Oriental Courtyards is a quilt pattern designed with two blocks, the always-popular Snowball and a block I'll call Courtyard. I designed it while experimenting with patchwork, but it's very likely the block already exists (since there's nothing truly new under the sun).
The example uses Asian style fabrics, some in smaller scale prints since most units in the Courtyard blocks are only 2" square. You can easily use larger scale fabrics in the Snowball blocks, at the center of the Courtyard blocks and in the borders.
If you aren't a fan of Asian fabrics, switch the fabrics completely to create a different theme.
Finished block size: 10" x 10"
Finished quilt size: 65" x 85"
Make additional blocks to increase the quilt's size (How to Calculate Quilt Yardage)
Fabrics & Other Materials
Yardages allow for shrinkage. You'll need more of fabrics that are shorter than 42" in width.Muted green print (for Snowball centers)
Multicolor on black print (for Snowball corners)
Gold Print (for Courtyard centers and outer border)
- 1-5/8 yards (assumes you will piece crosswise grain strips to achieve length; 3 yards for one-piece borders, cut Courtyard center strips first; when you make borders, cut side borders first
White or very light print (for Courtyard center corners)
Black print (for squares in Courtyard blocks)
Green/gold/yellow print (for squares in Courtyard blocks)
Red/gold print for inner border
- 5/8 yard (assumes you will piece crosswise grain strips to achieve length; 2-1/2 yards for one-piece borders, cut side borders first
Binding, about 325 running inches of doublefold binding (How to Make Quilt Binding)
Backing, 3 yards (Backing Instructions)
Batting, about 80" x 100"