Traditional log cabin

It's been a while since I made a traditional log cabin quilt, and I always like the way they look.  I started some Manx blocks by hand last fall and also participated in a block swap with an online group this winter.  Yesterday, I laid out all the blocks I have made or received, and I made three more Manx-style blocks.  These were machine sewn and I already had strips cut, so they didn't take a lot of time at all.   Manx blocks make a fun take-along project.

Now I have 36 8" blocks! 

Someone in the swap group said she was planning a "streak of lightning" setting.  I'm not sure if this is what she meant, but I like it.  The Manx blocks all have printed background fabrics while the swap and other blocks have plain cream backgrounds.  There is some dimension to the Manx blocks, so I'm wondering how I will quilt it.  But I need to put the blocks together first and then decide on a border.  This week is pretty free, so I hope to get it done by the end of the week.  Then it will languish in the closet for a while - I'm planning a pieced back with some leftover log cabin blocks.  Two swap blocks from London have not yet been received.

Saturday is the state quilt guild meeting, so I've been accumulating stuff to take in the dining room.  My sewing room has a slightly smaller pile of stuff I'm gathering for the local guild meeting on the 21st.  I am doing a demo on hand quilting then, so I want to finish the white on white piece I have been pecking away at for many years - since the 1980s!