I will precut my strips and then piece them in by strip quilting - as many sewn as possible in one long continuous piece. I want my 4" strips to be 4", not give or take a bit as determined by the feed dogs of the machine.



I do mine the same way.

For me, the strip piecing method of Eleanor Burns works best. I tried the Judy Martin way and found pre-cutting all those strips was way too boring for me. Also would not paper-piece this pattern because it adds so much work to the process.

I have not had any difficulty at all getting accurate blocks with the strip method, so it's hard for me to understand what is going wrong for others. I do not prewash fabric (but do test for colorfastness), so the strips I use still have the manufacturer's sizing. These yield more accurate results than prewashed fabric that is not starched before cutting. (I have wondered if this is part of the problem for others.) I also use moleskin to create a physical guide for my seam allowances. This means I can sew fast and still maintain accurate seam allowances. (Just using my eyes and a visual mark does not work nearly as well for me in terms of accuracy, not to mention speed.) Maybe this is the reason my blocks always come out fine?

Also, log cabin blocks are not that fussy in terms of accuracy. There are no points being cut off, for example. If a block of mine were to come out too wonky, I would just use spray starch to "block" it into submission (a la the Sharon Schamber way on Youtube). However, I can say that I have never had to actually do this, and all of my log cabin quilts turned out fine.

Craftybear posted this link to a tutorial that shows the method Eleanor Burns made famous:
http://stitchesinplay.typepad.com/st...-tutorial.html

Eleanor Burns has some great books on how to make log cabin quilts with this method, in various sizes. This method is fast and rewarding, and always works for me!

Great link! Thank you!

i prefer foundation piecing my logcabins blocks- (i use a muslin foundation-so i don't have to remove paper) cut my strips to the width i need them & leave them long- or sometimes i cut them to size ---just depends on the project & my mood i guess- either way works fine for me. (generally the Judy Martin technique)...better accuracy :)
foundation keeps everything from getting wonky- adds stability- and some weight (an extra layer) to the quilt- helps keep all those seams secure- especially helpful if using thin strips---like 1 1/2" or less---wider strips don't need the foundation as much.

thanks for the link. this is the method i prefer, as well. :thumbup:

The only way I do it.

love the log cabin various looks and I see no reason to PP> Use the Judy Martin version

I like to make mine the traditional way. I pre-cut my strips also. Much more accurate. If your mindful of your 1/4 in. seam allowance, you should not have a problem.

I totally agree, eleanor burns way