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Help! Custom Log Cabin


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Hello again everyone. I have started taking in customer quilts (may be to soon). I have a log cabin quilt barnraising set. With the diagonal set I'm having trouble finding designs to work well. Being new I have no idea what the norm is. I thought feathers but the quilt is not "feather fancy". I might try practicing some freehand flowers (focus fabric has flowers) and vines (for the plain white background. This has froze any ambition I had about the LA, haven't touched it in a couple of weeks.:(

Thank you for listening and all your great responses I know you will post!!!

Sherry:(

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I've seen some pantograph designs done with the log cabin quilt that look very nice! Have you tried many pantographs? There are a lot out there with different types of flower motifs that might fit your quilt. If you want to try freehand flowers, you can pull up some pantograph designs from the internet and practice drawing them on paper or white board so you feel comfortable at the machine.

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If you are not ready to quilt the log cabin quilt, at least put some muslin on the machine and play with ideas. You can just draw lines in approximation on the piecing lines. (I am not talking ever line, but just the main lines, if you had a square draw a square) Practicing ideas on paper or a dry erase board will be helpful too.

I am not good with ideas, I usually have to do some looking at other quilts.

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Here is my log cabin that I finished recently. Not a very good picture, I'm afraid! I did stippling in the dark and hooked feathers in the light areas. I didn't want to stop and start a lot so I left the light areas til the end and rolled the quilt back and forth to do the feathers in a continuous line. Hope this helps a bit!

http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=18182&page=1#pid211305

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A friend just finished a barn raising set...sorry no photo but she did some parallel straight lines in the dark areas and feathers in the light ones. The contrast of straight lines & curvy ones worked out beautifully and the feathers showed up fairly well on the light fabrics. You're going to figure out something wonderful. Nancy in Tucson

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I recently started listening and using Shannon's philosophy ("Eating an elephant, one bite

at a time"). I had been putting off quilting a queen size Lone Star and a queen size Double Wedding Ring but "bite by bite", I finished both of them.

Listen: Practice, practice, practice and ask for help here. For my first few quilts, I went simple. Pantographs are a great help. We all have been and sometimes are in your shoes. There are days that some quilts stop me cold. "What do I do with this one?", I tell myself. What was this person thinking? But, after I see the smile on my clients face it is all worth it.

Keep going. You will be amazed at what you will accomplish.

Carmen

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Hi Sherry.

The print is very busy and not much will show...maybe you practice a feathery design there, then repeat it in the light with that practice under your belt. Or do some line work in the dark and feathers in the light.

I do think a beautiful panto with flowers would work well...are those roses in the print? Maybe a nice rambling rose panto. There are so many choices!

You said you were new...give your self some time before going all-out-custom, you may be frustrated and hate LAing...do something you and your customer will be happy with!

Do show us the afters...have fun with it!

Lisa

APQS Liberty

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Karen that is a beauty.

Sherry that is a gorgeous quilt. I had one like this come into my shop when I was a newbie, scared me to death. I did not have enough confidence in myself to do anything custom, and they did not like pantos, but they loved the baptist fan, so that is what I did and it turned out so pretty. I was pleasantly surprised and my customer was thrilled to death. I think if you just practice for awhile you would be able to do the feathers.

having said all that, Lisa had some really good advice.

oh, and remember to breath during this process:D

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Thanks everyone!

Karen I love your quilting, I think I need a different feather design, the ones I have I could not make the corners flow around the quilt. And I think as Lisa said the black which does have a rose type flower print is not going to show much of the quilting.

I will put a practice piece on and work on some feathers. Then I will probably quilt them in the black first to get the feel of the diagonal, then move to the white area.

Would I need to stabilize with straight line stitching before the feathers or just baste stitch every 8-10 inches?

Thanks again for the wonderful pics and advice!!!

Sherry

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Sherry:

If you just do an all-around freehand pattern in the dark parts, you will have stabilized the entire quilt prior to doing the light parts. Then you can really concentrate on the light parts. If you have done any feathering before, you can either chalk in a line that basically undulates back and forth on the white between your center red squares, and then you will have a "spine" to work your feathers around. When you get to those four corners, remember you will have to add at least two featherson the outside of the curve for every feather on the inside of the curve, and maybe even more than that.

If you have never done feathers--practice on something first by chalking a wavy line, sew over it, and do "half hearts" all along the line on each side. (Picture a heart split vertically down the middle.) When I first started feathering, I did it this way, and it was easier for me to concentrate on drawing "half-hearts" than making feathers. Later, I started making the feathers longer like teardrops, or other shapes, and it is now quite easy to vary my patterns.

For the dark parts, if you do an all-over freehand pattern, the added bonus is that you can really work on a semi-difficult design (if you want) in all that dark space--because any minor imperfections will most likely not even show up.

Good luck to you!

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Sherry, Karen hit the nail on the head, that quilt is screaming something similar to hers. The feathers in her quilt are freehand but if you are needing to use a stencil and can get it on the sides, just draw a line around the corner and use the stencil to fill in along the line...if they look simliar to the others that's all it requires..and it will be your own personal design.

Good luck and post pictures when finished we all are waiting to see it.

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