Floral Fabric Log Cabin You Won’t Need Patience It’s Addictive

Try These Log Cabin Blocks Using Floral Fabric and A Watercolor Technique.

This pretty log cabin is a window of flowers. The combination of pastels and brights are just so beautiful! I can smell the blooms!

 

Each strip is decided on individually every step of the way. Time consuming and getting lost in creativity. The “lights” are 1″ and the florals are 1.5″.  Every block has the same size strips. The border should frame gently without distracting from the floral fabric.

When deciding on fabric, the suggestion is to use mostly medium colors, and less darks and lights. Oftentimes in one block, a floral will be used as a medium, and in another, a dark, depending on what came before. Pink and purple might be your least favorite colors, so simply pass on them if you have a few. Finding good yellows, blues and oranges is more of a challenge.

For the watercolor effect, choose low contrast prints. Avoid floral fabrics that have a light background with dark flowers, and dark background with light flowers. Sticking to tiny florals prints, to 2 and 3″, and the big ones only seem to work if there are a lot of smaller flowers mixed in. In order to get the effect, you need a lot of fabrics to choose from. Fabric scraps and left over prints help to stack up your choices.

Find something you like, buy a yard at first, then if using it a lot, try to get more.

Barnbun on Quilting Board who made these beautiful watercolor floral log cabins shared

Well, the big quilt I did with these blocks had over 65 different fabrics in it.  I have ladders with strips hanging on them, and I hold each block side up to the strips, moving it to find the perfect next piece. I do with this every block, every time. Every strip is a decision. With the 12 blocks I just finished, with some strip additions there may be only three different fabrics being used, but then again there could be six different fabrics laying at the machine with the blocks it will be sewed to. The “light” side has much fewer options, so I’ll even repeat some there. I try to go lighter to darker with the florals, but don’t always follow that with the lights, but I usually do. There are exceptions.

There was one of the new blocks that had a fabric I felt was not lighter than the previous one it was next to, and I had to talk myself into not ripping it off and putting on a new.

Okay–I just counted. There are 66 different floral fabrics hanging, and 14 lights. I use some florals a lot more than others. I have two on-line orders due this week, and a few florals in the dryer right now from shopping last week. I’m always looking for good ones.  It’s always a little panicky when I run low on a floral or light I love. Sometimes I’ll go nuts and get 3 more yards of one I love–and when strips are at 1″ or 1.5″ that will last a long long time. 😆 the blocks end at 7.5″ before sewing together.
I think those could become addicting

The florals are cut at 1.5″ and the lights 1″. I sew them in strips–just use a LOT of different ones.

Wall quilt. Each strip is decided on individually every step of the way.

 

 

 

Doll quilts.

 

Table toppers.

Quilting Board

Watercolor quilts have a special way of capturing luminosity in quilts. For step-by-step instructions to show you how to create an Impressionistic masterpiece from fabric, Pat Maixner’s book ‘Watercolor Quilts’, is loaded with easy-to-follow exercises for planning your quilt and using color to create a watercolor effect. This evergreen book published way back in 1993 is still a favorite, and is available for purchase. Should you purchase a used copy, please be sure to ask the seller that all pages are intact.