Finished Friday - Cathedral Window Pillow

Remember that Cathedral Window pillow I started and blogged about last week?  Well I finally finished it and gave it to my mother for her birthday.  By the Way I am linking up with Pippa's Patch  for Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday.


And now on to the pillow!!

Since the main part of the pillow was already done, all I did was add borders and backing.  My original plan was to just have dark green borders, but I didn't have enough of the solid fabric (it was from my stash and I didn't know the exact color or make to get more) so I opted to put a gold border in between the two green ones. 

As for the backing I decided to go with a brighter green since I was out of dark green and my mother's favorite color is bright green. My favorite view of the pillow is from a slight angle because you can see small bits of that bright green backing fabric and it really pulls out the windows on the front.

The finished size of this pillow is 20" x 20" and I used an envelope style opening. All around I really enjoy the way it turned out.  It gives off a fall vibe to me, which seems appropriate since autumn is quickly approaching.  More importantly my mom was thrilled with it and it looks great on her couch - and wasn't that the whole idea of the pillow anyways?

After trying this block I realized a few things:

1. This block uses a lot of fabric.  The finished blocks were around 4" but the main piece of fabric used (in my case the dark green) starts out at about 10.5".  
2. It is a finicky block. The pieces to make the actual "windows" (bright green for me) and peek-a-boo (golds) must be very accurate in size with the block you made.  I was a little off on a few and redid them because I didn't like the amount of dark green you could see in the corners.
3. It is a time consuming block.  For me a pillow was the perfect project for a block like this.  It takes awhile to make each block, but nine was manageable.  Any more (such as a quilt size) and I think I would have gotten bored with it.  
4. It is even more beautiful in person.  While there are some drawbacks, there is just something so wonderful about the extra texture and depth that this block gives.  It is truly a beautiful block and I will more more appreciative of cathedral window projects in the future. 

If you are interested in making your own Cathedral Window Pillow I followed this tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop blog by Angela of My Three Sons.  It is a great starting point and after making one or two blocks you will figure out your own little tips and tricks for making them.

Have you made a Cathedral Window project before?  If so I would love for you to leave a comment with a link to your post.

Thanks for coming by!  Have a wonderful day and a great long weekend!

Elise