the basic pattern, let's go a step further and look at the disappearing log cabin block.

What does "disappearing log cabin" really mean? "Disappear" (or German for "disappear") is typically used to describe mosaic blocks where the already stitched block is cut and reassembled so that the original pattern disappears and the block looks much more complex than it really is.

The most famous is the "Nine Disappearing Patch"

And that's exactly how it works with the Log Cabin Block. Or you cut it from top to bottom and from right to left...

...but you can also cut it diagonally:

Here there are no limits to your imagination. Just try something!

Disappearing Log Cabin Pillowcases

We now use the last example for the disappearing log cabin block for a smart cushion cover.

I also have the fabric collections for these two cushions"Nomadic"by Urban Chicks and"Dwell on Possibilities"used for ginger.

For the front of a 40 x 40 cm cushion cover you will need:

With a fabric width of 43 inches / 110 cm

• 1 5.5-inch strip (for the center square and a framing strip)
• 6 strips, 2 inches each
• 1 piece of fleece, approx. 45 x 45 cm / 17.5 x 17.5 inches
• optional, but very useful: a long patchwork ruler

From the 5.5-inch strip, cut two squares, and from the remaining piece, cut two 2-inch long strips. You will need them later for lacing and you can set them aside for now. The excess width of 1.5 inches goes into your litter box.

Now is the time to plan.

Now select one of the other six stripes, which will end up being the long horizontal stripe that runs down the center of the pillow (the rust red stripe on my pillow). Put that aside too.

Place the remaining five strips around your square in the order you want. Carefully move the strips to the side so your work area is clear, but stay organized (or take a quick photo).

Take the innermost strip - for me the lightest with the feathers - and place it with the two edges flush, right sides together, in one of the squares as you can see in the picture. Sew the long edge of the strip to the square.

Cut the excess strip flush with the edge of the square.

Unfold the strip and iron the seam or gently smooth it with your fingernail.

Now take the other strip from the inside, light blue in my case, and place it clockwise on the next side of the square. Sew this strip along the long edge as well.

Cut the excess strip flush with the edge of the square, unfold it and iron the seam.

Now repeat the last two steps on the other two sides of the square to get this pattern. The stripes on opposite sides of the square must be identical.

Repeat the last steps with the next two strips. You have now sewn two "frames" around the middle square.

Now just sew the last strip on two sides. Make sure to sew the strip on the same side you sewed the first strip on.

(You can always tell the first stripe on each bend by the fact that it is bordered on both sides by the other stripes on that bend. I have marked the places in red in the picture.)

The block is no longer square, but rectangular!

Do everything again with the other square, except you sew the strips in reverse order. I stopped with the dark cloth on the first block and started on the second block.

This way you can wear all the strips evenly.

Cut the blocks!

Place one of the blocks in front of you and find (preferably using a long tile ruler) the diagonal that divides several intersections of its stripes in a line, but does not pass through the corners of the central square. This is your first clip.

For the second cut, take the smaller part you just cut, rotate it 180° and place it as a template on top of the larger half, aligned with the right angle. You cut what's left.

Repeat this with the second block.

We don't need the center strip you cut out for this project, but you may find it useful for another. Otherwise in the trash.

You now have four triangles that should be roughly the same size. Arrange them so that the two triangles cut from the same block face each other and all the corners meet in the middle.

Sew the remaining three strips into the holes as ties.

Now you can guess what your pillow cover will look like.

Now using the framing strips that he had left over from the squares at the beginning and put aside. Now sew them between two of the triangles.

You do this by placing the strip flush with the right angle of the triangle, so that you then have a nice straight edge down the middle.

Sew the other triangle on the other side of the closing strip, also flush with the edge that will then run diagonally across the center of the pillow.

This results in a new, larger triangle. Where the right angle of the triangle would be, the leaf strip sticks out a bit.

Using your patchwork ruler, cut the frame so that it aligns with both edges and has a nice point.

Now sew the remaining two triangles to the second framing strip in the same way.

Now you are left with two large triangles and one last long strip.

Mark the center of the strip and the two long sides of the triangles so that you can sew the three parts as centrally as possible and the pillow cover does not twist.

It is best to sew this last long strip of your tag in the middle between the two triangles. You can also start at a corner, but then I recommend that you fix everything well with pins or staples so that nothing moves while sewing. I'm too lazy for needles and so I only sew from the middle :-)

As we mentioned at the beginning, the front of your pillowcase measures just over 40 x 40 cm. Using your patchwork ruler, you can now straighten your block and cut it to the size you want to work with.

The first time I tried to sew this block, it ended up crooked and unfortunately I didn't have room to straighten it. So the cover has become a little smaller and the pillow is now correspondingly soft ;-)

On the other hand, I always cut pillowcases without seam allowances. So for a 40 x 40 cm pillow, I cut the two parts for the cover also in 40 x 40 cm. So of course it will be a little smaller, but I don't like when there is "air" in the cover and the pillow doesn't seem to fill the cover completely. But it's a matter of taste :-)

Place the finished block in the center of the fleece and quilt it to your heart's content. So all the open fabric edges inside the pillowcase have automatically disappeared!

If you're not sure how to proceed with the pillowcase, feel free to read this again: