Yellow Housetop

  • 100% Linen, naturally dyed with Osage Orange, Black Tea, Acorns, Cutch, and Madder. The binding and back are also linen.

    Hand quilted with thick ivory sashiko thread. Cotton batting.

  • The housetop variation of the log cabin quilt. Composed of a single block. Binding in matching ivory, and osage orange.

    Back is sewn from linen fabric remnants in madder and cutch.

    Stitched with thick ivory Sashiko style thread by hand. Hand stitching in the middle of each strip throughout the quilt.

  • This quilt was pieced with a machine and hand quilted. The linen was hand dyed by the artist.

    This was hand quilted with thick Sashiko style thread.

    The strips were cut by eye so they are irregular. The strips were sewn together and then cut at the edge of each section.

    The binding is machine stitched on the front and hand tacked on the back to hide the stitches with mitered corners.

    The back is naturally dyed linen constructed out of fabric remnants.

Structurally, this design is the same as the traditional log cabin quilt block, but the colors create a variation called the housetop quilt. This variation was developed by the innovative quilters of the Gees Bend. This single block quilt is linen, dyed with tea, acorn, osage orange, with madder and cutch on the back. Cutch and osage orange frame the quilt with the binding. The ivory strips are brighter in the interior of the quilt. I ran out of the ivory as I sewed. When I dyed a new batch it turned out darker. The effect is a lovely optical illusion that gives this piece a three dimensional feel.

This striking design is fun to explore, doesn’t require a pattern even for a beginner. I highly recommend this idea as a starting point if you are new to quilting. Strips can be cut by eye without measurement and you can cut the lengths as you sew. The design possibilities are endless. The simple constraints of this quilt style allow for so much in regard to contrast, color, and dimension.

I finished this quilt right at Halloween in 2022. The colors reminded me of the classic candy corn so I’ll always think of this as my Halloween quilt. Like many of my quilts, I intended this for sale or gift, but I fell in love with it along the way and now it has a permanent spot in my home.

Not for sale.

  • Strips

  • Starting block

  • sewing

  • process

  • Yellow Housetop

  • Pulling threads

  • Cutting more strips

  • Growing

  • Designing the back

  • Basting

  • Quilting

  • In process

  • in process

  • Me

  • Quilter's knot

  • Finding my perfect John James Long Darner #5 Needle

  • Quilting

  • In process

  • Quilting in a yurt

  • Quilting in a yurt

  • Me

  • In the Graduate Hotel for a conference

  • Fancy hotel shot :)

  • Matching fall colors

  • Process

  • Quilting finished

  • Back

  • Designing the binding

  • Mitered corners

  • Mitered corners

  • Quilt signature

  • Juno Model