Beginner 1/4 Log Cabin Quilt Pattern for Pre-Cuts
This beginner-friendly quarter log cabin quilt pattern is perfect for brand new quilters but it is also a quick & easy stash buster for more experienced quilters. Ideal to help you clear your shelves of cluttered fabric.
This pattern is designed for charm pack squares, leftover jelly roll strips and fat quarters.
Because this quilt uses lots of pre-cut sizes there is minimal cutting which means you can get this quilt top sewn up in a day!
Table of Contents
Fabric Requirements – Easy Quarter Log Cabin Quilt
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Here are the fabric requirements for (1) quarter log cabin block and for the throw sized 72″ x 72″ Quilt that I made.
One Block
- (1) Charm pack square
- (1) 2.5″ x 5″ Strip (can be cut from a jelly roll strip)
- (1) 2.5″ x 7″ Strip (can be cut from a jelly roll strip)
- (1) 6.5″ x 7 Strip (see below for cutting instructions from a fat quarter)
- (1) 6.5″ x 13″ Strip (see below for cutting instructions from a fat quarter)
Note this will yield a 13″ block which I trimmed down to 12.5″.
Large Throw Quilt
- (36) Charm Pack Squares
- (11) Jelly Roll Strips
- (12) Fat Quarters
Cutting Instructions
For a large throw-sized quilt you will need 36 blocks.
Pull 36 charm pack squares from your stash or cut (36) 5″ x 5″ squares.
From 11 jelly roll strips cut (36) 2.5″ x 5″ strips; and (36) 2.5″ x 7″ strips.
From 1 Fat Quarter cut (3) 6.5″ x WOF Strips; each strip can then be subcut into (1) 6.5″ x 7″ strip and (1) 6.5″ x 13″ strip. One fat quarter yields 3 of each of these measurements. Repeat for all 12 fat quarters.
You can of course use larger yardage to cut for this quilt but if you pull from pre-cuts and use the measurements above you should end up with very minimal waste from your cutting.
I don’t personally buy a lot of fabric in fat quarters so I used a wide range of fabrics to cut the wider strips and I did end up with some leftover chunks which led me to make a completely scrappy improv style second quilt top at the same time as this one! You can see that creation in the video instructions for this quilt.
Piecing Instructions
Chain piece 2.5″ x 5″ strips to one side of all the charm pack squares right sides to rights sides using a quarter inch seam allowance.
Cut threads and press all units.
Next chain piece 2.5″ x 7″ strips to the side of the charm pack square and strip unit crossing the original seam.
Cut threads and press all units.
Believe it or not we are almost done already! Next we are repeating the same process of adding strips but we are chain piecing the 6.5″ x 7″ strips to the original side of the charm pack we started on. As in we are sewing our short 6.5″ strip to the same side as we sewed our short 2.5″ strip. Got it?
Cut threads and press all units.
To finish we just need to chain piece on the same side as our long 2.5″ strip this time adding our 6.5″ x 13″ strips.
Cut thread and press.
Trimming your Blocks
If you are a super precise sewer these measurements will yield you blocks at 13″ square which means you will have a larger quilt than mine (closer to 76″ square). My sewing is not precise and this is a beginner pattern so if you are like me I encourage you to trim your blocks down to 12.5″ square which will get you a 72″ x 72″ Quilt.
Layout
There are a number of ways these blocks can be laid out and I played with a ton of them when I finished my blocks…BUT! – again in the interests of remaining quick & easy as well as beginner-friendly I opted for the layout where we don’t need to match any internal block seams.
If you want to see some of the other options check out my video tutorial on this quilt below.
So I laid my blocks out so the charm square corners were all facing down and in one direction and sewed my blocks together row by row.
I was aiming for a totally scrappy random layout but I still managed to match every rectangle in the middle of the quilt with one of the same color by accident (!). Oh well!
Finished Quilt Top
I usually don’t post my quilts until they are completely quilted but because I got distracted sewing together my leftover scraps of this light blue color I haven’t quilted this one yet. I’ll pop a finished photo up here when I do!
Excuse the ladder and the kid’s toy – I was taking this photo outside on a windy day so I had the quilt top down with something!
Easy Quarter Log Cabin Quilt – Video Tutorial
Here are some more quick and easy quilt projects you might enjoy:
