Gary Ditto Newsletter - Local Information and News - Kensington, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring & Bethesda

January 1989

Building the Kensington Cabin

A patchwork of Friends and Community Service

When we hear the words “log cabin,” some of use may have visions of a young Abraham Lincoln reading by candlelight or of pioneer ancestors building their homes in distant forests.

For people familiar with the skills and traditions of quilt making these words conjure up these images and more. In quilting, “log cabin” refers to a design that is one of the longstanding favorites in American History.

And this winter in Kensington, a dedicated group of volunteer quilters have been getting together each Wednesday evening to create a quilt in the “log cabin” design tradition.

You’ll have the chance to admire their creation – and possibly to win it in a benefit raffle – on the weekend of February 24.

The quilt called the “Kensington Log Cabin” is being created as part of the annual Holy Redeemer Antique Show and Sale. (Holy Redeemer School and Church are located along Summit Avenue at Saul Road in Kensington.)

Nola Heffiner of Kensington is the coordinator of this year’s quilt making project. She’s been involved in the earlier projects as well.

The idea began six years ago when a group of Holy Redeemer volunteers got together to make a quilt in the design of “Grandmother’s Fan.” It was raffled to help raise funs for the school and parish.

Continuing each year, the group has made quilts with varied themes—the schoolhouse, double wedding ring, Irish chain, and others. Each is displayed during the annual antiques show, with the winner announced in the conclusion.

The quilting project is fun for everyone, says Nola, as it brings people together to visit while their hands are busy producing something worthwhile.

Among the other active volunteers in the quilt making effort are Kathy Pangaro, Kathy Ryan, Lucy Reed, Jean Ciconte, Ellen Wahl, Helen Molar, and Joan Brown, to name a few. Also involved regularly are Eileen Williams, Mary Stohlman, Ann Whitaker, Anna Pettianto, Cora Coda, and Dorothy Fry.

The names of these and the many other volunteers who come by on Wednesday to help are placed on a square on the back of the quilt.

By late December of 1988 all the fabrics for the Kensington Log Cabin Quilt were chosen and the “practice” sections were completed. The fabrics include plain stripes as well as floral design of many sizes. The basic colors for this years quilt are cream, rose, and green.

“Log Cabin” refers to the way the multicolored stripes of fabric are sewn together, suggesting the ways that the logs are meshed to make a cabin around a central chimney and hearth. In the quilt, each 90 or so “blocks” is 10 to 12 inches square.

Strips of fabric of varying designs surround a small central square called the “chimney” block. The strips are all rectangular, varying in length but all the same width.

Following another part of the tradition for quilts in the log cabin design, half of each block in the quilt is made up of light-colored fabrics and the other half of dark-colored fabrics. These suggest the sunshine and shadow or the happiness and sadness that are parts of life and nature, says Nola.

The 90 identical blocks can be arranged in many ways to make the overall pattern. Each pattern has a name suggested by the arrangement—“Streak of Lightning” is a zigzag design, while “Straight Furrows” suggests a plowed field.

This year’s quilt for Holy Redeemer event using the “Barnraising” design, with a series of large diamond shapes suggesting the peaks of a barn roof. The Barnraising design is also one of the traditional patterns.

The pattern now called “log cabin” actually has its roots in antiquity, but was first used to make bed quilts in England in the early 1800’s. Starting in the early 19^th century, American quilt makers developed it further. Soon it became one of the favorite American quilt designs.

Over the years, the log cabin pattern has been used in quilts of all kinds of materials – homespun of imported wools, silks, satins, velvets, cottons, and blends. Quilt makers usually use traditional approaches and cotton fabrics to reflect the simplicity of pioneer life.

Work on Kensington Log Cabin will continue into February. After the basic blocks are completed, the quilt is put on the frame and word goes out: “The quilt is ready, please come and help.”

People are welcome to drop by the Holy Redeemer church basement on Wednesday to add a few stitches or many until the quilt is complete. And Nola and the other quilt makers incite you to buy a raffle ticket for $1 and to come and enjoy the results of their handiwork during the antique show.

--Charlotte Wunderlich