 I had some leftover fabric from my large 365 Challenge Quilt, and I thought it would be fun to make a cushion cover out of it. After some searching on the internet and YouTube, I came across the Cathedral Window technique. It looked interesting. Since the beginning was a bit tricky, I made a guide for it. There are various techniques, but I found the one described here the simplest. |
 The basis for the quilt consists of squares measuring 8.5 x 8.5 inches. Each square results in a block of about 10 by 10 cm (4 x 4 inches). For a cushion cover of 40 by 40 cm, I need 4 x 4 = 16 squares of 8.5 by 8.5 inches. These squares form the background of the quilt, as shown in the picture above where everything is in light shades. I chose to use the same fabric for all squares, but you can also choose different fabrics for each square. |
 Once you have cut the squares to size, fold them with the right sides together. |
 Sew the two side seams together, stitching 1/4 inch from the edge. You can use "chain sewing" for all the squares consecutively, which saves quite a bit of thread. Chain sewing means that after sewing one square, you don't tie off and cut the thread but continue sewing the next square immediately. You can sew two stitches back and forth at the beginning and end of the square, but don't cut the thread; continue with the next square after securing it. First, sew one side of all squares and then the other. Once done, cut all the squares apart. You now have a whole stack of folded squares.
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 Now you'll make a sort of envelope from the folded squares. Lay the two newly sewn seams on top of each other as shown in the picture beside. Ensure that the seam is very neatly aligned. The envelope should be as neat as possible. |
 If you let the seams "kiss," you can be sure they are well aligned. You can see what I mean in the picture beside. |
 When you align the seams, you'll get a square where one diagonal is already stitched, and the other is still open. The open diagonal also needs to be closed, but not entirely, so that the resulting pocket can be turned inside out. Stitch 1/4 inch from the edge here as well. You can place the opening exactly in the middle or about 1/3 from the seam. |
 If done correctly, it should look like the picture beside: a pocket with a small part of the seam open. Turn the pocket inside out through this opening. Before turning, you can trim all corners at an angle to get nice points after turning. |
 When the pocket is turned inside out, it naturally forms a square. Ensure you push out the points nicely. |
 Once you have sewn and turned all the squares, they all need to be pressed. Ensure not to distort the pocket during pressing. It should become a neat square. |
 After pressing, the pocket is slightly more than 5.5 inches square and perfectly square. |
 Now, all squares are folded once more. Place the square with the seams facing up. Fold all corners to the center and press the folds well. |
 The folds must be neatly and firmly pressed. These folds will be used to sew all the squares together. |
 Now place two unfolded squares on top of each other. The bottom square has the seams facing down, and the top square has the seams facing up. Sew the squares together along one of the visible folds. |
 The picture beside shows how the squares align when sewn together along a fold. The folded corners are all on top. |
 If done correctly, all corners can still be opened. I didn't align all squares in the same orientation. You can see beside that the fabric of the left square is rotated a quarter turn compared to the right square. You can choose to keep the orientation of all squares the same. |
 The turning opening of all squares can remain open. It will later be hidden under the colored squares on top of the base. The Cathedral Window quilt is not lined and is essentially ready after stitching the colored squares. You then have five layers of fabric in most places. If you want a slightly thicker quilt, you can cut squares from batting and insert them neatly into each square through the turning opening. Do this only after sewing all squares together as described above. Cut the batting squares slightly smaller than 4 x 4 inches so they fit well. It's best to try this with a sample piece.
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 When you have joined two by two blocks, you can make a large square of four blocks in total. Align the points again and stitch along the pressed folds. Pay close attention to how you lay the fabric on top of each other. The visible seams of the squares are always on the outside. When the points are folded inwards, they are no longer visible, and you have a nicely finished back.
