Thirty woven squares, and nothing in this quilt is woven. Every one of those lattice blocks is built from straight strips, sewn into sets and cut back across, and there is not a triangle, a curve or a set in seam anywhere in it.
Kilim is named for the flat woven rugs, and the block earns the name. Each square reads as a lattice of bars with the edges notched into a comb, and there are two versions. Eighteen blocks hold nine small dark squares inside a light lattice. Twelve reverse it, six larger light squares inside a dark one, on a coarser grid. Both are made the same way. You sew fourteen strip sets, cut 258 two inch segments off them, piece a dozen more from the leftovers so nothing is wasted, and stand nine segments side by side to make each block. Blocks finish at 13 1/2 inches and sit in 3 inch sashing, with ten small accent squares dropped into some of the sashing joins rather than all of them, which is what keeps a 5 by 6 setting from looking like a chart.
The pattern is published free by Robert Kaufman Fabrics, designed in house rather than by a named designer, and written for Kona Cotton solids. It runs to eight pages, with cutting instructions, strip diagrams for all six strip sets, both block diagrams and a full quilt assembly layout.
Kilim at a glance
- Pattern. Kilim.
- Brand. Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
- Designer. Robert Kaufman Fabrics, in house.
- Finished size. 86 by 102 inches.
- Size category. Queen.
- Skill level. Experienced intermediate, as rated by Robert Kaufman.
- Block. Not a named traditional block. Robert Kaufman does not name one, and the lattice is a strip pieced motif rather than a block with a history behind it.
- Technique. Strip piecing, plus sashing with cornerstones.
- Colorway. Shown in Cool. A second colorway, Warm, is given on the last page.
- Fat quarter friendly. No. Fabric A alone is 4 1/2 yards.
- Jelly roll friendly. No. The strips are cut at 2, 3 1/2, 5 and 11 inches.
- Layer cake friendly. No.
- Charm pack friendly. No.
Download the free Kilim quilt pattern
Robert Kaufman hosts the pattern and it is free to download for personal use.
Download the Kilim quilt pattern PDF.
One number to check before you cut
The cutting list calls for thirty eight sashing strips at 3 1/2 by 14 inches. The assembly page then lists the same strips as 3 1/2 by 13 1/2. The 14 inch figure is the right one, because 14 inches is what an unfinished block measures, and it is what makes the finished quilt come out at 102 inches long. Cut them at 13 1/2 and every sashing strip lands half an inch short of the block it is meant to sit beside.
Fabrics and palette that suit this pattern
This one lives or dies on value rather than color. The four fabrics are doing four different jobs: a background, a mid tone that draws the lattice, a dark that fills the nine squares, and an accent that shows up only in those ten sashing posts. Get the mid tone and the dark too close and the grid disappears into a smudge. Hold them apart and the weave reads from across the room.
Solids are the right answer here, and not only because the original is written for them. The smallest finished pieces are 1 1/2 inches square, and a print with any scale to it turns those into confetti. If you want print, keep it to something that reads as a solid from three feet away. The original is Kona Cotton, which is one of the few things about a 2015 pattern that has not changed, so the substrate is still exactly what the page says it is. Our own solid cottons cover the same ground, and the 65 inch wide yardage cuts are worth a look for fabric A, which is 4 1/2 yards on its own and does the background and all the sashing.
The backing is where you can save yourself an afternoon. Robert Kaufman asks for 7 3/4 yards at 40 inches wide, which means two lengths and a seam down the middle of a queen. One 3 yard cut of 108 inch wide backing covers 86 by 102 with no seam at all, and takes less than half the fabric to do it.
For tools, the cutting is the whole job. Well over a hundred strips are cut the full width of the fabric, so a long ruler matters more than a square one, and our folding 24 by 6.5 inch ruler handles both the strips and the crosscuts across a 14 inch wide strip set. Then there are 258 of those crosscuts to make. Put a fresh blade in before you start, because a tired one skips where it crosses a seam allowance and you will not notice until the segment is short.
If strip sets are new to you, or you have made them before and had blocks come out under size, our guide to the rail fence quilt block covers the part that matters here: sewing a scant quarter inch, pressing so the set does not bow, and measuring the crosscut from a seam line instead of from the raw edge. Every one of those habits is worth more in Kilim than in a rail fence, because a block with nine strips in it multiplies whatever you lose on each seam.
Kilim is copyright Robert Kaufman Fabrics, 2015, free for personal use and not for resale. Do download it from them.
