Christmas Cathedral Window Pillows

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Now that Christmas has passed, I can share these cathedral window pillows I made! There are just two in the picture, but I actually made four!

Cathedral window pillows


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Early in November, a customer messaged me through Etsy to ask if I could make two Christmas cathedral window pillows. After a bit of discussion to pick out fabrics, etc, the plan was set in motion!

Moda Little Tree fabric


I ordered a layer cake of Little Tree fabric from here and got the pattern from here (it's free!). Once my order came, I cut the layer cake into fourths, pulled out my bolt of Kona white, and chose 50wt Aurifil #2024 White to sew with.

Moda Little Tree fabric and Aurifil thread


Have you ever made a cathedral window quilt? The design is so clever!!

Cathedral window pillows


You start by cutting a bajillion squares from the background fabric. (Which actually goes super fast when you cut several layers of fabric at once.) Then you press 2/3 of the squares in half along the diagonal.

Cathedral window pillows


After laying two of the folded squares on top of a third square, you sew all the way around the square using 1/8" seam. This holds it all in place so it doesn't shift when you sew them together.

Cathedral window pillows


First you sew the "blocks" into rows...

Cathedral window pillows


...then you sew the rows together!

Cathedral window pillows


I pressed all the seams open since there are lots of layers already!

Cathedral window pillows


And this pattern makes two at the same time! (Aren't the backs so pretty?!?)

Cathedral window pillows


Then it was time to add COLOR! I laid out the print fabrics as randomly as possible - a job so much harder than it sounds!

Cathedral window pillows


Once satisfied, I trimmed up the 5" squares to fit on the pillow. For this pattern, each one got trimmed to 4 1/2" square, but the ones around the edge were just cut along the diagonal once or twice (I didn't trim them to be smaller).

Cathedral window pillows


And then the magic happened!

Cathedral window pillows


I seriously enjoyed sewing these so much! I love the technique, I love the fabrics...it really was a fun project to sew!

Cathedral window pillows


Once the pillow tops were done, I added an envelope style back to each one using the same Kona White fabric.

Envelope style pillow back


The December Aurifil Artisan challenge was to make a holiday themed project, and I planned to make two more of the pillows for me to keep! But after the customer received her pillows, she ordered two more! So my December Aurifil project was the same - it just had a different recipient!

Cathedral window pillows


I was happy to get to sew with the same beautiful fabric again!

Cathedral window pillows


Cathedral window pillows


Cathedral window pillows


Cathedral window pillows


Cathedral window pillows


So there are now a set of four cathedral window pillows!

Cathedral window pillows


I still have a bit of fabric left over from that layer cake, and I'm thinking now I might be able to make myself one! I have a whole year to work on it before next Christmas! ;)

8 comments:

  1. Great pillows and I do love the magic of the cathedral window!

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  2. Beautiful. I first did a Cathedral Window pillow by hand 40 years ago. Then 12 years or so ago I did 4 or 5 using the "Machine Stitched Cathedral Windows" and "Machine Stitched Cathedral Stars" books by Shelly Swanland that I had purchased years before. They were interesting but complex. I may try this technique next.

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  3. Cathedral Windows always look so complicated until you see it done. I haven't made any, but there's one on my never-ending list of quilts I want to make!

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  4. Thank you for the pattern for these beautiful pillows!!! I have always loved cathedral windows, but could not quite figure out how they were done. Seeing how you did it makes it look like something I could do!!

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  5. They turned out so pretty, I can see why you wanted to make some for yourself!

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  6. They turned out so pretty, I can see why you wanted to make some for yourself!

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  7. Cathedral Windows do always look magical. These are beautiful! And I love the fabrics.

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  8. Wow. I've never made one. I'll have to download the pattern.

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