Welcome to - Marmalade Dreams Quilt-a-Long
Hello! I am so excited you have joined me for the Marmalade Dreams Quilt Along. It is going to be a fun five months, I have tips and tricks as well as family recipes to share. Let’s get started.
This quilt was made while I designed the fabric Marmalade Dreams they grew together out of my love of summer and my slight obsession with Moroccan rugs. The original quilt was made with solids that matched the palette that I was designing in and I used a free form piecing technique. (no rulers) The rugs are so reminiscent of quilts they inspired me to design outside of my norm and mix all of these shapes into one quilt. I could design quilts from rugs for years…
Here are a few of my rug images that inspired the quilt and the original solid Marmalade Dreams.
This first month we are going to tackle the off-set log cabin blocks in the corners of the quilt. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you with the blocks.
The small logs finish at ½” and the large logs at 2”. When working with strips in such different widths you need to be extremely accurate with cutting and sewing. I found this out the hard way. When you are off in sewing or cutting just a little on the small logs your block will warp and not be square.
I like to lay out my block in order so when I start sewing I can do all four blocks at once.
Once at the machine I always start sewing with a “bunny tail” (I have no idea why my mom calls them this but it has stuck in my vocabulary). The “bunny tail” starts your stitching so you avoid the possible knotted mess that can happen. Then I chain stitch the blocks one right after the other, ending with another “bunny tail”.
As you start the pressing of your blocks I suggest pressing towards the center. The block will lay flat. I press after each log is added and I like to use Flatter spray by Soak. It is my favorite!
My block in progress.
And the finished block!
I loved the way these blocks came out, I figured an entire quilt out of these log cabins could be really cool…. So, I included the pattern for Starlight Log Cabin in the back of the Marmalade Dreams…
To celebrate let’s have cake!!! To be specific Grandma Clara’s Poppy Seed Cake. My grandma Clara was my favorite, she was an artist and used to do so many creative activities with me, this cake makes me think of her, although she might of added a little more sherry than is in the recipe! This cake is super quick – by the time the oven heats up you can have the cake ready to go in and get back to sewing! Olivia and I made on this week for our staff meeting!
Until next month happy sewing and baking!
Xoxo
Valori
PS - There's still time to quilt-a-long. You can purchase the kit here or buy the pattern and use your own selection of fabrics.
