How To Create a Scrappy & Patriotic Log Cabin Star Quilt

Hi, quilters! Bea Lee here from Beaquilter. Today, I’m here to show you how I made this scrappy, patriotic log cabin star quilt!

Scrap-busting for This Patriotic Project

My idea using EQ8 meant that I would need log cabin blocks finishing at 10”, 5” finished star blocks for one border, and an outermost piano key border so that this quilt will finish at 55 1/2” x 55 1/2”.

Materials Needed

• GO! Qube Mix & Match 5" Block
• GO! Log Cabin-12" Finished Square by Leslie Main Die
• GO! Fabric Cutter or GO! Big Electric Fabric Cutter

Fabric Needed

• 1 3/4 yards of beige fabric
  • I used beige, off-white, and white scraps
• 1 3/4 yards of blue fabric
  • 3/4 yards will be used for the star shapes
• 3/4 yards of red fabric
• Binding
• Backing
• Batting

Cutting Instructions

The quilt is supposed to be scrappy so I used fabric from my scrap bins of beige/off-white, red, and dark blue prints.

PRO TIP: The GO! Log Cabin-12" Finished Square by Leslie Main Die can make up to 12” blocks, but that doesn’t mean you HAVE to make the blocks 12”. Instead, you can just cut less logs and make the blocks smaller.

1. Press and cut out the blue scraps first and lay the fabrics on the log areas that fit the scraps.

PRO TIP: When I make log cabin quilts and especially scrap quilts, I cut extra pieces and those pieces go in a bin, so this time I got out the bin of “logs” and looked for beige/off white and blue logs.

2. Cut out the following log shapes using the GO! Log Cabin-12" Finished Square by Leslie Main Die:

• 16 beige 1 1/2" squares
• 16 beige strips for all the log sizes up to 9 1/2"
• Four beige strips for 10 1/2" log shapes
• 16 blue 1 1/2" squares
• 16 blue strips for all the log sizes up to 9 1/2" 
• 12 blue strips for 10 1/2" log shapes

3. With the GO! Qube Mix & Match 5" Block, cut:

• 36 blue squares using Shape 1
  • For the star blocks
• Four red squares using Shape 1
  • For the piano key border
• 144 beige squares using Shape 2
• 144 beige quarter square triangles using Shape 4
• 288 blue half square triangles using Shape 5
• 160 red rectangles using Shape 8
  • For the piano key border

PRO TIP: Before cutting, make sure that your GO! Cutting Mat is not too worn. You don’t want to wait too long to replace them since you won’t get nice, smooth cuts when they have too much wear. I’m guilty of waiting too long to replace a cutting mat, but luckily, I had a new one to use for the GO! Qube Mix & Match 5" Block dies!

PRO TIP: When I cut out pieces for a quilt, I organize them in a bin like this (pictured below), as I often work on several projects at once. When I need to go back to the project, I can then just pull out a pile from each bin and start sewing.

Quilt Top Sewing Instructions

PRO TIP: Don't forget to press your seams open before sewing each piece! With the log cabin blocks, I found it easier to press toward the new piece added.

1. Sew four sets of two blue 1 1/2” squares together.

2. Sew four sets of two beige 1 1/2” squares together.

3. Sew eight sets of a blue and a beige 1 1/2" square together. 

4. Add log shapes to the RIGHT side of the sewn square block units. For the double beige and double blue units, use beige and blue log shapes, respectively, to keep the same colors together. For the eight other units, add blue 2 1/2" logs shapes.

5. Sew a log cabin shape to the bottom of each unit (pictured below on the left) and then, sew another log cabin shape to the right side again (pictured below on the right). 

6. Repeat Step 5 until all 16 log cabin blocks are 10" finished.

PRO TIP: I organized each finished log cabin block into three piles: 

• Pile for all beige log cabin blocks
• Pile for all blue log cabin blocks
• Pile for half blue and half beige blocks

7. Lay out four piles of blocks, with the half blue and half beige blocks in the top right and bottom left piles, respectively (pictured below). This lets you visualize the large star shape that will come together in the quilt when all the blocks are sewn together. 

8. Sew four log cabin blocks together to create a quadrant block. You will need four quadrant blocks. 

9. Sew the four quadrant blocks together to complete the quilt top, which measures to 40 1/2" x 40 1/2".  

Borders Sewing Instructions

NOTE: I took a break from putting together the log cabin blocks and started on the borders, but took pictures while I worked, so there are unfinished blocks of the log cabin and/or borders in some images.

1. For the star blocks, sew together a blue half square triangle to two beige quarter square triangles to create a flying geese unit. Four flying geese units are needed per star block.

2. Construct the star block like so (pictured below on the left) and sew each block together. You will need a total of 36 star blocks. 

3. Sew each star block around the log cabin quilt top, with eight star blocks on each side and one star block in each corner. The quilt top will then measure to 50" x 50" and should look like this: 

4. For the red piano key border, sew 40 red rectangles together. I started by sewing four together and then working from there. 

5. Sew the red piano key border around the star block border with one red square in each corner. 

6. Bind and quilt as desired. 

I quilted a star meandering design all over it in beige thread.

To keep with the “scrappy” quilt theme, I got out a bin I have with leftover binding strips and found all the red leftover strips and made a new binding long enough to go around the quilt, so at least 220”.

I had my kids help me hold up the quilt in front of our house and in the afternoon since the sun seemed to be just right for taking pictures.

Doesn’t it look great with our American flag?

GO! Create 

I used a ton of scraps for this quilt, and yet, my scrap bins are still overflowing! If you make your own version of the scrappy, patriotic log cabin star quilt, please share it with us, @bealeequilter and @AccuQuilt, with the hashtag #AccuQuiltBuilt, so we can see what you create!