Cathedral Windows . . .
I have had many inquiries as to the cathedral window project
I am showing on Instagram.
Asking if I can show how I'm doing it . . .
I'll give it a whirl.
In 2008 I took a class at the City Quilter
with the famous Judy D
There were many different variations in the book,
and we tried most of them,
but the traditional style was the one I really enjoyed.
Then last year I saw this variation on Instagram!
by @gogokim AKA Kim Niedzwiecki
I loved the black and white with the colors.
One of my fave combos!
Here is another shot.
I wasn't sure how she constructed it.
And while visiting my friend David last summer
in Portland, I decided to try to figure it out.
Luckily we were at his friend Jane's house
sewing that weekend, and she had the book!
(Because when I downsized I foolishly let it go!)
I don't have alot of the beginning progress pics,
but if you read the book,
it's pretty easy to figure out the basics of constructing the blocks.
It is time consuming, but totally worth it.
Below are the blocks that have been sewn and turned inside out.
(This is a great quilt because as you sew, it basically finishes.
No further quilting necessary.)
Then I pressed the corners into the center on all the blocks.
You need to make sure everything is lined up
correctly or it will skew as you proceed.
I sewed the blocks together by machine
because it was quicker.
(I have sewn them by hand in the past.)
Again, marking and accuracy matter!
First I sewed the blocks into rows,
and then I sewed the rows together.
Here is my foundation layout.
I cut squares that were a scant smaller
than the open inside area and pinned them inside.
After that, I hand sewed the points together
for each block.
I also cut squares for the windows.
These are a scant smaller that the window space.
I carefully pinned the edges down for each window
and hand sewed them like binding.
Careful to make sure the corners looked okay.
Now here is where I find it got tricky.
By putting fabric under and in the windows,
it's hard to cover the raw edges of the background fabric.
The book shows you one way or the other,
but not combining the two methods together.
See how that raw edge is showing?
I will probably go back and fuse those corners down
with Mistyfuse.
This little project I started was really to figure it all out,
and see where it needs tweaks,
I offer this adjustment as a possible way to fix the
raw edge problem.
I cut squares for the inside bigger than needed
and pressed the edges over so it fits snugly in the center space.
Then I cute a piece of the Mistyfuse exactly the size of the center
I carefully laid the piece on top of the Mistyfuse
and pressed it down.
This may give you some extra bulk,
but you won't have the raw edge problem.
After fusing the background centers in,
go ahead and tack the corners together.
I'm making good progress on this little wall hanging,
and I have figured out most of the finagling
I will need to do to get it where I love it.
Below is a little one I made in 2009.
Here you can see how the two different versions work.
The ones in the corners with background fabric
inserted behind have smaller openings to cover the raw edges.
The center blocks leave the edges and background the same fabric.
So thanks for asking how I did it!
I hope this helps you figure out the way you want
to approach yours.
And Thanks @gogokim for inspiring me in the first place!
