How to Use the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool Two

Published May 2026

Learn how to use the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool Two with Jen at Shabby Fabrics! This video will help you create accurate, beautiful 12-inch log cabin quilt blocks quickly and easily. Jen shares her expert tips for using this essential tool to achieve perfect blocks every time, making the process stress-free and fun.

In this video, you'll learn:

• How to use the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool Two for precise trimming
• Jen's method for following the trimming sequence for accurate log cabin blocks
• Tips for working with directional fabrics in log cabin quilt blocks

Check the links for everything you need.

Introduction

The log cabin has been around far longer than any of us, and it's still a classic. What's changed is how quickly you can make one accurately.

The Log Cabin Trim Tool Two builds a big, beautiful 12" finished block in three rounds. The Steadfast quilt shown, including its log cabin blocks, sashing, and borders, came together in a single day.

Big blocks mean a big quilt in short order. Log cabin blocks finishing at six inches are lovely, though a generous quilt takes a great many of them. At 12" you get something substantial quickly, and you see much more of each fabric rather than a run of skinny strips.

Before You Start: Get the Sequence

One thing to sort out first. The sewing and trimming sequence does not come with the tool. You download it from the Creative Grids USA website.

Look for the tool by its SKU, CGRJAW2, to be certain you're on the right product page. That sequence is what tells you every cut size and the order everything goes together, and we use one every single time we make log cabin blocks.

The cut sizes are exact for a reason. A strip listed at 2.25" x 5.25" isn't an arbitrary length. Every measurement is what that position needs, which means you use less fabric than cutting long strips and trimming back. Following the sequence is what makes the whole thing click together.

What You'll Need

• Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool Two, SKU CGRJAW2
• The sewing and trimming sequence, downloaded from the Creative Grids USA website
• Creative Grids 3.5" square ruler for the center square, if you have one
• Rotary cutter with a fresh blade. This block relies on accurate cutting, so change it if it's been a while.
• Spinning mat. It works beautifully with every Creative Grids trim tool.
• Iron and pressing surface
• Your fabrics, cut per the sequence. A kit isn't required, and the tool works just as well with fabric from your own stash.

Understanding the Rounds

The exploded diagram in the sequence shows exactly how the block is built. It starts with a 3.5" center square, then works outward through three rounds.

Each round names its fabrics in order: first light, second light, first dark, second dark. Work through them and the round is complete. Three rounds brings you to a 12" block, which is why there's no round four.

Sew with an accurate .25" seam and always press away from the center. That one instruction covers every seam in the block.

Keeping Your Block Oriented

This is the detail that saves you unpicking.

Always set your block down with the center square and that first strip up north. Nothing physically stops you from adding the next strip to any side you like, and that's exactly how a strip ends up in the wrong place. Put the block down the same way every time and rotate around it, and the sequence keeps you honest without any thinking.

As you work, check against the sequence. The lighter fabrics should be building up in the upper right quadrant and the darks in the lower left.

One small suggestion on sewing direction: adding a strip from the back side, where the seam runs downward, avoids the chance of a rolled seam. Sew it whichever way you prefer.

Trimming, Three Times

The block is built oversized on purpose, which means you get to square it up after every round.

Some Creative Grids tools label their guides round one, round two, and round three. This one doesn't, which is a good reason to have watched the video. Your sequence sheet shows the three trims as outlines: black outline for round one, white outline for round two, black outline again for round three.

The tool also does half log cabin and courthouse steps. Both sets of instructions come with it, so don't be thrown by the 12" half log cabin markings. They aren't the block being made in this tutorial.

Rounds one and two

1. Position the block on your spinning mat with as much of the acrylic supported as possible.
2. Frame your center square with the correct outline. The dashed lines give you extra guidance, and two sides of the block will be exposed.
3. Press down to activate the grip that comes on every Creative Grids tool.
4. Trim the two exposed sides.
5. Rotate 180 degrees, frame the center square again, check that the lines sit right at your seam allowance, and trim the other two sides.

Not sure you're in the right spot? Look at how much you're about to cut away. You should see two exposed sides and a modest amount of excess. If there's a great deal to trim, or nothing at all, you're on the wrong guide. That quick glance catches it before the blade does.

Round three

The final trim is the satisfying one, because you trim all four sides at once. The guide is marked for a 12" log cabin or courthouse steps centering square. Frame it up, and the whole block squares in a single pass.

Working With a Directional Fabric

Only relevant if you're making this exact quilt, though the principle carries anywhere.

The fabric on the final round is a directional shield print. To get the waterfall effect in the layout with every shield standing upright, the blocks are made in two versions. On half of them that last fabric runs one direction, and on the other half it runs the other way, giving you block A and block B.

Lay them out accordingly and every shield sits upright across the whole quilt.

Being able to oversize and square up after every round is what makes this work. Anyone who has pieced without that option knows the feeling of laying out finished blocks and hoping they all agree with each other. A big, beautiful block with big chunks of fabric, and no guesswork at all!