Tiny Tile Quilt
Our Tiny Tile Quilt’s diagonal lines and tiny pieced diamonds may give the impression of expert quilt making, but the reality is much simpler than that. All you really need is the easiest of building blocks: a basic square… and lots of them!
Piecing these squares, corner by corner and then row by row, creates this seemingly complex play of colorful diamonds. Add to that our palette of fresh spring blossoms and fruity sorbets, and the result is playful, sophisticated and a little bit surprising.
Pick up all the fabrics you’ll need with our Tiny Tile Quilt Bundle and make an heirloom… even if you’re a quilting newbie! -Corinne
Update: Now In Spectrum Cotton
October 22, 2019
Our Tiny Tile Quilt is a classic for good reason! We’ve updated this classic project using our Spectrum Cotton. This garment-dyed cotton is gloriously colorful, spectacularly soft, and just right for this very special quilt. Make your Tiny Tile Quilt like ours with our Tiny Tile Quilt Bundle in this glowing Sunrise palette, or pick up an earthier version with the cool and collected Peninsula bundle. Either way, many tiny tiles make one heck of a beautiful quilt! Read all about it here!
Materials
Our Tiny Tile Quilt Bundle includes all the supplies you’ll need to make your very own heirloom blanket. Our original design includes a few fabrics that are no longer available but our updated bundle features two color options and includes all the needed supplies to make your very own Tiny Tile Quilt In Spectrum Cotton!
NOTE: This bundle is no longer available, but you can still shop many of the materials individually below!
- Quilter’s Dream’s Natural Request Dream Batting, Throw Sized, 100% cotton
- Backing Fabric: 3 yards of Kiyohara’s Fine Solids in Beige
- Binding Fabric: ¾ yard of Kiyohara’s Fine Solids in Black
- Fabric A: 1¼ yards Moda’s Muslin, 110-inch, 200 Count in Natural
- Fabric B: Remainder of Kiyohara’s Fine Solids in Beige (after cutting for Backing)
- Fabric C: ½ yard of Kiyohara’s Kokochi Double Gauze in Pink
- Fabric D: ½ yard of Kiyohara’s Fine Solids in Yellow
- Fabric E: ½ yard of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Peach
- Fabric F: Remainder of Kiyohara’s Fine Solids in Black (after cutting for Binding)
- Fabric G: ¼ yard of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Mango
- Two 274-yard spools of Gutermann’s 100% cotton thread in color 1040
- One 220-yard spool of Gutermann’s Hand Quilting Thread in color 919
These are enough materials to make one 50 x 60-inch quilt.
You will also need…
- A fabric-marking tool. I used a water-soluble fabric marker and a Hera marker.
- A rotary cutter
- A non-slip quilting ruler
- A self-healing cutting mat
Size
Finished dimensions: 50 inches x 60 inches
Note
Prewash and iron all of the fabrics (but not the batting) before starting.
Pattern
Prepare the Backing
Trim the selvage edge off one side of Fabric B.
Cut the Backing Fabric in half across the selvages so that you have two pieces that are approximately 43 x 54 inches each.
With right sides together, stack the two pieces on top of each other, matching up the trimmed selvage edges. Pin the two pieces together along this trimmed edge.
Sew along the pinned edge and press the seam to one side. This piece measures approximately 54 x 84 inches.
Trim this piece down to 54 x 64 inches. This is the Quilt Backing.
Do not discard the 54 x 20-inch piece of fabric you cut off! You will use it later for the Quilt Top.
Cut
If you’re new to rotary cutting, please refer to our Rotary Cutting Tutorial before you start.
For the Binding
From the Binding Fabric, cut six 2 ½-inch strips from selvage to selvage and then trim off the selvages.
For the Quilt Top
This quilt is made up of 120 Large Squares, which measure 5 ½ x 5 ½ inches, and 480 Small Squares, which measure 2 x 2 inches.
Cut 120 Large Squares from Fabric A.
Cut a total of 480 Small Squares (2 x 2 inches) from Fabrics B-G in the following amounts . . .
