The Mosaic Courtyard Quilt is sure to be on every block of your quilter to-do list if you're a fan of bright, tile-themed designs that bring out the best in color. This exquisite quilt was designed by the creative team from Robert Kaufman Fabrics and features their beautiful multi-tonal Courtyard Textures collection. The finished design immediately brings to mind a centuries old historic Mediterranean courtyard covered with irregularly patterned hand made mosaic tile.
The beauty of this quilt is in its ingenious radiating colour scheme. On a macro scale, it seamlessly draws your gaze from a warm and fiery center to a cool refreshing edge.
Quick Pattern Specs at a Glance
Now before you start running your fingers through a stash of fabric, you need to know the critical information from the official Robert Kaufman pattern directions:
- Final Quilt Size: A large, generous 81-1/2” x 81-1/2” quilt, ideal for a statement wall hanging, large couch throw or bed topper.
- Design: It is based on a massive 9x9 grid design, making 81 intricate blocks in total.
- Core Construction: This activity will require you to spend time creating a set of 9-1/2” x 9-1/2” blocks with a theme of color, using only Square in a Square (SIAS) units.
- The Color Spectrum: The pattern has 26 different fabrics (from A to DD) neatly organized into six distinct block families: Orange, Red, Purple, Blue, Teal, Green.
Successful Piecing Strategies
Always measure twice and cut once! This design calls for so many geometric cuts, both large and small, that in fact this design includes five hundred twelve 2-1/2” background triangles made in your primary fabric alone, that it is important to organize them for a smooth assembly process.
There's a huge amount of color variations to run from Petunia to Petunia, Orchid to Orchid, Peacock to Peacock and Emerald to Emerald, to the point where it's easy to accidentally swap a tonal triangle. Make sure that your sub-cuts have their own labeled baggies sorted by fabric letter.
Strict 1/4" Seam Allowance: This is very important. Since you are creating concentric squares, you need to ensure that all four corners will be crisply finished, which is dependent on the line of stitching. When sewing your last row seams, the instructions clearly call for them to be pressed open to greatly reduce the bulk of the fabric at the corners.
The final thoughts resonate with a sense of love done for love's sake and with significant gain.
Finally, the Mosaic Courtyard Quilt is what we should all keep in mind as to why we became interested in quilting in the first place. It requires a lot of patience when cutting it out, but a lot of precision at the sewing machine, but when you finally see that amazing color gradient on your design wall, it's all worth it.
This pattern is the ultimate show stopper that really takes your precision piecing to the next level and has you using a fabulous array of rich, deep fabrics. Empty your cutting table, label your fabric bins and have fun creating your own Mediterranean masterpiece.
