Cabin in the Woods

We had a very deep freeze this past week so with my time off I managed to finish up a few things but then decided I needed to make something that I would not have been able to without the extra time at home. Since I had a huge run of panels, I pulled the wolf yardage out to see what I could do with it:

Panel with two different wolves and leaf border

I had about twenty panels to work with so tried to make up a tote bag but my first attempt was a too tall bag so I got stuck there and had to put it aside. For inspiration I looked online for ideas on how to use fabric panels and I pulled out fabrics from my stash to see what I could do with what I already had. Since the wolves were so "up north" I thought I could see if I had enough to make a small quilt using a log cabin block design. Here were my first attempts:

4 log cabin blocks with light fabrics in center

4 log cabin blocks with dark fabrics in the center

The dark centers won out but with four wolf panels in the corners and the log cabin blocks between them, it still needed a center block that would be unique. Let's see, it's a northern theme with log cabin blocks so how about a log cabin with the log cabin assembly/technique? I had to make this one up as I went along but it wasn't too bad. My husband picked the dark green for contrast:

Trying out borders and possible assembly

It needed to have cornerstones so I used some of the border print that came with the panels:

Sashing with cornerstone and first border

Now I could really picture the final border with mitered corners so it went together quickly:

Almost done now

I liked it but that log cabin was just a little too big and plain:

Just a cabin, maybe a bit neglected

The windows needed a border first and then a defined door (there's also a doorknob but it's too hard to see) and then some flowers along the bottom edge:

Frames for the windows and door with flowers popping up

But the top of the house front elevation was just a bit too plain so I added some ivy:

Special stitches added

I'm not too sure this helped or not but it's my solution to a very cold week:

Looks like it got down to -27 degrees

The quilt top is done and now it needs to be assembled with the rust colored Robert Kaufman print used in the blocks for the backing. How should I quilt it? I haven't decided yet but I'm tempted to send it out to be quilted but I'm basically too cheap for that. The creative part is over so now it's the real work of this creative endeavor.

Which machine did I use for this project? I got out a little Singer 99 for the log cabin blocks but used a Pfaff 2030 for the assembly. The Pfaff was in for repair so I put it to use to see if it would still perform well on a project and it did. I like to really give them a good test and it passed, returning to its owner the next day. I've been back to work and with a few extra days off right before the semester starts there is much catching up to do. I hope I can finish the quilting on this project before it is no longer winter. Of course, in Minnesota we still have months of winter to go!