A cathedral window quilt is traditionally very different from a typical quilt. There is no quilt sandwich, no binding, and everything is usually hand stitched.

But not this time.

I loved the pattern of a cathedral quilt, but I also love my sewing machine and sanity too much to do it all by hand. 

So today I am bringing you my finished non-traditional, traditionally made cathedral window quilt!

What is a Cathedral Window Quilt?

A cathedral window quilt in general is a great change of pace from a traditionally pieced quilt. Each block is made by doing some “fabric origami”, so it was very fun to try something new and see how it went.

And boy, this this is a beast. For those of you who have never heard of a cathedral window quilt before, it started off as 10 yards of white fabric. 

It took forever to iron. 

But the block is super fun and lets you use some great colors and for this quilt I decided to go with the new Bloomington line from Moda Fabrics that I got from my favorite online fabric shop.

I love how the colors pop against the white and give it such a refreshing modern look to a very traditional quilt.

Update: I’ve had so much amazing feedback and interest in this quilt that I’ve made a written pattern for it! Grab your copy at our online shop here!

My non-traditional, but traditional version

Traditionally, because the edges of the blocks are folded, this quilt doesn’t usually get a binding. Or batting. Or a backing. 

It is supposed to be more of a coverlet style, but the more I worked on the quilt, the more I didn’t like that aspect of it. As I was piecing it, it felt like I had a sheet covering me. Not a quilt. 

So I changed it up and gave this cathedral window quilt a modern (but traditional?) quilt update with batting, backing and binding. 

I decided to retro-fit my cathedral window quilt using a typical quilt sandwich model but there really isn’t much on the internet to make this type of cathedral window quilt so it took me a bit to work through it.

It was definitely worth the extra brain power though as I love how it came out

And now this is probably the heaviest quilt I’ve ever made. GREAT for winters, especially if you live in Alaska…

With 10 yards of just background fabric, combined with the cotton batting, this quilt is definitely the heaviest I’ve made yet, and if I made another, I would probably look at different batting options to make it a little lighter, probably something along the lines of a fleece layer.

But so worth it. 

It feels like a real quilt now. Not just a sheet. 

This quilt is now available in a written pattern for PDF download! If you are interested in making your own be sure to grab your copy here!

The Quilting Strategy

The cathedral window look is very classic and timeless which is what drew me to the pattern to begin with. 

So that meant there was only one way to quilt it – which is great because I’m always so indecisive with my quilting designs haha. It was nice to only have one option for a change.

Part of the quilting typically folds back a piece of the blocks back and creates an orange peel look to it. So that’s what I went with since it really wouldn’t be a cathedral window any other way.

Related:
How to Make a Cathedral Window Quilt Block

The quilting, I would say, was definitely quicker than actually making all of the blocks. By a lot. 

The pattern is now available so if you have been hesitant to try a cathedral window in the past and are excited to give this version a try be sure to check it out at the quilt shop here!