Plan as you go

 I have done a lot of "Quilt as you go" quilts, and even taught that class for a few years. I often chuckle at the comments on the Celebrate Hand Quilting facebook page, as so often the first questions are, "What is the name of that pattern?" and "Where can I buy it?" My quilts usually start another way, for example, a lot of "North wind" blocks needed something to do, causing me to add some sail boats and a mariner's compass, then a wave print and a cloud print in the border ... with seagulls to cover the joints where the short border print met.

Now I am working on my log cabin challenge. Though one of my earliest quilts was "Log Jam", made for daughter Kimie's futon, I had not tried that pattern since, and am not overly fond of traditional arrangements. Thinking of my grandfather, who was my biggest childhood supporter and born in a one room log cabin in Ohio, I decided to try arranging the blocks in an Ohio Star.

I had been thinking of making this into a cape to wear, but that is not going to work, as the star would be split. This was also tricky because the blocks had to be made half with the blue strips dominant and half with the brown, to get them to meet properly. This is also somewhat difficult to lay out. I have decided to add more rows to the top and bottom and turn it into a bed cover instead.

Once I get a few more rows made, I will have to work some more on the layout, fixing the dark on light and colors to work a bit better together, as one block cannot be easily swapped for another.

This is definitely a "Plan as you go" quilt. I am hoping, once the quilt is longer, it will tell me what it wants for the border. Somewhere, down the road, I will be sleeping under my log cabin, without having to return to Ohio, and dreaming of days with my grandfather.