Sewing up circular quilt sandwiches for the Cathedral Window Quilt

Yesterday we cut 32 – 8½” circles from two different fabrics and 16 – 8½” circles from Fairfield Low-Loft Quilt Batting using the OLFA Rotary Circle Cutter along with the OLFA Square Rotating Cutting Mat.

OLFA rotary circle cutter and mat

In addition to a sewing machine, today I’m using these notions:

KAI 1000 Series Embroidery Scissors – 5¹⁄₂″ (14cm)

SCHMETZ #1856 Piecing and Quilting Needles Pack Carded – Assorted – 5 count

Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread 250m – Lt. Slate

Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread 250m – Ivory

Notions for any sew day

Before I start today’s post I want to write about the sewing needles and why the two spools of thread.

For needles, the reason is similar to yesterday’s when I spoke of the need to have spare OLFA 18mm Rotary Blades. Spares are needed ‘in case.’ The SCHMETZ Piecing and Quilting Needles Assorted Pack is an all-in-one pack. If you’re at a sew day or retreat and you break a needle, you have choices. When you change your thread for a heavier or lighter weight, the assorted pack has a selection of needles to go with most threads. You can’t go wrong with an assorted pack.

I mainly use neutral color threads such as light gray or cream when I piece quilts. The two colors of threads I use are the Gütermann cotton 50wt Lt. Slate and the Gütermann Cotton 50wt Ivory. I also always keep them close at hand in case I change my mind about which one I’ll actually use when I start the project.

Ok, now to work with the circles. With all the circles cut, it’s time to make sandwiches, but before that happens, I need to make a decision – Do I want all my block centers to be the same color or do I want to alternate them? To help decide, I simply fold the edges over, pin and stand back to see if I have a preference.

Comparing looks

I decided to alternate the centers.

I took circles from each colored fabrics and put them right sides together. Then I put the batting on eight sets of paired fabric on the darker fabric and the remaining eight batting circles on the light-colored side of the paired fabrics.

The picture below shows a pair of fabric circles with the batting on the light-colored side pf the pair.

Sandwiching the circles

Once all the sandwiches are ready, sew all three layers ¼” from the edge.

Sew ¼” from the edge.

On the side where there is no batting, cut a 2” to 3” slit close to the edge using the KAI 1000 Series 5½” Embroidery Scissors.

Cut a slit along the edge.

Once you cut a slit in all circles, turn all 16 fabric and batting sandwiches inside out and press them using an Oliso PRO TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron.

Turn fabric and batting sandwiches inside out and press.

Stack each set of circles ready for tomorrow.

16 sets of fabric and batting turned inside out and pressed

The circles are complete. These circle sets were made with fine notions like SCHMETZ Piecing and Quilting Needles, Gütermann Lt. Slate and Gütermann Ivory 50wt threads.

SCHMETZ piecing and quilting needles and Gütermann Cotton 50wt threads

This is a wrap for today. Tomorrow will be another short and quick post on how to complete the quilt.

This is part 3 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 2: Going in circles with the OLFA rotary circle cutter – What fun!

Go to part 4: Making a square quilt out of circles – OLFA rulers make it work!

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