Ellie'sNana

I looked at Eddie's turorial on the Cathedral Window (fantastic tute!). While not reading every single post under it, I am wondering if anyone here has made this quilt by hand. I am curious as to the type of stitch to join the squares, and the points of the squares in the center of each block. Any tips on construction, etc? Thanks in advance for any tips/ideas/advice!

leatheflea

An elderly lady taught me how to do this block by hand. Shes 81. She used a whip stitch. To join the blocks and on the front to tack down the curved part. Her work was wonderful. Someday I hope to tackle this quilt. Good luck with your quilt cant wait to see it finished.

lbaillie

OH Ellie have you lost your mind!!!!!I am in the middle (i use that term loosly) of one now. I love it, but it is very time consuming. I hand stitched the top with a wip stitch, however I have a fancy stitch on my sewing machine that I'm using to join the blocks. I really do love this, just dont plan on it being done quickly. I have a picture I'll have to post so you can see my joining stich

just_the_scraps_m'am

i'm sure you could make this "by hand", however i wouldn't recommend it. i have started one in denim & cut most circles with pinking shears! i don't work on this every day-it is very time consuming.
sewing the squares i'm going to use a really tight stitch-more than 12 per inch--that's for sure-don't want to repair that ever!
when you add your squares to the centers, they could be basted in but i'm just going to lay them in w/o sewing them---b/c the stitches will show on the back!
{you will be catching them underneath when you sew the top flaps down anyway} & then i will use a fancy machine stitch on the curves!

virtualbernie

I made one by hand years and years ago, in fact, that's how I learned to do a Cathedral Windows quilt. I did it with small running stitches and whip stitched the flaps down. I started another one about a year ago and tried to do it Eddie's way on the machine but I found that trying to maneuver this queen sized quilt through the machine gave me a lot of trouble (may have been a matter of teaching an old dog new tricks!) At any rate, I love to hand stitch so I usually have 2 quilts going when I make a Cathedral Windows--one (not a Cathedral Window) done by machine and the Cathedral Window I do slowly in front of the TV. Just depends on how fast you need to get it done :D

Ellie'sNana

Yes I must be a little bit nutty to think about doing this by hand, but I do love hand work and I'm looking for something I can carry with me at different times. Whip stitching the top, I think I hear you saying the 'curve' part? Can you see the stitching around the curve? How about on the back of the quilt, are you going straight through. I've got a few blocks but and pressed, I guess I'll practice a bit to get a feel for this. Thanks for your help. I look forward to seeing the picture of your quilt.

Ellie'sNana

I'd love to see some pictures of your quilts. I am not very familiar with some of our sewing terms. Could you explain what you mean by running stitch. I've looked at many pictures of cathedral window quilts but just can't seem to see up close to determine the type of stitching used. Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

Ellie'sNana

I love the idea of using a fancy stitch for the curves. I am almost thinking of doing two quilts (not at the same time) but hand sewing the one and machine sewing the other. thank you for your help.

Ellie'sNana

Thanks! I might be 81 by the time I finished it!

ann clare

My avatar quilt is made by hand. If you enjoy hand work you will love making this quilt. I started by making pincushions and small cushions. I have made a few quilts plus wall hangings. I joined with whip stitch. As far as I remember Eddie's Tutorial is very similar to mine except that he used the machine.