How to Make a Scrappy Yellow Log Cabin Quilt

I don’t know what it is with this scrappy yellow log cabin quilt top that I just finished, but it has been a while since I completed a quilt top that I am this pleased. Something about collecting all these different shades of yellow fabric and then getting the overall voice of the quilt to read “Sunshine on an egg yolk!”

Want to create a scrappy quilt too? Read on to learn more about how to make this scrappy yellow quilt pattern.

Use a Paper Piecing Template

I used our best-selling 7″ Log Cabin paper templates to complete the quilt. The finished quilt top measured 56 inches wide and 70 inches long without borders. It has 8 blocks wide and 10 blocks long for a total of 80 blocks.

If you would like to make your version of this quilt, you need two booklets of the 7-inch Log Cabin paper templates. I organized the blocks into a barn-raising pattern, which is one of the traditional log cabin layouts and one of my favorite layouts (along with the straight setting).

Find a Log Cabin Quilt Inspiration

What inspired this log cabin quilt pattern was a childhood memory of my grandfather’s house. He lived in the little town of Birkerod outside Copenhagen, Denmark. On one end of the house was a glass veranda and it was painted a bright yellow on the inside with white trim.

As a kid, I remember sitting in the glass veranda for Sunday breakfast and cutting the top of a soft-boiled egg. The morning sun is streaming in the windows and amplifying the colors. In my mind, the inside of the glass veranda was the exact color of the inside of the egg and this color impression has been with me ever since. It is my grandfather’s glass veranda that 40 years later led me to this quilt.

Select Fabric for Log Cabin Quilt

Having a big stash of fabrics to choose from can be a huge advantage when making a scrappy log cabin quilt like this one, so it is essential that you build a stash fabric for quilting. This will help you to have a wide variety of options when you do this type of quilt project. I used about 60 different yellow fabrics entirely from my stash. Some were relatively recent purchases from Heather Ross and Art Gallery, but many were old fabrics I have had for many years. The oldest one being a yellow Provencal cotton I bought as a kid. I also made sure to select fabrics from many genres, 30’s reproductions, Kaffe Fassett, batiks, traditional, contemporary, civil war reproductions…it all went into the quilt without discrimination.

When selecting fabrics, I stayed away from too many murky and mustard shades but I sought still to include a wide variety of yellows so that the overall effect of the quilt is interesting and nuanced but bright. It was a balancing act. There were fabrics that I cut several strips of but ended up including in only one or two blocks. Other yellows I used much more of because they kept the quilt looking sunny yellow.

I also think it is interesting to note that several fabrics in the completed quilt are actually orange and pink. However, since the logs in the blocks are only 1/2″ wide they end up blending really nicely at a distance so that the quilt appears yellow. Up close, these out-layer fabrics add a lot of interest to the finished quilt.

Have you tried making a scrappy log cabin quilt pattern? What kind of fabrics do you use? Let me know!

(This article was written on March 31, 2016, and updated on Sep 5, 2021.)

Ready to try this technique?

Download my Starry Skies Quilt Pattern and start today

Ready to try this technique?

Download my Starry Skies Quilt Pattern and start today

FeliciasWorld

Felicia is a Norwegian-born quilt designer blending tradition with modern style. She shares tutorials, patterns, and inspiration with quilters worldwide.

28 comments

Patti Hurlburt March 31, 2016

Absolutely beautiful!!

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1. Tina Dueck January 11, 2017
  
  I absolutely love it
  
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2. Donna December 1, 2017
  
  Yellow is my favorite color! Great quilt!
  
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JulieG-AZ March 31, 2016

It’s beautiful!!!!! Thank you for posting so we could enjoy it!

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Janelle March 31, 2016

This quilt makes me happy all over … :D

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Dawn Conery March 31, 2016

I could not love this more!!! Just fantastic!

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Jenny Benton April 1, 2016

What a lovely, sunny looking quilt – I just love Log Cabins!!

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audrey April 1, 2016

Gorgeous! Always wanted to make a log cabin in these particular colors.:)

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Patti Stanton January 7, 2017

Love your yellow and white log cabin quilt.. I made one in shades of yellows
to gold and purples to blue. It brightens up the room. Going to tie it instead of quilting. I remember being at my Granny’s house looking at all her quilts. She tied most of hers. Takes me back to so many happy sewing memories with her.

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Kim January 8, 2017

This is beautiful!

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ardene January 9, 2017

Loved the crisp clean look. So lovely and awesome.

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Pen Schulze January 24, 2017

OMG…my most favorite color! I love this quilt!

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NancyinSTL January 29, 2017

Beautiful! How do you plan to quilt this?

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1. felicia@feliciasworld.com January 30, 2017
  
  Thank you! It is ended up getting an all over leafy pattern that is pretty open. Ideally I would have hand quilted it, but I didn’t have time so it got the digital treatment on a long-arm machine.
  
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Missey April 2, 2017

Inspirational! I think I’ll start cutting!

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Kristie A Watson May 21, 2017

So many people balk at Yellow! Ibsolutely love it! So sunny and crisp and clean- perfect for spring. What size is it?

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Kathy fisher June 26, 2017

If you made it 1/2 log. What would you make your
center log.

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1. felicia@feliciasworld.com June 27, 2017
  
  Hi Kathy, These quilt blocks are made with 1/2 inch logs. They are paper pieced and the paper piecing templates with instructions are in my shop.
  
  Best,
  Felicia
  
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Susan Riddall August 12, 2017

I love this…!!! It is so beautiful… Such a great trend on log cabin… Thank you… !!!

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Darlene November 3, 2017

Absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

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Abby November 27, 2017

This quilt is absolutely exquisite. This is the type of piecing I aspire to do one day. It’s incredible.

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1. felicia@feliciasworld.com November 27, 2017
  
  Hi Abby. thank you for such a nice comment. It is quite easy actually….because it is paper pieced. If you haven’t tried paper pieceing check out the log cabin tutorial video on the tutorial page of my website.
  
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liliane lambot January 7, 2018

quelle magnifique quilt on ne vois que tres rarement des log cabin en jaune il est superbe

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1. felicia@feliciasworld.com January 8, 2018
  
  Merci bien, Liliane.
  
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Leonie Travers January 9, 2018

Lovely lovely lovely

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1. felicia@feliciasworld.com January 11, 2018
  
  Thank you!
  
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Joan April 5, 2018

Awesome! It almost took my breath away. Thanks for sharing.

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Marlene July 13, 2018

What I love about this quilt .,, you used the same fabric on both sides of the log cabin. Makes a more defined L. Very cool

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