Log Cabin Blues

Dimensions: 50" x 26"
Materials: #6-, 7-, and 8-cut wool on monk's cloth
Designed and hooked by Jan Winter, Hollywood, California, 2008.
Featured in: Celebration XIX

"I've always loved the log cabin pattern and have made two quilts from that design. The idea was to use lots of colors in straight-line hooking, so it was the perfect pattern. It's a really versatile block that totally changes design by how you color it in. By dividing the block into light and dark triangles, you can shift the pattern into medallions, straight rows, or chevrons like I did. I hesitate to call it an original pattern as the quilt design has been around forever, but I did draw it onto monk's cloth.

The biggest challenge of this rug was to make wool look as interesting as patterned fabric. Checks and plaids alone were not enough to make it come alive. When I hooked a square with just plaids and solids it looked very blah. I decided to add lots of stripes, dots, and dashes for more contrast and movement. There is also a "zipper" stitch, as I call it, where you run two strips on top of each other and alternate which color to pull up as a loop. I used this in the red and yellow border. The next challenge was only to use wool that I had on hand. That was tough as I didn't have a lot of variety in the yellow/golds. By putting in dots and dashes in contrasting colors and styles, it extended the variety of wools. I also came to realize that as long as the lights (yellow/golds) were lighter than the turquoise, purple, or red, I could add in some darker colors like orange, and it would still read as a light."
- Jan Winter, Celebration Hall of Fame 2018