Cathedral Windows Yet again

I seem to have a thing for Cathedral Windows. I've made lots of different projects with them. 

My favourite is this wall hanging (the photography is dire and you can't see the detail, the entire hanging is quilted and the windows are metallic fabrics and look amazing). 

Then there is this cushion

 and my little needle case. 

There's been lots more too that I haven't blogged about like one year when everyone got a cathedral window pincushion and the next when it was Christmas decorations.

I had a weekend recently when the sewing machine came out and there was lots of industry.

Secret Garden block during sewing. The block starts in a similar way to Cathedral Window but the "windows" are put in a different place.

Finished needle case

I've had a project sat for awhile, and I finally had some down time so I got cracking with it. It'll be a cushion when I'm finished similar to the one above. Here's my progress so far:

Cathedral blocks sewn together before ironing.

All the blocks ironed flat.

I've used what I had leftover from the wall hanging for the windows. With better photography you can see the fabric is really stunning. 

It took awhile to figure out the arrangement for the fabric as I didn't have enough to do many squares in just one colour. I just have to sew them all in now, which is the time consuming part. 

Day Six: Favourite Tools

"Write about your favourite knitting or crochet (or spinning, etc) tool. It can either be a tool directly involved in your craft (knitting needles or crochet hook) or something that makes your craft more pleasurable – be it a special lamp, or stitch markers."

From Eskimimi Makes 

My favourite tools... I'm not sure whether I have favourites because everything I use has its purpose. If I'm in a hurry and want the bare minimum with me, then I would grab my scissors, my sewing needle case and my favourite crochet hook (as well as my knitting, of course).

I've had these awhile, so excuse their condition. The scissors are little Fiskar ones: I have two pairs. One in my knitting bag and one in my sewing bag. The first pair I've had for at least 12 years and they are still as sharp as when I bought them. Attached to the scissors is a hardanger scissor keeper that I made a long time ago at a workshop. Originally, it had a tassel but that's long since disappeared.

My needle case is made of two little folded fabric squares sewn together. It's a similar block to cathedral window but is contained to one square. The instructions for the square can be found in  Cathedral Window Quilts: The Classic Folded Technique and a Wealth of Variations by Lynne Edwards. The book is fabulous and I've made lots of different things from it, including some lovely little pincushions. Here's a few bits that I've made using Cathedral Window blocks - cushion and a wallhanging.

There's a needle for all occasions. Several knitting sewing needles, darning needles, tapestry needles, betweens, sewing needles, glass headed pins and knitters' pins.

I'd not really noticed that there was a bit of a purple theme going on.

Handmade Christmas: The Tree

I thought I'd share my Christmas tree with you!

I've made a few decorations for the tree.

This flat ceramic bauble is double-sided and from the photo above you can see the Christmas tree on the other side.

A ceramic glazed santa

Hardanger embroidered decoration and it's filled with cloves so it smells very Christmassy

Secret Garden folded fabric blocks with lucet cord and beaded tassels

And, it's not just me. These are Mr's contributions, a wood turned bauble and a star for the top of the tree which is made from white leather (a strange material for a star but it looks nice)

These are a few tree decorations that friends have made for me over the years.

Going through them all, I've realised there is not one knitted decoration. That will be something I'll have to remedy for next year!

Cathedral Window Wedding Gift

Finally finished; I've been planning a Wedding present to give to my oldest friend. I've known him since Primary School and unbelieveably we've kept in touch over the years.

He's getting married on Saturday and my husband is one of the ushers. Hopefully it will be nice weather because they are having a marquee reception. Their colour theme is chocolate brown and gold so I've used those colours to make them a cushion.

It contains lots of silks to make it look sumptuous; I purchased most of the silk from The Silk Route who do a lot of coloured packs, which are perfect for Cathedral Windows.

I had most of it finished early on; then just had to hand stitch all the windows in and the border on. When I came to put the back on my sewing machine decided to go poof!! With two weeks to go - aaahhh! Got it to the repair centre quick and it's all sorted now and finally able to finish the cushion; which I absolutely love (quite like to keep it myself - but I won't).

p.s. The wedding was lovely; a little rain at the beginning and the bride looked absolutely stunning. Seemed to have a little of a 50s theme; the bridesmaids had seamed stockings and lace gloves. Waiting to hear after the honeymoon what they thought of the cushion.

Japanese Wallhanging

Been planning quite an elaborate Christmas present for my mum. She really likes koi carp and I spotted this Kona Bay Japanese print at last year's Festival of Quilts; so I just had to have it.

I'd seen something at the show with a similar print in; which was banner shaped with diamond blocks surrounding it. Thought I'd do something similar but I've got a bit of a penchant for Cathedral block windows. Lynne Edwards has released a new book Cathedral Window Quilts: The Classic Folded Technique and a Wealth of Variations
It's a really beautiful book and she goes into detail on all the different ways of making Cathedral Windows plus other types of folded blocks too. What I found quite useful was the machine piecing section which I put into practice making the wallhanging. I must say it was a little fiddly at times but think it turned out well. One of the tricky parts for me was the free motion quilting on the picture.

I used Perfect Pallete fabric for the main background & the windows are from a charm pack of Kona Bay fabrics. Finally finished it just in time for Christmas. This is my Japanese Window Wallhanging.