cathedral windows

I started a new project on my To-Be-Completed in 2014 List - Project 2: cathedral window pillowcase for my mother-in-law. As always...der Anfang ist immer schwer! It is always hard to start! Once I got going, I found it kind of fun. I dreamed of all the colors I could use in place of the green.

I know that traditionally, all of this is done by hand, but I prefer to use the sewing machine when I can. {I really try to avoid hand sewing.} The only thing I sewed down here by hand is where the corners meet. I used a simple cross stitch to secure them in place that I removed later. I sewed one row at a time which goes really quickly with a continues straight stitch.

I started with 8,5" x 8,5" squares. I sewed the sides shut and flipped them inside out to get 12 - 4" squares. {I have a tendency of mixing inches and centimeters.} Helga wanted a 40 x 50 cm pillowcase which is roughly 16 x 20 inches.

Here are some step-by-step pictures of the progress:

I debated whether or not to stop here and flip the corners backwards, because this is a panel for a pillowcase. It would allow me to add a border easier than if they are sewn down into windows. I decided against it, because this is a rather small pattern and the additional windows, even though they were white instead of green, continued a nice, subdued pattern.

If you would like to make your own cathedral window pilowcase, there is a really good tutorial from Angela Nash of My Three Sons at the Moda Bake Shop. I think I should have re-read it before I started my own project. I could have sewn the points down with the sewing machine too! ;-)

Keep on sewing and enjoy your weekend!

Yours truly,
Karen