Dear Friends:

I am wanting to make a king-size Log Cabin quilt for my MIL. I have ten light fabrics and ten dark fabrics....20 fabrics in all. Gold will be the color of the center square. But I can't make up my mind what size to make the "logs", and as a result, what size each block will finish. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.
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I'd make em 2" or 2 1/2" so the finished would be 1 1/2" (bit more traditional) or 2". The cutting seems easier to me If I have a solid line to look for :)

I like the colors to melt into each other , so I use smaller . I typically like 1 1/2 inch , but have used as small as 1 1/4 and as large as 1 3/4. If I was something to go a bit quicker I make the center block bigger sometimes.

I have been using the 1 1/2 logs. Nice size when finished. And I personally like the looks of the smaller logs.

This is the size I used when cutting. 1" finished.

This is for a King bed-what size will the finished block be? I will be doing a Cal King and think my block should be no smaller than 10" so that it will be proportionate to the size of bed. Sound correct, anyone?

I get lazy when it is a large quilt I use 3" or 2.5".on a small item 2"

The smaller you cut the logs the more fabric it'll take to make the top.

so you have 20 total fabrics which means you would have 20" blocks if you were to cut your strips @ 1.5" and finish @1" using EACH fabric in order.

If you use only half of your fabrics in each direction (meaning half the lights and half the darks would be on opposing sides, the other half on the remaining sides) your blocks would only be roughly 10" if cut to the above-mentioned dimensions.

I would first determine what size you want the quilt to be. then divide the width to come up with the size and number of blocks you would need. then depending on the size of the block you need, figure out what size logs and center you will need to create that block. On the length you could make as many blocks as you need. Don't forget to figure in borders if you are going to use them. Log Cabins are one of my favorite patterns. Have fun! Lucky MIL!

Twenty fabrics is a nice amount but it's not a huge amount. If you want it to look scrappy, with each block a bit different, I'd go for wider strips. If you want all of your blocks to be identical, narrower strips. What you probably can't do is narrower strips *and* scrappy, I don't think you have enough fabrics for that, but I could be wrong.

Any idea what block size you like? Have you found a log cabin layout that appeals to you? That might determine the block size, which in turn could determine the strip size. Think about 6" or 12" blocks, to get you started.