A couple of weeks ago I received a wonderful collection of fabrics from Northcott. These fabrics are from the Artisan Spirit Shimmer and Shimmer Echoes collections in the Peacock colorway. Be sure to check out the Northcott website to see the other colorways that are available in these collections.

The Shimmer fabrics are also available as pre-cuts: fat quarter rolls, 5″ squares, 10″ squares and 2½” strips.

The wonderful soft grays are from the Toscana collection. This 100% cotton fabric looks like suede and feels like silk. You can see all 135 colors in the Toscana collection here.

This week I’ll be showing you how to use strips of fabric to create several different quilt blocks. You can use any size strips for these blocks, but I started by cutting strips that were 1½”, 2½”  and 3½” wide from each of 9 fat quarters in the Peacock color.

For today’s block I decided to make a modern-style Log Cabin. I started by cutting a 2½” x 3″ piece from one of the 2½” strips. This will be used for the center of the block. The fun part about this block is that you can start with any size rectangle you like!

To start, I sewed one of my strips to the right-hand side of the center piece. I pressed the seam away from the center and trimmed off the extra fabric. The width of this first strip doesn’t matter, so you can pick whichever size you like.

Next, I followed these same steps to sew on three more strips of various widths going clockwise around the center.

I decided that I wanted to make my block 10½” square, so I sewed another round of strips to the block. As you keep sewing this type of block, you’ll notice that the piece you started with may no longer be in the center of the block. Don’t worry – that’s a good thing because you’re creating your own unique, modern-style block!

To trim the block, I placed my 10½” square ruler on the block and trimmed off the excess fabric. If you have a rotating cutting mat, this is a good time to use it. You’ll find it makes the trimming much easier and more accurate.

Here is the finished block.

Here’s another way you could cut your modern Log Cabin block to give it a different look. Once you’ve finished sewing on your strips, just put your square ruler on an angle and then trim to the desired size. For these blocks, I trimmed to 8½”, but again, you can make them any size you wish. If you want larger blocks, just keep adding extra rounds of strips until you get the desired size.

Here is the finished block:

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you how to make another “wonky” version of this modern Log Cabin block using more strips from the Northcott Artisan Spirit Shimmer and Shimmer Echoes fabrics.