Our American Heritage

Charles80Today is my father-in-love’s 80th birthday. He is a big John Wayne fan so being the Photoshop wiz that I am, I created this image for him for his birthday. Isn’t it cool?!! I was really pleased with how it turned out. The handsome cowboy in the middle is Charles. (Shh… it’s a surprise so don’t tag him if you are Facebook friends.) I will give this print to him when I see him. Charles is a wonderful man. I respect, honor and love him so much. He is also an American history buff… but not about the history of quilt blocks! November2015BiteSizeBlockToday I’m sharing a free pattern. It’s the Log Cabin. VERY American block. Throughout American history, women sewed the Log Cabin block all across America. The antique Log Cabin quilts made during pioneer times are stunning. But, did you know that this block was actually discovered in an Egyptian tomb? A bagillion years ago, this block was a quilt that wrapped a CAT. Weird.

Traditionally the log cabin block had a shady side and a sunny side. The very center block was red to represent the hearth or heart of the home. In my example above, my shady side is the dark blues and my sunny side are the bright pinks. So here are the instructions to make EASY Log Cabin blocks ILoveUsYearRound.all pages34-35. It is strip piecing and you can make more than one at a time. These instructions are to make 4 at a time but you can easily adjust.

This would be so cool in red, white, and blue! In fact, I just googled red, white, and blue log cabin quilts and hundreds of images popped up. Wow. I’m ready to pull out my bins of red, white and blue fabric stash!!!

Enjoy your American heritage this month, whether through your favorite westerns, reading history or making some historic American quilt blocks. You know which I will choose!!

Absewlutely,

Lisa