LUDLOW QUILT AND SEW
Court Room Quilt Block
FREE PATTERN FOR COURTROOM STEPS QUILT BLOCK
I had always known that the log cabin quilt block dated from way back when, but I didn't realise until recently that designs very similar to the log cabin were used in the binding on the mummies in Egyptian tombs. No prizes for guessing that they didn't call it 'log cabin'.
The idea of the design is a square in the centre - it used to be red to signify the hearth of the log cabin. Then thin strips were added around the square. These were the logs to build the cabin. By using light fabrics one side and dark fabrics the other, a pattern of light and dark could be built up over the quilt as a whole.
In the true log cabin, the strips are added clockwise (or anti clockwise) around the central square, so that you add the top then one side then the bottom and then the 2nd side. The version that I have used here is called court room steps and it differs in that you add the top and bottom first and then the 2 sides.
Alternatively, each round of strips could be kept the same colour, but variety added by varying the width of the strips, as in the photo on the left. The photo on the right is the same block with a dark strip added to the top and a light strip added to the left side. I always find it amazing how a simple change like that can make the block look 3 dimensional.
Or you could go mad and add triangles and squares within the strips. That's a butterfly in the centre of the block, in case you were wondering. Cheerful and eyecatching.
Another choice could be to use one colour for all the strips going across and a different colour for the strips running vertically.
rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
www.ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk