I made my first-ever log cabin squares yesterday and just snapped a photo of one before I turn it into a pillow:

The other one, in a different color mix, is tucked away in my flickr instead of posted here because it’s a gift and I don’t want the recipient to track it down yet. And that’s all I’ll mention about that, until April anyway!

I really love the look of gorgeous all-patterned log cabin pillows, but I’m a compulsive project-alter-er, so I changed the proportions a little. I wanted to show larger sections of my patterned fabrics so I made the center square 4 inches across, the patterned strips 2.5 inches wide, and the solid corduroy strips 1.25 inches wide. The finished size is 15 inches square.

I really like how the thin corduroy frames the busy patterns and calms them down a bit. I cut up two pairs of Andrew’s frayed old Levi’s cords and salvaged lots of the material, and all the other fabric was from my stash. Oh, and I found it easiest to press all the seams facing toward the center, I’m not sure if that’s what everyone else does, but it worked for me. I’m a total quilting beginner, but I’m feeling a bit more confident with one successful patchwork project done.

So I think I’ll stitch up 14-inch pillow forms with plain fabric and polyfil I have here, so it’s a self-contained project I didn’t have to leave the house for or spend any money on. Very Wardrobe Refashion!

For more log cabin inspiration, I absolutely love the work of Lisa Congdon and Denyse Schmidt… they make such beautiful things.