WONDERWALL

Treat yourself with a twist on the Cathedral Windows design – cool curves and quilt-asyou-go methods make treasured prints pop

Treat yourself with a twist on the Cathedral Windows design

LEARN SOMETHING NEW WITH THIS STRIKING CURVED EDGE DESIGN – NO BINDING NEEDED!

NOTES

■ Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted.

■ Press seams to one side, unless otherwise instructed.

■ RST = right sides together.

■ We recommend using a very thin cotton batting for this project.

■ Sample quilt pieced by Lucy Brennan.

■ Fabrics provided by Freespirit Fabrics.

FABRICS USED

Print fabrics are from Conservatory Chapter One: Pathways by Anna Maria Horner, for Freespirit Fabrics including prints by Monika Forsberg and Arounna Khounnoraj.

CUTTING OUT

1

Copy the template onto plastic or card and cut around the outer dashed line. Use to cut the fabric. Trim the template along the inner solid line and use to cut the batting.

2

From each print fabric cut:

■ Four (4) large circles, using the outer dashed line of the Circle template. You should have sixty four (64) in total.

3

From eight (8) of the solid fabrics cut:

■ Seven (7) large circles, using the outer dashed line of the Circle template.

4

From the remaining solid fabric cut:

■ Eight (8) large circles, using the outer dashed line of the Circle template.

5

From the batting cut:

■ Sixty four (64) small circles using the inner solid line.

MAKING THE CIRCLE BLOCKS

6

Place a print circle on your work surface, right side up. Place a contrasting solid circle right side down on top. Centre a batting circle on top and either spray baste or use a tacking stitch to hold the three layers in place.

7

Sew your three layers together all the way around the edge of the circle with a ¼in seam. If you haven’t basted your batting, your stitch line should just catch the very edge of the batting (Fig 1).

8

Turn your circle so the print fabric is on top and the batting is face down. Carefully cut a slit through the print circle only, within 2in from the edge (Fig 2). Turn the circle right side out, through the slit. Carefully push out the edges and press well. Pay careful attention to the edges to create a smooth circle. There is no need to stitch the slit shut as this will be hidden later. Repeat steps 6–8 to make a total of sixty four circles.

9

Using a Hera marker or removable pen, mark an 8½in square in the centre of each circle – it should just touch the edges of your sewn circle (Fig 3). These will be your sewing lines for piecing.

ASSEMBLING THE QUILT

10

Match up two sewn circles, solid sides together and pin. Sew together along one marked line of the square, backstitching at each end to secure. Press open the ‘petals’ (Fig 4). Continue to add circles until you have a row of eight circles (Fig 5). Make eight rows of eight circles.

11

Match up your rows solid sides together and pin well. Sew the rows together along the marked lines of the squares taking care not to sew over the petals – you may wish to pin these out of the way (Fig 6). Repeat until all rows are attached.

12

Press open all the petals against the squares, leaving the curves around the outer edge of your quilt free. Press well and pin in place.

13

Neatly topstitch each one down approximately 1/8in from the edge by machine or hand as preferred. The fastest way to do this is a row at a time, following the arcs and pivoting at the seam intersections.

FINISHING OFF

14

Topstitch around the outer edge to finish. No binding or additional quilting needed, but feel free to add embellishment if you wish.