Stars in My Eyes: Cathedral Windows Wall Quilt Complete

It's finished! 

The beauty of a true scrap quilt like this is that I can look at any of the colored patches and tell you exactly what other project I used that bit of fabric in.  So many memories from a quilted life!  I am pleased-as-punch with the way this turned out!

This is as big as I can comfortably do on my little domestic sewing machine.  The last row of colored patches was the hardest to sew because of the bulk.   That said, once I finished sewing the bias edges on the last block, it was done!  No layering - no binding!  It's done (except for labels and hanging pocket, of course).

I love how the white part looks puckered and "used" as if it's a much older quilt.  Antiqued!

I love the quilted patterning on the back.  Not perfect, but still pleasing.

Here are some tips if you're going to make on of your own:

• After satin stitching the background blocks together, lay out the pieces and audition 2-1/2 inch squares (the colored patches) on the design wall.  When I was happy with the arrangements, I used a safety pin to hold the colored bits in place.  This was "safer" than using straight pins--literally less blood shed.  There is so much twisting and turning to sew down those colored patches that the safety pins made sense! 

• Use a stilletto to hold down the bias edges to get them started under the sewing needle.  Once you get started, those bias edges are easy to manage under the needle.
  

• When it got to be a certain size, it was easier to stitch 2 sides of the colored patches down an entire row, then come back up the other side as a row.  Less twisting and turning that way.

 

If you look at the stars from the side, you can see the puff better.  

What a difference just a teaspoon of stuffing makes! 

• I kept a 1-gallon freezer bag of fluff stuffing nearby for stuffing the blocks.  This was a manageable amount to deal with--esp. since I was only using about a teaspoon of fluff per block.  More than that got too puffy and unmanageable -- In other words, it got too puffy and took up too much space in my work area.   I wound up using an acrylic fluff because it was lighter and fluffier than batting scraps.  It did the job better.
  

It doesn't really feel like it made a dent in my scrap pile, but I know I used about half of the 2-1/2 squares I cut out for this project.  So I guess that's progress.  It used a lot more white background fabric than you'd expect.  It's also heavier and denser than you'd expect.

120 # of white background squares (These started out as 9-1/2 inch squares; Finished at just over 4 inches.

218 # of Stars (colored patches - These are the 2-1/2 in squares.) 

 

I like this one because it shows my husband's feet at the bottom of the screen.

The photos show a very slight difference in the white background fabric.  I used what I had on hand -- Some Avalon muslin purchased for hand-dying -- I bought it without realizing it had a permanent press treatment, which makes it NOT suitable for dying. (I knew about that, but the online listing and description did not mention permanent press. ;-( )   In the photos, it looks like some of the background whites is a little creamier than the other.  This is not nearly so noticeable in person.

Here are the previous posts about this project:

Cathedral Windows Quilt - A New Project and a New Tutorial  (Jan 23, 2023)

Cathedral Windows Revisited (Feb 7, 2023)

Progress on The Cathedral Windows Quilt: 14 Blocks So Far (May 21, 2023)