Log Cabin Christmas Tree – Quilt in a Day (part 1)

A new friend invited me to join in a quilting project she just started. Making new friends in a new place can be really hard. I randomly met this homeschool mama at our local library. I’m super appreciative of her kindness in inviting me to sew with her!

I used to quilt, before the Camp Fire. Then I lost everything I had ever made in the fire. Every single thing. I managed to grab a couple of quilts that my mom had made, but none of the things I had made. Zilch. I wouldn’t have wanted it the other way around. I’m glad I grabbed what I grabbed. But, I haven’t felt like sewing anything either. This year marks the 5 year anniversary of the 2018 Camp Fire and it seemed as good a time as any to pick up the hobby.

I bought the vintage pattern on eBay. It’s “Quilt in a Day” but that roughly translates to “potentially eventually completable” for homeschool mamas. I have no intention of even thinking about getting it done in one day!

I looked through the stash of fabrics my mom had given me, and then raided her personal stash too!

I wanted to choose warm desert colors like the ones in this vintage artwork by Gail Brown (1988).

So instead of red and green, I chose terracotta and turquoise.

Then, when I had no idea what the written instructions in the pattern were trying to tell me to do, I looked up this instructional video on YouTube. (I’m a visual learner.) The video in the link below is really fun, and Eleanor Burns gives a little history about the log cabin block which is very interesting. Especially the symbols of the center block being the home, the light side representing the happy times and the dark side representing the sad times. The light and the dark meet up in the middle and the block as a whole represents life. For me, making a quilt represents stitching more of my life back together.

Elenor Burns on how to sew a log cabin block

Ah ha! That helped so much and when I finally understood what to do, I pulled out my vintage Viking machine and started sewing. My husband was being supportive by taking a picture. He knows sewing is something that I used to really enjoy doing.

After making the first 3 blocks, I decided it was looking too uniform to make all the blocks exactly the same. The log cabin pattern is very uniform to begin with, so I decided to start making them “scrappier”. I kept the terracotta gingham for all centers. In this pattern, the “red” centers are meant to be the tree’s ornaments.

Well friends, that’s all for part #1. I’ll show you more of my project as I make more progress!

I hope that this post encourages you to pick up a project you’ve been meaning to get started, or invite a new friend to join you in doing something together, or maybe even give quilting a try!