Flying Geese Log Cabin Tutorial Reboot: Featuring Guest Quilter Jen Van Orman

Hello! I am Jen, and am a wife and mother first and foremost. My mother is a quilter and I learned so many things from her when I started showing interest as a teenager. Quilting is my heritage and I hope it will also become the heritage of my children and grandchildren. That is where my name comes from, Heritage Threads. Quilting binds generations together with threads of love. 

jen tutorial reboot

I am very excited to have the opportunity to share the Flying Geese Log Cabin tutorial reboot with you today. When I saw this tutorial, I could not get the thought of solids out of my head and I knew this quilt would look amazing in this Kona Cotton Lush Lagoon color way.For the gray accents I used Kona Cotton Coal. It turned out to be a wonderfully modern quilt that fits my personal quilting style so well.

I first started by separating my strips into 4 groups, ranging from lightest to darkest.

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I knew I wanted the center “log” of each block to be made out of the lightest fabric. Gather 48 of your 2.5” gray squares and 4 of the lightest strips. As you start off making this quilt, Jenny provides a great way to mark the center of the 2.5” squares. That is by ironing it in half. I love this method, but if you want to streamline your process a bit more, I really like marking a temporary line on my sewing machine with a long piece of washi or painter’s tape. Place the tape edge in line with the needle; keep the corners of the top square in line as you sew, and you’ll have a handy center line ready to go!

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I decided to line 48 of my gray 2.5” squares on top of 4 of the lightest strips as I was sewing my center logs. I ended up with a line of logs like this.

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I used a similar process for all of the logs, using up all of the lighter strips and continued through to the darkest hues in the color way.

One thing I always appreciate about Jenny in the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorials is that she’s hilarious and knows how much I need repetition. Hopefully I’m not alone in the need for her to hammer the most important point home. Jenny says several times to make sure to put the dark goose in the top corner and sew down the side. I cannot tell you how many times I repeated this to myself as I made this quilt.

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After you finish making all 48 blocks, be sure experiment with different layouts. I attempted the layout in the tutorial and it just didn’t work. I tried a few others before I settled on my final layout.

JEN flying geese log cabin pinnable

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I picked this fun, bright Rhoda Ruth 108” wide backing for an added pop of color. I really like choosing an unexpected backing that doesn’t necessarily come from the same line of fabric as the front. The back can and should be just as exciting as the front of a quilt, in my opinion. Missouri Star has a huge selection of 108” wide backing and I am thrilled to know where to get more in the future!

Thanks for having me today to share this tutorial reboot. I cannot wait to see what you create! Share your projects on the Quilting Deals – Missouri Star Quilt Co. Facebook page or on Instagram/Twitter using #tutorialreboot!

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