Kentucky Log Cabin Quilt

 

I love Judy Martin’s quilt designs.  Even on fairly easy patterns, there’s a little something extra and interesting.  Last summer her web site featured glimpses of her newest book, Judy Martin’s Log Cabin Quilt Book.  On her web site her readers were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite patterns in the book and I immediately fell in love with the Kentucky Log Cabin.  I had decorated one bedroom in a lodge/cabin theme and had yet to make a quilt for the full sized bed.  I requested the book for my birthday in September, but didn’t have time to start the quilt until after the Christmas holidays.

I changed the layout to give me the look and size I wanted – big enough to cover the entire mattress plus an overhang on sides and bottom to come to a certain point on the bedskirt. 

 

Although the pattern wasn’t difficult, a degree of precision cutting and piecing was required and I wore out three rotary blades making this quilt.  I felt it was worth it.

I was in the middle of making pillow covers to match the spread when I saw a forum discussion of an old-fashioned method of covering pillows by making a large flat topper that would cover the pillows, tuck under top and bottom and have an overhang to match the quilt.  This is basically a long, narrow flat piece that I designed using four applique cabin blocks and some of the coordinating maroon fabric.  This was my answer and I know in the future I’ll always make a matching or coordinating topper rather than covers that have to be removed every time the bed is used.

I machine quilted using stippling for the body of the quilt and decorative stitching on the borders.  I like the quilt very much with the pieced log cabins and secondary star design.