Classic and Modern Log Cabin Patterns You Have to Try – all free!
The log cabin quilt block design is an American classic! Learn to sew log cabin blocks to make a beautiful quilt or something else like potholders or a tote bag. Read on to see why quilters all over the world love different variations of the log cabin design.
Its not just your grandma’s favorite quilt pattern anymore. It can be your favorite quilt pattern too with these 5 fresh ways to sew a log cabin!
Take a look at all these different ways you can sew log cabin blocks:
Free Log Cabin Quilt Patterns
Sew a gorgeous modern log cabin quilt that’s perfect for a guy! This light and dark quilt has 9 off center log cabin blocks and plenty of negative space to show off your quilting. Make it for a man with bold black like I did, or see the light pretty version too.
My Baby Heart Log Cabin Quilt Pattern uses low volume fabrics (or other light fabric) plus a single bold color (or some other dark fabrics). I’ll teach you chain piecing techniques to make it very fast to sew and perfect for a beginner quilter.
The pineapple block is a log cabin quilt block made with a specific technique that produces a cute ‘pineapple shape’ because you trim the block in between each round of fabric strips. Try my Golden Pineapple (log cabin) Quilt Pattern now.
You can also take the basic technique for the classic log cabin block and sew one big cabin! Since your fabric strips get longer and longer for this quilt, it’s a great way to use up a jelly roll.
Lots of little scraps piling up? This free log cabin pattern uses 1’’ strips, plus strip piecing so these little babies sew up faster than you think! I used neutral gray fabrics for my center squares and alternated light and dark prints from my fabric stash for the remaining strips of fabric.
When sewing small log cabin blocks like these, it’s important to keep a consistent 1/4” seam allowance. This free tutorial also shares how trimming techniques using a ruler and rotary cutter that will also help your blocks turn out a consistent size.
You can adapt this tutorial to make traditional log cabin blocks of any size. Try arranging your blocks on a quilt design wall before sewing them together so you can see how the pattern can change. You will love how how your quilt turns out!
The Blueberry Pie Log Cabin Pattern is perfect for jelly rolls (or 2 1/2” strips) too. Of course, you can also cut up fabric yardage if you wish. When the log cabin blocks are rotated so that the dark sides of the blocks are put together, an almost-round shape appears – that’s the pie!
No time to make an entire quilt top? You can still get some log cabin love with these sweet hexi log cabin potholders. The unique look of the hexagon log cabin is achieved using partial seams. That only sounds difficult – I’ll show you just how easy and fun it can be!
If your quilt tops are piling up and you still want to sew a log cabin – try sewing a log cabin tote bag! My free Mod Log Cabin Tote tutorial is fast and easy using a quilt as you go technique. Everyone will know you are a quilter when they see you carrying this bag.
I hope you liked these 5 log cabin ideas… if you love to sew like I do, make sure you check out all the stuff on my free sewing patterns page!
xoxo,
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