The End of Summer Log Cabin Quilt Top

End of Summer Log Cabin Quilt Top

Last summer while I walked, I took careful notice of the colors around me. In Mideast Ohio, fall depends much on what has happened rain-wise over that summer. The summer of 2025 did not have a long, dry spell like many before. I remember several recent summers I quit mowing after the Fourth of July, and didn't resume until early September. But this one was green, and the foliage delayed turning until far into October. The leaves stayed on the trees until well after Halloween, and then fell slowly. Honestly, it was a lovely fall before we slipped into winter.

It's been years since I've made a log cabin quilt, and one of the joys is developing the pattern as you create the blocks. There are a huge variety of ways to make blocks starting with how large the center square is to the width of 'logs' to the direction they are laid out color-wise. So many decisions impact the end design. 

Colors: I started with dark browns. There are a few fabrics with different values, but most are still a dark chocolate brown. Perhaps I saw this due to all the rain, and the trees and mulch were wet and dark. The greens reflect the variety of foliage. The grass was certainly green all fall and still is. The leaves faded gold far before there was any bright orange or red. But the blue was a focal point for my square. We had bright blue skies through fall. It was joy to see. 

I played with every layout I could think of. As the number of blocks grew I could see different patterns developing. The blocks are 12.5" unfinished so that was a limiting factor. 6" blocks would offer more intricate patterns, and I may play with that the next time for a change. 

It was somewhere at this point I decided not to keep this quilt, and knew who else might enjoy it as much as I would. Because this person is much taller than I am, I needed more blocks. So I sewed on hoping the fabric I'd picked for setting triangles would be enough. What a difference from this point to the next with the background!

70"x90"

Can you see the dark earth, the green and yellowing fields and my blue autumn skies? I used to believe that traditional quilts were somewhat boring compared to more modern quilts, but to me this is vibrant and draws me in. Is it really traditional or does the setting and colors push it into a different category? What do the colors make you think of? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.