I feel free to do my own thing...tradition can be binding. @:)

SharonG/FL

I do my own thing and now I'm puzzled about the log cabin thing. I am about to do FMQ on a log cabin and had no idea they were often tied. Mine is certainly not very traditional in that I used wild, modern fabrics I like but am still not sure what to do with the FMQ. I guess I can call this "do my own thing", Sharon. I can't see myself tying anything any more.

I completely feel free to do my own thing, but I do enjoy learning the history of how quilts were traditionally done.

The second quilt I ever pieced was a long cabin and it was the first one I ever quilted. I stippled in the light areas and *tried* to stitch in the ditch in the dark areas.

I made this quilt for my grandmother and she loved it very much. When she died I took the quilt back. The seams don't match in many places, but I didn't know that was a problem at the time and I was very pleased with my efforts.

and some detail

I like the stippling in the light areas where the detail shows and SITD for the darker areas. Very clever!

I think that traditions are based on necessity and common sense so I make my own. Interesting to know what early quilters believed was necessary. Jayne

What I've read about it says that because there were so many stitching lines so close together, the Log Cabin was difficult to quilt though. Pushing the needle by hand through multiple layers of fabric probably got old. That's the most likely reason that this pattern was tied, not quilted.
The Log Cabin was usually sewn onto a backing fabric to keep the lines straight and the blocks squared up - an early version of paper piecing, without the paper! Thin, torn strips of fabric may have frayed easily, so by stitching them onto a backing it prevented the seams from pulling out.

Kate

Interesting. I think I feel free to do my own thing, but frequently my own thing is to recapture a tradition, in the traditional way.

Heaven forbid my printer should run out of ink, though.