I would like to make a cathedral window quilt. The tute here looks very helpful, but I want to make it all by hand. How much fabric should I buy for the white base? I am going to make the colors scrappy. I think I will probably need a whole bolt? What would be the preferred fabric to choose for the white base?

My mother and I have made some. It depends on how big your quilt is going to be but be sure to buy plenty to begin with so it matches......ask me how I know.....We use good muslin.

I am anxious for the answers to this question also. I have read the recommendation on this board, I almost think it was Eddie that told us but I would have to search to find it and don't have the seconds just now to do so./Regards, Dorothy

Eddie's Tutorial
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-35742-1.htm

On page 8 he explains how to calculate yardage for the background. It's about 15 yards for a twin size.

For other sizes, I used his same size raw square (8.75 in) and use the quilt calculator http://www.vrya.net/quilt/flash/QuiltCalc_Loader.html

I used the square, cut dimensions button, and size on one side to find the yardage for a double and it was about 28 yards. This site even tells you how many strips to cut.

83"X106"=21X27 (4" finished squares)= 567 squares
calculates to 27.75 yards. Round up to 28. That's a lot of material! But you don't need backing or batting so that helps with the cost.

At the last guild meeting I went to I sat next to a lady that was working on cathedral windows blocks. She said she always does the initial seams across the ends on the machine because it makes the final blocks more accurate. She said it takes between 30 and 40 yards of muslin for a queen size quilt. With today's deeper mattresses I'd just get the full 50 yard bolt in case you need to make it a little bigger. Even if you don't use all of it for the CW you'll find uses for any muslin you have left.

Some years ago, while I was still teaching, I designed some large Catheral Windows for my students who didn't want to spent a life time making tiny windows lol...it was all done on the sewing machine, every bit of it. I will find the file and post a pic later in the picture section.

I recently got Kaufman Kona Mulslin at Joann’s. It has 90 inches of width (so twice that of regular fabric) and cost $5.99/yard. I bought it with a 50% off coupon, so it wasn’t bad. If you needed 30 yards of regular fabric, you could probably get away with 15 of the 90 inch width. With the coupon (which they have this week and next) that would only cost you about $45, which is not bad at all!

Cheers!
Rachel

Great tip!!! Thank You :D:D:D

Sounds like a good deal to me. I think I will do that. Thanks.

Has anyone done Shelley Swanland's completely machine pieced version of Cathedral Windows. I have her book on this and it is on my 'want to do' list. Just curious if the result is pleasing to the eye like the ones done by hand.