Layers of Meaning

Pictorial Log Cabins - Flavin Glover

Log cabin quilts have an immense appeal to me. The geometries and regular rhythms make them soothing to live with. They're the "comfort food" of the quilt world. But I love pictorial pieces. Flavin Glover has a method that meshes the two worlds to create pictorial log cabins.

A Peek Into Pictorial Log Cabins offers a variety of ways that you can make representational images within the confines of the log cabin tradition. She has some amazing compositions, including round fluffy shapes like sheep, and landscapes that are constructed from the regulation log cabin shapes and techniques. Her most famous pieces are her urban streetscapes, such as Row Houses (at right), where she has used the angles of the log cbin geometries to create houses, doors, windows and roofs.

For more insight, Glover has posted a pattern for making your own row house quilt (or being inspired by this work to push the boundaries even further!)