I am a big fan of the Log Cabin Pattern. I have a top made of the L.C. Pattern, all from scraps. The one half is light, the other half, dark. After I got it put together, I couldn't see light and dark patterns.
Is it harder to see these patterns with a scrap quilt, or is there some other reason mine aren't as pronounced as I would like to see them? I have a book of this famous patten, and I used a pattern shown in that book.
Would appreciate any advice anyone can give me.
Thanks,
Mariah

Could you post a pic? That may help. Also, sometimes when you look at your quilt in a pic, it looks totally different.

I love log cabin quilts too.

Without seeing a picture I would venture to guess that there was not a distinct enough difference between your lights and darks (ie too many of them closer to medium than to light or dark). I had a similar situation with one of the first quilts I made. All the fabrics looked great together, but it was really hard to see the pattern because it all sort of blended together.

You may have looked at color differences when in fact the fabrics were of similar value. That would read more blendy than you might expect.

Agree w/ madquilter and mom-6, we sew and learn. :)

Picture.

It might be a matter of placement.

Maybe sorting all the strips into piles or boxes of lights & darks....before you start would help.There's 3 color values, light,dark & mediums....but really light & real dark works best together.Make one LC block & see if the lights/darks show up. If not, you have a new pot holder.

This is how I tell my lights vs. darks and it may work for you.

1. Take a color picture of the fabrics you intend to use.
2. Open up the color picture on your computer and change it to Black & White.
3. Seeing the fabrics in black & white makes it easier to see the lightness/darkness of the fabric, without your mind being biased by the color.

well you beat me to it! I was going to say a black and white picture makes it so much easier to tell values

This is a great idea! It is often hard to see color value without getting distracted by the color itself! I'm going to do this with the palette for my scrappy BoM quilt. Thanks for the tip!

Added: It really does make a difference! There's a couple that show as lights in the B&W that I would have called mediums in color. Thank you! =)