The Splendid Sampler II, Week 16: Cathedral Windows

Today is Week 16 of The Splendid Sampler 2 Block-of-the-Week quilt along.

Last week, we introduced you to the block, called: Cat Nap by Nicole Vos Van Avezathe. You can see my version of Nicole's block, here.


The incomparable Jenny Doan, of Missouri Star Quilt Company, is this week's featured designer. When I first started viewing her quilting videos, I thought about how much I admired her. Teaching via video came so naturally for her and I so wished I had the courage to do it, back then. She definitely paved the way for many, many quilting teachers to step outside of their comfort zone and teach in front of the camera.

The very first video I did was following a McCall's Quilting School at Sea quilt cruise. The quilt we taught on the cruise was done as a Mystery Quilt project. I had the pleasure of being on camera with the incredibly talented Sherri Driver, who designed and taught the Mystery Quilt project on the cruise simultaneously with me. It was such a pleasure to be teaching the quilt again, especially because Sherri had a way of making me feel comfortable on camera and I don't know how I could have done it without her.  

Jenny Doan's block is called Cathedral Windows. I love how clever this block design is and I'd love to see it repeated into a quilt.  Here is my version:

I chose to go more subtle on my fabric choices for this block. I love the light blue prints in the Hometown collection by Sweetwater (Moda Fabrics) that I'm using. I then decided to use the honeycomb dark gray/gray for my center patch and finally, framing it out with the ivory/gray/blue typography print.

I've never made a Cathedral Window quilt before, and I love how Jenny designed this block because she took, what I believe is the original design of a Cathedral Windows quilt, and made it into a square block.

According to my (very worn) favorite book on blocks, Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, American Quilter's Society, 1993, she shares this version by Erica Wilson. Barbara notes: "Lozenge shapes are open work, squeezed square is bound with bias." 

Here is another version from the book noted as published in the Iowa Farm & Home Register, June, 1956:

Finally, though it carries the same name, this version is unlike the previous two Cathedral Window examples. This one was designed by Nancy Cabot in 1933. Please note that the number below the block is Barbara Brackman's reference number in the book:

The Splendid Sampler 2 book is available this month. It is currently available for pre-sale so order your copy, now!

The Splendid Sampler II, Week 15: Cat Nap

Today is Week 15 of The Splendid Sampler 2 Block-of-the-Week quilt along.

Last time, we introduced you to the block, called: Fruit Bowl by Jo Avery. You can see my version of Jo's block, here.


Nicole Vos Van Avezathe of Follow the White Bunny is this week's designer and her embroidery is gorgeous! After reading her blog post about her block, I encourage you to browse through her site to see her wonderland of creativity. The details of her pieces are divine!

Nicole's block is called Cat Nap, and it is a combination of embroidery and applique. Here is my version:

I realized after the fact that I didn't add in the extra embroidery elements to the floor of the design. At this time, I'm probably going to leave my block as-is. At a later time, I'll re-visit adding those elements in. I'm deciding to handle it this way because my schedule is seeming to have become extremely busy lately, and I'd like to get back ahead of my schedule.

I chose to applique my cat using a black solid fabric and then chose to embroider the outline of the cat using an off-white Aurifil embroidery thread using a one-strand thickness. The floor is stitched using one strand of a heather gray wool embroidery thread by Aurifil. It gives the block some nice texture.

My block was made in remembrance of our kitty, Charlie Chaplin. 

He was such a pretty one. And boy, could he talk!

Although the quality of this photo is poor (it was taken at night with bedside lamp on), he's curled up similarly to Nicole's Cat Nap block. If you look closely, he's peeking out at me with his left eye showing and his tail is covering the right side of his face. He was a goofy cat (made us smile a lot) and I miss him so.

The Splendid Sampler 2 book will be available October 2018. It is currently available for pre-sale so order your copy, now!