An Easy Log Cabin Quilt in Black, Bright and Even Rainbow Fabric!

   Anyone who's ever gone shopping with a 6-year-old is almost guaranteed to have some rainbow fabric in her stash! You almost promise them anything if they will just be patient while you finish looking at fabric. Then, once you have their rainbow fabric, you start collecting small amounts of coordinating fabric...the only trouble is, it never really does go together! Enter this simple Log Cabin quilt that uses up that rainbow fabric, as well as some fun bright fabric you'd never get to use anywhere else...
   This quilt is based on 16 identical Log Cabin blocks. The center square starts off as a 4" square, and the strips are 2 1/2". divide four remaining fabrics into darker and lighter pairs, and start your log cabin going around the center square with the lightest fabric first, progressing to the darkest fabric. For this quilt, you will use the same fabric going around the Log Cabin for the second row as well. I did take the time to line up the rainbow print to give it a continuity in the design. That is what makes the pinwheel stand out as much as it does.
   Arrange the blocks in swirls, or create your own arrangement. add contrasting borders, and you have a fun quilt any 6-year-old or even 16-year-old will love.

What to Do with That Novelty Fabric You Couldn't Resist!

     You know you're guilty! You bought a half a yard of a fall novelty fabric, and it sits there and sits there because you have no idea what to do with it! All I can say is, let it speak to you and tell you what to make with it!

   

     In the small quilt above, a fall novelty print forms the basis of a sweet wallhanging. It was cut to 18 1/2" by 12 1/2". Those measurements were chosen because of the wide availability of free 6 1/2" block patterns.

Sorting Fabrics Into Light and Dark Values

   The three fabrics shown here may or may not have a lot in common...all have yellow or orange, as well as some bits of red and light green or turquoise. But one has stripes, one has a single design repeating in diagonal rows, and the third is truly random.
   They can all be classified as more contemporary fabrics as opposed to vintage prints, and none of them seem like they'd go very well with each other in a single block.
   For this project, it may be a little confusing to determine which ones are light and which are dark.
   What do you think? Please comment below. I'll post the completed block soon...so you can see how this block came together!