Christmas Log Cabin

Since most of us are in the Christmas spirit (or at least trying to be!), I'd thought I'd share one of my favorite antique quilts in my collection that I pull out every year to display for the holidays.

 Years ago a friend of mine's mother was an avid estate sale shopper and eventually helped run estate sales.  She was a fabulous source for antique quilts. . .that is, until she started keeping them for herself!  But I did manage to acquire a few very nice ones from her for very little money, this being one of them.

 An acquaintance of my husband's was married to a quilt appraiser.  So for the fun of it I showed this quilt to her just to get her input on when it was made.  She was so excited when I showed it to her because it contains such a wide variety of scraps from over several decades and it is in such perfect condition as well.

 One of the things that she pointed out was several of the fabrics looked more "modern" than the majority of the others and that led her to believe this quilt was made in the 1920s with a very old scrap collection that dated back to the late 1800s or earlier.  I thought this was so appropriate of a typical quilter, even from today!  We tend to hoard every piece of scrap fabric, no matter how old, "just in case" we need it for that perfect spot in a quilt!  I know I have a very difficult time throwing any size away, no matter how small.

Since I don't have a lot of red in my house, this quilt doesn't stay out year round.  But I always thought it would be so beautiful to hang in a room that was decorated in reds.  It has such a wide appeal with its scrappiness and graphic impact not to mention it is such a classic pattern.  Log Cabin quilts have always been such a favorite with everyone for that reason, I think.