Binary Log Cabin

The log cabin block served as inspiration for this month's "Focus through the Prism" Project Quilting monthly challenge.

During my research phase, I was drawn to two different artists:  Anton Stankowski and Josef Albers.  Unable to decide which route to go, I opted to combine them!  I used Josef Alber's Homage t the Square for the block design and Anton Stankowski's Viessmann Calendar for the overall layout using increasingly larger blocks for each round.

Anton Stankowski Viessmann Calendar and Josef Albers Homage to the Square

ROYGBIV Purple, Cherrywood Gradient bundle and pop of lime

Starting with 20" top, meant the smaller units would be super tiny:  1.25" to be precise.  So I simplified the block to a 3/4 log cabin with 3 levels of color:  lime, red-violet and the purple from the ROYGBIV bundle.  I started with the 10" blocks which were simply pieced.  But then I drafted up paper foundations for the 5", 2.5" and 1.25" blocks.

Drafting the layout/blocks, paper piecing and construction progression from big to small

Free motion scrapped for dense 1/8" matchstick quilting

Once the blocks were done, they needed some kind of division, so I pulled out the blue-violet fabric from the gradient bundle and added some sashing, which required some careful trimming of the individual blocks to accommodate.

As to quilting it, I tried sketching some free motion motifs, but in the end, celebrated the clean lines of the design with some dense 1/8" matchstick quilting.
After auditioning a few solid and gradient threads, I selected this Aurifil 50 weight thread that gradated from white to olive, which added lovely highlights without being too distracting to the overall design.

For the title, I chose binary logarithm cabin (but used the mathematical formula--log 2 cabin).  It seemed perfect for capturing the mathematical relationship between the sizes of the blocks as well as the inspiration log cabin block.  

I also did a faced edge to preserve the modern aesthetic of the design (and minimize losing any more of the tiny 3/4 log cabin blocks in the top right corner)

Can't wait to see what next month's inspiration block will be!

Log2 Cabin 20"x20"