sometime within the past three weeks, one of our members posted a link to her own tutuorial on Cathedral Windows. it is, without question, the best set of instructions i've ever seen for this pattern. she showed step-by-step instructions and photos of a method using both machine and hand stitching. unfortunately, i didn't bookmark the link and can't find it again.

here's hoping Ruth reads this plea and finds it for us. Ruth is THE best searcher i've ever seen. A Google Goddess.

i really would prefer to include that link to the other member's instructions because i want her to retain credit. today's lessons will cover a teeny-tiny variation of her method. i don't want anybody to think i thought of the whole process on my own.

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supplies for the variation of the not-mine method:

PLEASE NOTE: I DISCOVERED A HUGE MATHEMATICAL ERROR IN THE SUPPLIES LIST I POSTED EARLY THIS MORNING. HERE ARE THE CORRECTED DIMENSIONS

I started with 7" background/frame squares
After preparing the background I found I needed squares of about 1-7/8" for the "view/filler"

Roughly speaking, the background squares should be about four times the size of your filler patches.

Unless you like fiddling with teeny tiny patches, i'd recommend you either plan to finish this by hand or start with background squares of at least 11"
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supplies for the shorthcut method

16 Back-of-the-project squares, the same size as your background/frame squares

16 background/frame squares ... rougly 4 times the size of the patches you want to use as fillers

filler patches; all same fabric or a variety of scraps

Today, March 2 2008, 2pm eastern USA time

Hi Patrice!
I am not a Google Goddess by any means ( :mrgreen: )but that might have been my instructions? If not, excuse the interruption, please!

I am presently working on another tutorial to do "Diamond Ring" (it is a take off of the traditional Wedding Ring) & it will be posted on the same site as the Cathedral Window.

I enjoyed your excellant instructions on the Double Wedding Ring. I personally know the time involved in making a tutorial.

My Cathedral Window is here... & again, I hope I am not intruding: http://groups.msn.com/CathedralWindow---Classroom101/homepage

Riley

I ABSOLUTELY meant your tutorial. It was the first i've ever seen that didn't confuse the heck out of me. I was able to follow you from start to finish. AND you answered my question of how to do the first go-round without all that annoying business of folding under quarter inch hems or ending up with points that will fray.

you and i "part ways" at photo 03. one of my versions is stuffed with little batting squares (so i don't sew the pouch seams all the way to the ends), and doesn't use any hand stitching. all machine.

another way would be to use your instructions to make the pouches, but zig-zag them together - preferably using a joining foot - after they're folded in again.

you are definitely NOT intruding. i'm glad you said something. i highly recommend your instructions over mine to anyone who wants to make their cathedral windows as a hand-finished take-along project.

Here we go!!!

Step 1: Start with your stack of background/frame squares. I made the mistake of using 7" squares for this demo. I REALLY wish i had used 12". you'll see why at the end. :wink:

Step 2: Fold your squares in half. Sew from a bit more than halfway from the raw edged, all the way to the fold. backstitch at the fold. do this to all of your squares.

these pictures often post out of order, so I've named them according to the step.

Step 3: sew down the other side, all the way to the folded edge of each square

Step 4: fold your squares in half the other way, to form little pouches.

Step 5: sew the sides of the pouches the same way you did before

you should now have pouches that look like this

the photo for step 7 is blurry. what i'm trying to show is that i fold the seam allowance over in preparation for turning the pouch right side out. i do not clip the corners

i use the softly pointed end of a tweezers to "pointify" my turned corners. it works really well and won't poke too far through the corner.

now that the pouches are right-side-out, you need to press them.

in the example on the left, i very carefully pressed all the seams in the same direction going around the pouch. i also folded the unsewn portions of the seam allowances very carefully and tucked them into each other like a nice neat little package.

in the second example, i just pressed the points and edges to square it off.

the neat little folds and tucks seem like extra work at this point, but will pay off later.

sorry for the blurry photo. we need to keep the pressed pouches seams up, and fold the points in to meet at the center. this will make our squares look half their original size.