Hi friends, I've had a wicked case of quilter's block (no pun intended!) lately. I started a quilt back in the spring, but I wasn't happy with how it was coming together, and I got stalled. I was spending so much time thinking about what was wrong (I didn't like the colours, or the background, or the fussy cutting required, but it's hard to admit that you bought 31 fat quarters (I know!) for a quilt you're starting to hate) that I couldn't move past it and start something that was right. Have you ever been there? It's so frustrating! Finally, this past weekend, I got fed up and decided to stop thinking and start sewing, hoping that something would work out. First, I took a trip to The Workroom, my favourite local source for fabric, notions and inspiration. There I picked up two metres of Kaffe Fassett's shot cotton in lovely shades of dark blue and a lighter, sort of chambray blue. I love the softness of the fabric and the way the colours shimmer in the light. Waiting at home I had a precious fat quarter of Nani Iro double gauze in a cute floral print. I washed and dried my fabric (I don't like the idea of throwing a just-finished quilt into the washer only to find out – surprise! – that one of the fabrics shrunk more than the others) and then I got to work. I've been seeing lots and lots of log cabin quilts in blogland recently, so maybe it's not a surprise that that's the direction I went.  It's a classic shape but there's lots of room for interpretation, and best of all – no fussy cutting. The block you see above is the first one I made; I sewed up another last night that I like even better. That's another good thing – these babies are fast! If I keep at it, I might even have a finished quilt top by Thanksgiving. I recommend this block if you're looking for a good second quilt project – it's manageable, but also fun! Here are some of the places I found log cabin inspiration:

• A search for "log cabin quilts" on Flickr turned up more than 5,000 photos, and they're stunning. But be careful, too much time poking around those pages and your quilting time will disappear!
• Adelaide's birthday quilt, over at Soulemama, which uses the somewhat unusual method of foundation piecing/quilting the fabric onto the quilt batting, as illustrated in Patchwork Style. (I went to Chapters and picked up a copy last night – what a cute book!)
• Denyse Schmidt Quilts is a go-to for me any time I'm thinking about a new quilt, and the Two-Tone Drunk Love log cabin quilt really piqued my interest. Too bad that the templates have to be photocopied at 400% – practically impossible task for me with my lack of photocopier-mojo!
• Blair at Wisecraft has been on a log cabin kick lately and wow, these are beautiful. She's got an enviable eye for colour. (Sunny center, bolster pillow, patchwork colour study)
• And of course, there's this lovely grey-and-brown block from Karyn of The Workroom.