When I finished making Metaphor I had a few blocks remaining – enough to make another column or row – but not enough to use for anything else I sorta had in mind to use the rest of the fabric – there were ideas in my head. The simple fact is I probably could’ve made more blocks to make Metaphor even larger but I was tired of making so. many. small. blocks. <<haha>> These Log Cabin blocks finish at 3 3/4” square!
So, I sat on the remaining blocks until I had a plan.
What’s the Plan?
People ask me all the time if I just knew what to do with the leftover fabric and the answer is complicated. Some projects came to me easily. Others did not and some really challenged me! However, when I had a plan things usually came together quickly.
I knew I wanted (needed?) to incorporate the Log Cabin blocks into another quilt but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make. I played around with a few layouts before landing on making a Sawtooth Star quilt.
The Sawtooth Star is one of my favorite blocks. It’s such a versatile block and there are so many different layout options for the center. I think that’s why I like it – you can use a Square in a Square, a Log Cabin Square in a Square, a 4- or 9-Patch block – or any number of combinations for the center. You can leave it as a single patch, too.
With Sawing Logs, I actually decided to add fabric to make a Sawtooth Star quilt. In Zero Waste Quilting I actually discuss that sometimes it’s easier to finish a project by adding more material. This is what happened here.
Gallery of Blocks
Here’s an up close and personal look at each block. I wish the green Log Cabins didn’t get lost in the green background but c’est la vie. I still really love this quilt.
I played around with a few different layouts before landing on this one.
The background fabric and the fabric for the Sawtooth Star points and border all came from my stash, as did the backing and binding. This is where my trick (obsession?) with making extra binding really comes in handy. I had a binding on hand that I’d already made. Win, win!
Springvale Park – a brief history
Shooting photos for a book is hard work. Half of the images were taken at my parents’ property in north Georgia and the other half were taken in Inman Park. Inman Park is a neighborhood a mile due east of downtown Atlanta. My husband and I bought our first place together there and brought our kids home there. We lived on a sweet street and made some lifelong friends, as did our children. It was (and is) a very special place to us.
During our time living in Inman Park I volunteered for with the Springvale Park Playground Committee. Springvale Park is a City of Atlanta park in Inman Park. It was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead so there’s historical significance to it, too. Anyhow, over the years the park had been neglected and it was in dire need of a refresh – new playground equipment, grading work, and so much more.
The committee, made up of five neighborhood parents, spent several years raising money and writing grants to secure funds to design, plan and build a new playground structure. The new playground was installed just before we moved.
Anyhow, we took the other half of the photos in Inman Park in my friend Regina’s backyard and at Springvale Park.
How lucky am I to have two places so dear to me to take photos for my book?
et voila
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this one is for sure!
Greg and I were nearing the end of usable daylight before it got too bright and we were tired from a long day of shooting. We were traipsing around Springvale Park desperately trying to find a place to take a good photo of this quilt.
We walked across this little culvert and decided that if we used the quilt to hide the opening it would be a great photo. Et voila! It was.
The Name Game
Much like creating projects, naming them was sometimes a challenge, too. I’m grateful for an editor who helped me name some of the projects in the book. But this one? This quilt was named after a sleepless night wishing I could saw some logs.