Traditional Malay Kampung Houses Quilt

The foundation paper piecing patterns for this quilt in PDF format are available for sale in my Etsy shop.

"Kampung" is a word in the Malay language that literally means "village". In Malaysia, we use it to also affectionately refer to "hometown", even if said hometown is not in an actual village. We also always use this word to say "balik kampung", which means "going back to hometown", especially during festive seasons where people working in urban areas return in hordes to their hometowns to reunite and celebrate with families and old friends, such as during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which as it happens is exactly the day I uploaded this post!

The timing of this quilt is deceivingly unintentional. The Hometown fabrics by Tilda were released in end September 2022, but I only started making this quilt some time in early February 2023. The time in between were spent finishing my then in-progress projects, which include the Christmas Trees and Baubles quilt, and the design stage of this Kampung Houses Quilt.

I am not sure if it was the intention or inspiration of Tone Finnanger when she designed the Hometown fabrics, but some of the fabrics appear to contain elements from the Malay culture. The fabric called "Eden", for example, reminds me so much of the Malaysian and Singaporean style of batiks. Another fabric in the collection called "Friendly Gathering" also features demure ladies in costumes that resemble the kebaya.

Tilda's previous fabric collection was the Chic Escape that has oriental elements, and I made a Cheongsam Quilt out of them. As such, it is only befitting that for Hometown, I make a a quilt of some kind of Malay tradition, and the traditional Malay kampung houses came immediately to mind.

As the name suggests, this quilt features representations of traditional Malay kampung houses, particularly those found in several states in Malaysia, namely Melaka, Terengganu, Perak and Negeri Sembilan. A common scene in Malaysian villages is a make-shift swing hanging from a tree branch, which explains the girl-in-swing block.

Melaka

Terengganu

Perak

Negeri Sembilan

The finished quilt measures about 74 inches x 89.5 inches (188 cm x 227 cm).

For the background, I used a white-on-white fabric which I got from my local Spotlight.

I used cotton-polyester blend batting.

The backing is an interesting fabric. I bought it from a local batik textile store called Noor Arfa based in the Malaysian east coast state of Terengganu. They advertised the fabric as a kind of micro velvet but did not state its composition. As I am not a purist when it comes to quilting materials, I do not mind the composition very much as long as they feel good to the touch and are not flimsy. What attracted me to these batik fabrics is the fact that they nicely complement the theme on the front of the quilt.

Back of Quilt

I used almost-micro stippling in most part of the background to make the houses and other main motifs pop. On some parts, I quilted some coconut trees, leaves and mushrooms for added interest.

Coconut Trees in Background Quilting (In-Progress Photo)

Mushrooms in Background Quilting (Finished Photo)

On the houses and main motifs, I used a combination of stitch-in-the-ditch and medium-density quilting lines.

Wavy Quilting Lines on the Girl's Hair and Straight Lines on Girl's Dress

I have used the foundation paper piecing (FPP) method in this quilt.

To purchase and download the FPP pattern of this Kampung Houses Quilt, click here to visit my Etsy shop.