My daughter and her husband celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this month. My mother-in-law made my hubby and me a beautiful quilt for our 25th many years ago. So I thought making a quilt for my daughter is appropriate. I should have started it but wanted to wait and let her pick the pattern and colors.

We were at her house (750 miles away) this past weekend and I took my favorite book of quilt patterns, Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns. She picked three patterns and said you pick which one you want to make...... but she kept going back to the Cathedral Windows quilt..... so I know that is the one she would REALLY like to have.

I've never made a Cathedral Windows quilt. What trama am I in for? I'm going to make a block tonight to see how long that will take me....... Help me out here..... Give me some advice.

There is a great tutorial by Eddie on the board for this. It will give you an idea of what you are in for. They are gorgeous quilts.

Yes, check out his tut!!!! It does take some time, but worth the offort...and I only did a small sampler!!!

there is now a book and special rulers out to make them by machine-that are stunning!
but i love making cathedral windows by hand- it is a great project- and really not difficult at all.

oops- haven't done the dog-gone double posting in a while---sorry

What is the name of the book/rulers? Thanks

This is a cool tute for CW. It is still a time consuming pattern but well worth it and it is beautiful when done!
peace

The book is by Lynne Edwards. The ruler is ONLY for 3 by 4 1/2 rectangles. You dont need either. Use Eddie's tute. I am making one right now. If you want rectangles in yours, PM me. Finally it takes oodles of fabric! Crazy amounts. I thought I had enough and I dont have half of what I need.

I checked out the tute by Eddie. That makes it look so much easier than doing it totally by hand.

I see what you mean about crazy amounts of fabric. The pattern I have says that you'll need 26 yards for the framing fabric and then 4 yards worth of scraps for the little squares. I think I'll do mine traditionally with muslin. I may have to buy a whole bolt of muslin.... 26 yards will add up $$.

What size are you making? I am making a twin and I think I just figured 13.5 yards for the framing plus then the window fabric. But then I am not going by a pattern and I am just trying to do the math. I have lots and lots of FQ and half yards.

I'm making one using Eddies tute. Seemed like a lot of fabric but it works up nice and when I'm done I'm done. No backing or extra quilting needed.

We just had a class on Cathedral Windows by Machine last weekend and it is so incredibly fast and pretty easy. There are some tutorials on YouTube that are pretty good. I can ask our instructor if she would mind me sending you a copy of her handout if you would like. Just PM me.

The great thing about CW is when you finish the top---you are FINISHED! No batt, no lining, no quilting!

Can't say that again for awhile. Hehehe

YES but catch a 40 or 50% off coupon from JoAnns and it makes the sting much easier to take....I find buying that much at a time also guarantees you a consistency in the fabric

There's also a U Tube video on a "ten minute" block which looks very similar to a Cathedral Windows block, or at least it does to me. LOL

Don't forget if you use muslin you can buy 120" wide instead of 45" wide!! almost 3x the fabric and usually only a little more $/yard

~~~
Some things I found out by trial and error...

Use the good muslin by Kona (not Roc-lon)- it's worth the difference in price because after you spend so much time on a handmade CW quilt you want it to be heirloom quality. Roc-lon is fine for wallhangings which likely won't get washed often. And I always use a 50% off coupon @ JoAnn Fabrics, & buy it by the bolt/s.

I've made several large CW quilts by hand. After the first one I found it worked best for me to make placemat size sections, then assemble them into rows, and then assemble the rows.

One of them was made in a "Trip around the World" pattern, so that took planning ahead.

But mostly you will need patience. Ask me how I know! ;-) Having a long table helps too in the home stretch when assembling the long rows. It was easier to assemble the quilt into two big halves and then stitch together the halves.

Sarah

I agree about not buying Roc-Lon. I'm current doing a CW using 108" wide 15 yard bolt of Roc-Lon. It's quite flimsey. I'll probably turn this piece into curtains instead of a quilt. Lesson learned.

A queen CW quilt calls for roughly 25 yards of 44" wide fabric for the body of the quilt. I'm going by Eddie's tute. I'm cutting the muslin pieces 8.75" and the 'glass' pieces 2.5". 2.5" on the small pieces is a smidgen too big so next time I cut a batch, I'll cut them 2.25".

Roc Lon has many many different grades/qualites of muslin. I have used the premium pre-shrunk permanent press. I buy it by the bolts. I particularly like the bleached version.
Jo Ann's carries the cheapest quality Roc lon muslin. I made that mistake only once.

Love Eddie's tutorial. Very well done.

Question - I am thinking on embarkig upon a CW quilt. So you are all saying don't buy muslin from Joanne's? Where is a good place?

Next: do you wash and pre-shrink all that muslin first or does it come pre-shrunk nowadays? I am thinking of the old time muslin which shrank quite a bit!

Thanks for any help.

I buy Roc lon 403 and 404 ( these numbers are on the end of the bolts) , one is bleached the other is natural . It is pre - shrunk , but there is still a bit of shrinkage but not nearly as much as the other muslins. It is perm - press as much as an all cotton fabric can be. I can tell you from experience , the other muslins that are not perm press .... well you will spend LOTS of time ironing after you shrink them.
Some quilt shops carry them. Jo anns used to carry it about 10 years ago .. but I have only seen the lower quality there for years.

http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php...age&pageid=193

The CW takes a lot of fabric and lots of time but you don't need batting or backing and you can take it with you to work on anywhere.