This is the seventh installment in the 2020 Seattle Modern Quilt Guild BOM project! Your guides on this journey are Susan Pray (IG: @sushi.farmer) and Kathy McGinnis (IG: @a_swede_life).
Make this fun quilt design unique with your own fabric selections. It’s not too late to start, join us! All the instructions posted so far are available on our website here.
Creating the Cabin Block
Hello Cascadia Cabin Peeps,
David was 100% correct at the last guild meeting, there is a “small and mighty” group of people who have chosen to do this sew along/block of the month this year. There are many reasons for this, a number of folks were avid sewists but have put sewing on hold in their lives, possibly for the meantime or who knows? These are strange days and we all cope differently. Just so you know it’s been a lot of work for a number of us to provide this pattern and your participation means so much. Thank you!
We are over halfway to completion of our cabin in the woods quilt! This month is all about creating the cabin block. Sure it’s only one block, but it is possibly the most interesting and challenging block in the whole top. This month let your creativity free and “build” a little get-away cabin/cottage/tiny home of your own to occupy the bottom right corner of your quilt. You are encouraged to improv but if that’s not your jam we have also provided a simple foundation paper pieced (FPP) wonky cabin plus some additional links for inspiration.
The block size you’re aiming for is (unfinished) 12.5” x 16.5”. That’s a lot of real estate to fill in some way that floats your boat, or builds your cabin, as the case may be.
Cabin Block Inspiration
Here is a tutorial found online to make little improv houses by Jo Avery of My Bear Paw. Jo’s tutorial has terrific photos and the house ends up a good size 12.5” x 12.5” to fit into the corner block with some changes to the filler strip pieces.
Here is a link to a FPP house block by Wombat Quilts that finishes to 10” x 10”, exactly the size of the house in the final block and includes some trees. At the time of writing the FPP block was a free download on the Wombat Quilts site.
OR, feel free to find another house block pattern that finishes smaller than 12” x 16” to fit in the final forest block of this quilt. A Halloween version you’ll see here uses the Haunted House block from Flying Parrot Quilts and is part of her Epic Halloween Quilt SAL. At the time of writing pattern is a free download from Flying Parrots which finishes at 9” x 12”, some changes were to the filler strips sizes to make the house fit the finished block size.
FPP Wonky Cabin
Lastly there is a simple FPP wonky cabin that was designed using EQ8 for this project and is included with this month’s post. There are a large number of tutorials available online to teach you the basics of foundation paper piecing which will be far more successful at teaching you how to FPP than could be communicated here so we won’t even try.
We are giving you lots of options to create the tiny house of your dreams. Hopefully not too many.
You may wish to download and print a copy of the entire quilt which has all the dimensions of each piece labeled for reference as you assemble this last block. It is provided again this month for your convenience here (1.9 MB PDF):
The original one room cabin “built” for the first Cascadia Cabin in the Woods quilt was pure improv. It was assembled starting with the front door and moving out by adding fabrics then trimming, then adding more fabrics. The goal was a small cozy cabin lit from within:
This is the Haunted House (cabin) from Flying Parrots Quilts for the halloween version of Susan’s quilt:
Here is a Simple Wonky Cabin block which you could use if you wish to foundation paper piece this block. It is also easily achievable using improv techniques so don’t feel at all obligated to use this pattern. It is provided only for those who prefer not to improv:
You may want to print out a coloring sheet to help guide you while sewing the pieces together:
Instructions for the FPP templates:
Here are 4 pages of templates for the Simple Wonky Cabin block: DOWNLOAD PDF TEMPLATES (540 KB)
Please note: this is a rudimentary FPP block, please be kind and recall this is a free pattern. For all the pieces that are single sections like G, K, & L it works quite well to baste the fabric to the pattern template with your longest machine stitch or use a glue stick.
- Cut out, piece and baste fabrics for all templates A through L.
- Sew B to C, then join D to the B/C section. Remember that the angle of the roof and order of pieces will be a mirror image of the coloring sheet in the finished block.
- Sew A to B/C/D section, this is the front of the cabin.
- Sew E & F to sides of front of cabin.
- Sew G to top of cabin.
- Sew H & I (roof lines) to the cabin front section.
- Sew K and then J to each side of the roof section.
- Sew L on bottom of cabin section. Remove all the foundation papers, block should now be 10.5” x 10.5”
- Refer to diagram for measurements and sew side and bottom background pieces onto cabin block to make a 12.5” x 16.5” block.
When your cabin is done assemble your reserved tree sections with your new block according to the whole quilt diagram and press. Voila!! The bottom section of your quilt is done!!
Next month we will be creating the mountain range in the upper midsection of the quilt using sky fabric and mountain fabric using a very mild form of improv to create more interest in the mountain peaks.
Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/quiltguild/medallion-quilt-inspiration/
Basic Seminole Patchwork by Cheryl Greider Bradkin, 1990
Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston, 2010
Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers, complied by Suzanne Woods, 2011
Modern Plus Sign Quilts by Cheryl Brickey and Paige Alexander, 2018
Simply Seminole by Dorothy Hanisko, 1997
Please be social!
Don’t forget to tag your progress pictures on Instagram! Use the hashtags #cascadiacabinquilt or #smqgbom2020 to share your BOM progress.
Also continue to use the hashtags #seamqg #seattlemqg #showusyourmqg and #seattlemqgsewathome to share the wonderful quilts you’re creating.
