Years ago I participated in a block swap. The theme was Cats -- cat fabric or a cat pattern.
This is from that swap -- a Log Cabin with cats. The center patch of red represents the hearth fire.
Quilt historians found that the Log Cabin design became popular in 1863 when the Union army was raising money for the Civil War by raffling quilts. President Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin. The pattern may have been a symbol of loyalty to him as head of the Union.