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 The picture beside shows what it looks like when four squares are joined. Here, I made a square of two by two squares, but you can also make strips of joined squares first. It doesn't affect the result. |
 The shape may look a bit odd with all the points, but they will all be folded inwards and secured in the middle, making your piece a neat square again. |
 The picture beside shows that twelve squares have been joined. I joined two already joined squares to the piece shown above, creating a piece of two by four squares. Then I started making strips of four joined squares. Here you see one such strip attached to the piece of two by four squares. |
 All squares are now joined. A basic Cathedral Window quilt of four by four squares. Each square is about 10 by 10 cm. My base is now 40 by 40 cm. |
 The back looks neat. Since it's going to be a cushion cover, you won't see it, as there will be a backing. But if you make a bedspread with this method, the back of your quilt will be neat as soon as you're done. |
 Now that the base is ready, we'll move on to the most challenging but also most fun part: adding color to the quilt. You can see that the quilt now consists of sixteen squares. Each square has four points folded towards the center. These points need to be secured. You can do this with a few stitches or a small zigzag on the sewing machine. |
 I don't find it very appealing as it's also visible on the back. I do it by hand with a few stitches. I tie the threads together and hide them in the fabric. They are then no longer visible, even from the back. The points don't need to be secured at the bottom but should be attached to each other. |
 Secure all points before moving on. If you've pressed everything well at the start and sewn neatly along the folds when joining the squares, the points will align perfectly. |
 Beside, you can see how I've placed colored blocks diagonally on the base. The squares are about 2.5 by 2.5 inches. You can also use strips from a Jelly Roll for this. The squares might be placed a bit differently than expected, so look closely. They lie across a seam where two squares meet. I used 24 colored blocks of 2.5 by 2.5 inches in total.Experiment with the placement of the squares until you are satisfied. You can secure them with a drop of glue from a fabric glue stick or a pin. |
 If all the small colored squares are secured with a pin or glue, you can start folding and stitching. Look closely at the picture beside. You can see that I pull the seams around the square over the square. Since there is more room in the middle of the seams, you can pull the seam slightly further over the colored square. This creates the beautiful curved lines. Stitch through all layers, close to the edge of the seam. In this example, on the light fabric and near the dark fabric of the small square. |
 Here's another picture showing the stitching well. The order in which you secure the squares doesn't matter as long as you don't forget any edges. You can secure each square all around or sew a long curved line, securing one side of a square at a time before moving to the next. You can stop in between. If you don't want to see loose threads in your quilt, you can do the following: hold the threads tightly when you start sewing so they don't tangle. When you finish a section and want to stop, leave longer threads before cutting. Don't tie off. Then pull both threads to the same side, tie a knot, and hide the ends in the fabric. Do this with the starting threads as well. This way, you won't see any loose threads in your quilt.
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 After stitching all the squares, your quilt will look like the picture beside. I also folded and secured the seams on the edges because I find it aesthetically pleasing. You end up with a quilt of about 40 x 40 cm, ready without needing further finishing or stitching. |
 I wanted to make a cushion cover from my quilt, so I created a back consisting of two parts. Each part is essentially a pocket 40 cm wide and about 23 cm long. I cut two pieces of fabric measuring 41 x 47 cm. I folded them in half with the right sides together, creating a piece of 41 x 23.5 cm. I stitched the edges (not the fabric fold) together with a seam of about 0.5 cm. I left a small opening unstitched. The fabric was turned right side out through this opening and pressed.Next, I attached a strip of Velcro to each piece. The Velcro is placed on the side without the seam but on the fabric fold. You need to measure carefully where the Velcro should be placed. When the Velcro is aligned, the two pieces should form a 40 x 40 cm square. Finally, I attached the resulting back to the quilt with small stitches.
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 Once the cover is complete, you can insert a 40 x 40 cm cushion through the Velcro opening and close the Velcro securely. The result is impressive.I enjoy making these and find them so beautiful that I'm now planning to make a bedspread for a single bed measuring 80 x 200 cm. I will make the bedspread 140 x 220 cm, which means 14 by 22 squares. I hope it will be successful. |
 A blue variant of the cushion is also incredibly beautiful. |