A Friday Finish --Cathedral Windows Pillow

I have always admired the Cathedral Window Quilts. They are just so beautiful, delicate, and classic. I never imagined I could make one myself--it seemed too difficult.  Even with my fear of the difficulty level, it quickly found a place on my Quilty Bucket List. I'm so glad I faced my fear and tackled this project.  

At QuiltFest, I took a class on making Cathedral Window quilt by machine. I made a small sample....and there it sat in my WIP pile for months. 

Not anymore! I made a pillow!

 

Instead of sewing these blocks by hand, I used a blind hem stitch to stitch down the "flaps." So much faster than hand sewing. 

 

I'm so happy with how it turned out. It finished at 17" square....and I put in an 18" square pillow so it is EXTRA poofy.

One more project to cross off on my WIP list. It is such a good feeling to finish up these UFOs! (UnFinished Objects.)

Linked up with Show Off Saturday here.
Linked up with A Lovely Year of Finishes here.

WIP Wednesday #37 -- Making Progress with Cathedral Windows

When I set my June Goal to finish up this project, I really thought I had a lot of the prep work already done....which turned out to not be the case. Yes--I did have several bright color fabrics pre-cut. Yes--I did have the background fabric purchased. And yes--I did have a sample made. 

That was it. 

So, I've been busy cutting, sewing, and ironing these fun looking squares. My kids are fascinated by this project--They keep playing with these fabric square doo-hickyes turning them into buildings, or monster's mouths, or anything that chomps, etc.    

I almost feel like I'm doing some kind of origami. It still blows my mind on how Cathedral Window quilts are assembled. It sure is fun.

And so far I've managed to create this:

It is by no means perfect. But, sewing this by machine is definitely faster than by hand. I'm getting excited to see how it's going to turn out.

As much as I like this color combination, I'm already envisioning this done in completely different colors--so if I like how this small project turns out I just might do another one in different colors.

Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.
Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.

Goals for June

I feel like I'm on a roll. I managed to complete two UFO (UnFinished Object) projects last month. It is so satisfying--and I want to keep the good feelings going.

This month, I want to finish my Cathedral Window. I just love this classic design--especially all the modern cathedral window quilts popping up. 

I plan on making a pillow with this, so I don't need it to be humongous. Most the prep work is done. I have several background pieces sewn as well as many scrap pieces pre-cut. I just need to sit and sew.

This is actually on my Quilty Bucket List, too. (Have you made a Quilty Bucket List?)

Linked up with A Lovely Year of Finishes here.

Cathedral Window

I still remember the first time I saw a Cathedral Window Quilt. An antique Cathedral Window Quilt was displayed at the Peteetneet Quilt Show, and I was awed. It looked so intricate, delicate, and beautiful. However, I also thought I would never make one myself.

Soon, I was seeing modern versions of the Cathedral Window and modern ways of piecing it popping up on pinterest and quilt blogs. It quickly found a place on my Quilty Bucket List. But, no matter how many online tutorials and videos I watched, I couldn't quite grasp how it was made.

The mystery surrounding this design was recently dispelled for me. At Quilt Fest, I took a class on making Cathedral Window quilt by machine. I didn't make a whole quilt, but I learned the basics and made a small sample. 

All the stitching is done by machine.

Some parts are obviously better than others. But, this was my first attempt.

I do like how quickly this comes together by piecing it by machine. However, I'm not too keen about all the stitching in the center point. I think I will need to make some adjustments to the instructions so that I'm not stitching over that point so many times. It just looks messy to me. I don't like messy. 

I love that I now have the know-how on how to make this elusive design. Now to decide on what I want to make with this. Do I make an actual quilt? What size? Or do I make a cute pillow? 

Choices Choices!

Linked up with Let's Bee Social here.
Linked up with WIP Wednesday here.
Linked up with Show Off Saturday here.