Reflections on the Mock Cathedral Window Quilt

It's with great excitement that I can now show you the finished quilt.



I have always been captivated by the traditional cathedral window quilts. To be honest I have found a lot of the instructions quite difficult to understand (until I read HIP's instructions). There were 4 things that put me off doing the traditional version:

• all that hand work,
• the heavy weight of the finished product,
• the lack of batting, and
• the amount of fabric required.

If I'm going to put in so much effort on a "quilt" I want it to be cost effective and warm.

So I went looking for "mock" cathedral window quilt tutorials. There are a few out there - this is the version that I settled on (I have written about the method here). The finished result is quite pleasant, and does not involve an excessive amount of time. In fact, I would even suggest it to some as a good beginning quilt.

Now - there are some things that I would do differently. So I'll share those with you too.

If I was going to do this by hand again, and if I had the time - I would do quilting inside the neutral squares. Hand quilting the "wings" down is functional, and has to be done, but wouldn't it be nice to pretty it up with some decorative elements; maybe a simple flower or other motif. That would look gorgeous.

If I was going to do this by machine - which would be a LOT faster. I would sew the edges down with a decorative stitch. That would look very pretty. If I was being exceptionally bold, I might even do the stitching in a contrasting color. Just beautiful.

Anyway, hope the tips help.