I simply love this new, modern technique for making Cathedral Window squares. It is very time consuming but the outcome is well worth it. Precision is the key! Think of this as fabric Origami. Precise folding, pressing and stitching are needed to achieve nice looking “windows”. There is no batting or “quilt sandwich” when using this process. The weight comes from the cotton folded in layers A nice option for a summer quilt.
For this project I am using Kona Cotton for the background and back of the pillow cover. For the little “windows” I have cut some 2 1/2″ squares from jellyroll strips of Moda Sumer Breeze III.
Prepare your fabric
Cut 9, 10″ squares of your background fabric. For my project I used Kona Cotton in white. It is important that you starch and press your fabric to insure you have perfect squares (or as close to perfect as possible:). For the windows you will need 18, 2 1/2′ squares of colorful fabric. Here I used 2 1/2″ squares cut from jellyroll strips.
PREPARE YOUR BACKGROUND FABRIC
Use very accurate 1/4′ seams.
Always secure your stitching at the beginning and end.
When pressing use steam and sizing/starch.
Here is where origami comes in. The 10″ inch squares of background fabric will be folded and stitched into a much smaller square. First fold each square in half. Stitch up the two short sides with a 1/4″ seam. Be sure to secure your stitches at the beginning and end of the seam, clip each of the folded corners. I did this will all 9 of my squares before proceeding. Take each folded rectangle and open it up, folding again so that the two side seams meet. Nest the seams so that one goes left and one goes right. At first I used a pins to hold the seams together but found it was easier to just pinch my seams together with my fingers. Stitch a 1/4″ seam from one corner, over the nested seams, and about an inch beyond the netted seams, lock the stitching. Leave an opening of about 2 inches and begin stitching again to the corner, again secure your stitches (This will allow you to turn the fabric inside out.) Carefully turn each piece inside out. I used That Purple Thang (TPT) to make my corners nice and sharp and to move the seams so that they will all lie flat and neat. Press each square with steam if you have it. You do not need to sew the opening closed, it should naturally close when you press the seams down.
After all of your blocks are pressed you will do some folding and pressing. I have found that steam at this stage really helps keep things in place. Fold all four corners of the pressed square into the center and press. The sides of the squares need to have nice sharp creases. Lay out the 9 folded squares as shown in the picture below.
SEW THE SQUARES TOGETHER
Create 3 rows of 3. Layer two square together by opening the two touching flaps and stitch in the sharp crease. The flaps will stay loose. Stitch all 3 rows in this same manner. Complete the top by using the same process to sew the three rows together. You now have a 9 block square with all flaps loose.
STITCH DOWN THE FLAPS – LAY OUT YOUR WINDOWS
As you can see in the first image I have tacked down the flaps of each square. This can be done by hand but I find that just two or three securing stitches works great, about a 1/4″ in each direction. I like to first tack down all of the horizontal flaps and then the vertical flaps. This can make for neater stitching later.
Once all of the flaps have been secured it is time to add your contrasting fabric squares. Place one square onto each diamond that is created by the folded squares/flaps being stitched together. I like to lay all of mine out first and then use either pins or fabric glue to tack them into place. Note that on the sides you will need to cut some of your squares in to two triangles. Place the squares carefully with equal distance from all sides. For the triangles place the long edge right on the folded edge of the half diamond.
STICH TO CREATE WINDOWS
I like to stitch the “window frames” in a diagonal row from one corner to the opposite corner. The first time I pinned down the edges down but found that it was much easier just to roll the fabric into place using my fingers to hold the edges in. This happens naturally, the curve stretch and rolls into place because the fabric is on the bias. I stitched as close to the edge as possible. In the third pictures you can see that I “swerved” to sew each diagonal row all in one flowing topstitch. Be sure to secure the stitches at the beginning and end of each row. In the last picture you can see the resulting pillow top.
THE BACK
I love to do envelop backing on my pillow covers. Cut two 12″ x 14″ pieces of your backing fabric. On each piece, on the long side, fold over and press the edge 1/4″. Fold over again, this time 1/2″ to 1″.and press. Stitch down to secure the edge. This makes a nice strong edge for the overlapping side. Do this again with the second backing piece. Place the pillow top down, right side up. Place the backing pieces (right side down) overlapping with the finished edges to the center of the pillow cover. Pin the raw edges all the way around. I used my serger to sew the back to the front but you can do this on your regular sewing machine. Sew all the way around, clip your corners and turn the cover inside out.
My finished project measures 13 1/2″ x 13 1/2″. I used a 14″ square pillow form and it worked beautifully.
Give this technique a try. I think you will find that it is a fun challenge and well worth the effort. Next up is a baby quilt using this same process.
Quilting by Judi B 