Chapel Window Finished

Chapel Window  26" square

Based on Musical Chairs blocks from the book Quilters Playtime by Dianne S. Hire

Project began during my April at-home retreat.

Mostly from stash.

I finished Chapel Window last night.  The panes reminded me of stained glass, which inspired me to put them in an Attic Windows setting.  For a while I didn't know what color the interior of the chapel wanted to be, but I imagined a small white church.  As a high school student I was privileged to go to France for several weeks, and I remember going to the chapel Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, with its beautiful stained glass windows.  So I decided to create a marble or stone look to surround the stained glass.  This is represented in the marbled gray fabrics.

I tried several decorative stitches before choosing this one:  #146 on my Bernina 440QE.

I love the swirls.  I almost used black thread, then decided to use my favorite color purple.  Why not?

Here's a better look from the back.  I quilted through the top and backing only, since I was going to do a pillowcase technique to finish the edges of the quilt.

All blocks quilted with swirls.  The openness of the swirls allows you to see how the seams don't line up, which I think adds to the quilt's charm.

This is a little hard to see here, but I did some straight stitching to do some outlining.  I decided not to outline in the lighter gray areas, which would have highlighted my boo-boos.

You can see the outlining better here.

All of the blocks outlined.

I did a pillowcase technique to finish the edges.  I cut the backing oversized, then sliced it horizontally about 1/3 of the way down.  I sewed the backing pieces together with a wide seam (1/2"), leaving several inches open in the center--between the pins.

I pressed the seam, choosing to press toward the top of the backing.  The chopstick indicates the open area in the middle.  This is my escape hatch, where I will turn the quilt right side out later.

I taped the escape hatch closed to keep it from stretching during the next step.

I laid the backing right side up, and in each corner placed folded triangles made from 5" squares. The triangles will create little pockets to hold a length of wood for hanging on the wall.  The quilted top was placed face down on the backing/triangles, and secured with a few pins.  Next I sewed all the way around the edges with 1/4" seam.  Trim the corners a bit, reach into the escape hatch, remove the tape, and turn the quilt right side out.  I used a chopstick to push the corners out.  I pressed the quilt to make it flatter.

Quilt back with corner pockets for hanging.  I'll probably close the opening with Stitch Witchery.

Finished wallhanging

Another WIP finished!