#34 Cathedral Window

#34: Cathedral Window
Finished: 8/26/12
Techniques: Cathedral Window, origami
Size: 9" x 9"

I've wanted to try a Cathedral Window quilt for some time, but shied away thinking it was too difficult. On a recent trip to Nebraska, however, I was reacquainted with a Cathedral Window quilt that a friend's mother had made. Leone Gustafson's quilt is quite lovely, and it inspired me to give it a try.  I found instructions on the web that required folding of fabric, rather like origami. At a certain point, colorful printed fabric is folded separately and inserted to create a stained glass cathedral window effect. Because of the folding of the fabric, no batting is needed to complete the quilt.

Four petal quilting on reverse

I had a little difficulty with the hand stitching; I don't do
very well with keeping my stitching invisible, and I didn't
like the effect. So I switched to machine stitching and was
much happier. I still had a little trouble with puckering near
the center of the piece but it's not terribly noticeable. And the machine stitching creates a nice four petal quilting design on
the reverse of the piece. It's not easy to see, but you can just
make it out.





I like the way this mini-quilt goes together. It's a "quilt-as-you-go" design. I could have added on as many rows and columns as I wished, working out from the center. I chose to stay with just the four windows, making this the smallest mini-quilt to date.