How to Make a Magic Tile Quilt

Many of Bissett's patterns resemble stained glass.

The magic tile quilt design was inspired by a stack of colorful children's blocks at a friend's house. Kathleen Bissett first published the pattern, which resembles stained glass, in 1992. Because of the unique nature of the way the blocks are cut and pieced back together, no two magic tile quilts look the same. Any colors or patterns of fabric can be used for the quilt blocks. While black sashing is traditionally used in magic tile quilts, other colors could be substituted as well.

Things You'll Need

• Black fabric for sashing strips
• 24 fabric squares, 16 1/2 inches square
• Chalk
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Backing fabric
• Batting
• Binding strips

Instructions

1. Cut one-inch wide strips of black fabric for your sashing.

2. Stack the 24 fabric squares, and separate the top square into three horizontal rows with chalk. Draw two lines in each row separating the rows into three rectangles, squares or triangles. There should be nine shapes total, in three rows of three. Cut all of the squares into these shapes.

3. Mix and match each shape from the fabric squares to create a patchwork of shapes. Sew the shapes back into squares with sashing strips between them using a quarter-inch seam. Rebuild all 24 squares.

4. Attach a sashing strip between each block and sew the blocks together with quarter-inch seams. Add sashing strips to the outside edges of the quilt by stitching them end to end and attaching them to the outside of the quilt blocks with a quarter-inch seam.

5. Cut the batting and the backing fabric the same size as the quilt top and pin together securely with the batting between the quilt back and top. Machine sew to quilt along the sashing strips. Attach the binding using a quarter-inch seam to secure all three layers together.

References

• Magic Tile Quilt Pattern; Kathleen Bissett; 1992
• Kathleen Bissett: Magic Tiles

Resources

• New Leaf Patterns: Kathleen Bissett