After many months of very little quilting, I’ve been cranking out quite a few quilt tops that have been floating around in my head. This is one of them. I’m so happy to be back to quilting too! This one is called Stairway to Heaven. Now, I don’t even know if I fully believe in a heaven but, if there is one then I’d imagine the journey to be something like this quilt. Each step while beautiful in itself is just one color looking at the next colorful step. Even the big step in the middle could represent the big challenges that we all face. but, when you step back and look at the whole thing then it is a beautiful symphony of colors. OK. I may making more of this than I should! But, I like the name nonetheless!
So, when I showed this at the LAMQG meeting this month, I mentioned that I was sure this was a specific style of a Log Cabin. I decided to do a little research. And guess what, this happens to be a rectangular version of just a plain ‘ole Basic Log Cabin block. Who woulda thunk? 🙂 Of course, this is a massive version at around 53″ x 60″! The balance of the light on one side and the color on another side is what is important in the Basic Log Cabin Block design. Traditionally it is not just one block in a quilt like this one but, it is combined with a series of other similar blocks and the contrast in colors on both sides can be used to create many interesting designs.
A not so great picture of "Stairway to Heaven" Quilt top
A few days ago I was in the bookstore and ran across this awesome book by Susan Beal called Modern Log Cabin Quilting. Perfect Timing. I had seen this book on the internet but, hadn’t gotten a chance to flip through it yet. Now, in a seemingly futile effort to keep the secret (or not so secret) hoarder in me at bay I don’t buy too many books but for those of you that don’t have this issue this is a good book to look at. I was fascinated by the history that it told and the fresh modern projects that are great even for beginners!
Off to do the quilting! (I’m definitely thinking very linear quilting with white on the white side and maybe some contrasting colors on the colorful side!)