Log Cabin Butterfly Quilt Block

I first saw the log cabin quilt block shown here as a tulip, but to me it looked more like a butterfly. 

Mind you, now that I have quilted a body on, I’m not sure if it doesn’t look like a bat.  I might try it again nearer Hallowe’en in black.

To make this quilt block I used strips 2.1/2” wide in pink colours on one side of the log cabin and 1.1/2” wide strips in white colours on the other side.

Begin with a 2.1/2” pink square in the middle.  With right sides together and using a ¼” seam sew a 2.1/2” by 1.1/2” white strip along the top edge and a 3.1/2” by 1.1/2” white strip down the right hand edge. 

You are attaching the logs in a clockwise direction.

Sew a 3.1/2” by 2.1/2” pink strip to the bottom edge, a 5.1/2” by 2.1/2” pink strip to the left hand edge and a 5.1/2” by 1.1/2” white strip across the top edge. 

As you can see, I used this as a stash busting exercise and used loads of different fabrics.

Sew a 6.1/2” by 1.1/2” white strip down the right hand edge, a 6.1/2” by 2.1/2” pink strip to the bottom edge and an 8.1/2” by 2.1/2” pink strip (not shown in the photo) to the left hand edge.

This gives you an 8” (finished size) log cabin quilt block and you will need four of these to make the butterfly.

At first I made the butterfly quilt block as shown on the right, but I felt that there was too much of one fabric so I unpicked a strip on each block and replaced it with a different colour. 

I feel that you need lots of different fabrics to give the butterfly look. 

Sew the blocks together in pairs and then sew the pairs together. 

Check the photo to make sure that you position the log cabin blocks the correct way in relation to each other.

I bound this block in black to give it a good frame and then decided that I was going to mark out a quilted body for my butterfly. 

You may prefer it before the body was added, but I did try something different for the stitching.

I wanted more than just straight stitch quilting but less than satin stitch all the way round so I used an inch at a time of each – a little straight stitch and then a little satin stitch and so on. 

I was quite pleased with it as a different way of marking out a particular area of a quilt block.
I hope you like it, too.