A quilt project inspired by traditional oriental lattice windows. Read on for pattern guide to make your own.
A quick search on Google with the key phrase "lattice quilt" returns results of quilts that generally have thin sashing that are of regular width, intervals and pattern, usually of the same colour throughout the quilt to give that "lattice" look. The lattice quilt in this particular project is inspired by the traditional oriental windows that are still commonly found in many parts of East and Southeast Asia. Many such lattice windows contain curved elements, but I have chosen a simple design with only straight lines for this quilt.
Quilt Design Inspired by Oriental Lattice Windows
Materials
For this project, I have used 100% cotton fabrics in a combination of plain and pin dot fabrics, as well as these gorgeous sea-creature fabrics in two shades of teal.
Fabric Pulls for this Project
Method
I put this quilt together using the quilt-as-you-go ("QAYG") method. The quilting is done by stitching BY the ditch for the most part. After I quilted the blocks with batting only, I pieced them together with the batting as part of the seam allowance, and then add a whole piece of backing fabric to the back and self-binding. Although this method yields less-than-pristine results with quite a fair bit of bumps and creases, I find it to be the best balance between effort and quality, as it makes the quilting process a lot more manageable with my small throat domestic sewing machine.
Bumpy and crumply quilt as a result of the QAYG method.
Dimensions
This pattern guide results in a finished quilt of 182cm by 182cm.
All dimensions in this post are in CM unless otherwise stated.
Pattern Guide
The illustrations below show how the quilt top can be exploded into simpler blocks.
First, here's another image of the quilt top design, this time with grid dots to help you with the dimensions. The distance between each adjacent dot is 2cm. You can also make out the seam lines from this image.
EXPLOSION 1: ISOLATING PANELS & LONG SASHINGS
EXPLOSION 2: BREAKING DOWN PANEL A
EXPLOSION 3: BREAKING DOWN PANELS B & C
EXPLOSION 4: BREAKING DOWN PANELS D & F
LIST OF BLOCKS
Once you have all the blocks ready, simply follow the explosion sequence in reverse to create the panels, and then piece the panels together to form the quilt top.
Some Tips
The lattice look is achieved largely due to the many thin (in this case, 2cm wide) sashing throughout the quilt top. In my design, I have such sashing in 2 colours - white and off white.
TIP 1: Instead of cutting short pieces of these sashing and piecing them individually, I simply cut a long strip of 4cm wide (2cm + seam allowance) fabric, sew and trim along the way.
I also found myself making loads of mistakes by piecing fabrics upside down or left-side right, thinking they made no difference. You might notice that there are some very similar and easily confused blocks such as Blocks 2 and 3, and Blocks 10 and 11. The formation of sub-panels and panels could also proof confusing if you do not have the pattern design for close reference. In fact, some of you might have already noticed that I have left a mistake uncorrected in my finished quilt. Compare the design illustration and my finished quilt photo and see if you can spot where my mistake was?
TIP 2: Print out the exploded views above and always have them by your side during piecing.