Fabric B: 120
Fabric C: 120
Fabric D: 90
Fabric E: 88
Fabric F: 40
Fabric G: 22
When you have finished cutting the Small Squares, put them into a paper bag and jumble them all together.
Organize the Large Squares into 12 piles of 10 squares each.
Piece the Squares
Pull 10 Small Squares from the paper bag (no looking!). Do not worry about having an even amount of colors in the pile. The random mix of colors and tones is part of the charm of this quilt!
Pull one Small Square from the pile, and with the wrong side facing up, use your preferred fabric-marking tool (I used a water-soluble fabric marker) and a straight-edge ruler to draw a diagonal line from one corner of the square to another, as shown above.
Repeat for all 10 Small Squares.
Now, grab the first stack of 10 Large Squares.
Lay one Large Square out flat with its right side facing up.
With its wrong side facing up, place one Small Square on one corner of the Large Square so that the marked line runs across the Large Square’s corner (rather than through it), as shown above. Pin in place.
Repeat with the remaining Large and Small Squares.
Now, sew each Large and Small Square together along the marked diagonal line. You can sew the Squares one at a time (you don’t need to backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam), or use the quilt-making technique called “chain piecing,” which means continuously sewing the pieces together without lifting the presser foot or cutting the threads. Here’s how . . .
Start sewing the first Square in the pile. When you reach the approximate center of the marked line, grab the next Square in the pile and place it in front of the working Square. Orient its marked line so that it is in line with the marked line of the previous Square. The Large Squares of the two pieces overlap, but the two Small Squares abut, and you should only ever sew through one set of Squares at a time.
Continue like this until you have joined all of the pinned pieces. And that’s chain piecing!
Now, carefully snip the threads between each piece.
Lay one pieced Square out flat. Trim the corner where the Small Square is attached, leaving a ¼-inch seam allowance. The Small Square is now a Small Triangle!
Press the Small Triangle up, pressing the seam allowance towards the Small Triangle.
Repeat with the remaining pieced Squares.
Now, grab 10 more Small Squares from the paper bag. Mark, pin and sew them to an un-sewn corner of the same 10 Large Squares, as described above. Trim the Small Squares into Small Triangles and press, also as described above.
Repeat for the remaining un-sewn corners of the Large Squares, grabbing 10 more Small Squares from the paper bag for each corner.
Once you have pieced all four corners of the Large Squares, you can set these aside and grab another stack of 10 Large Squares from the pile. Piece the Small Squares to these Large Squares in the same manner.
Repeat until all 120 Large Squares have been pieced.
Arrange the Quilt Top
Although the layout of the finished Tiny Tile Quilt appears random, and to a certain extent it is, I suggest arranging the pieced Squares before you sew the rows. This allows you to space the colors as you like and to check that the bold colors don’t group together.
Arrange 10 squares across and 12 rows down.
You will notice as you lay out the Squares that the Small Triangles group together and create rows of colorful diamonds. Group the Triangles as you like, and play around until you have an arrangement of colors that you are happy with!
Take a picture of your final layout. You can reference this photo as you piece the Squares into rows.
Piece the Squares into Rows
Working row by row, organize the Squares into 12 stacks of 10 Squares each.
Sew together a row of 10 squares, working left to right along the row. Here’s how . . .
With right sides together, stack the first and second Square on top of each other and pin along their adjacent sides (refer back to your photograph, as needed, to remind yourself which sides are adjacent in your layout). Sew along the pinned edge with a ¼-inch seam allowance (you don’t need to backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam).
Now, stack the third square on top of the second square, again with right sides together and adjacent sides aligned. Pin and sew, as described above.
Repeat with the remaining squares in the pile, working in order and referring to your photograph as needed.
Press all the seam allowances in the same direction.
Sew together the next stack of 12 Squares.
Once you have finished piecing this row, press all the seams in the opposite direction as you did in the last row (if you pressed all seams towards the beginning of the previous row, press this row’s seams towards the end, or vice versa).
Repeat with the 10 remaining stacks, always pressing the seams in the opposite direction of the previous row.
Piece the Rows
To finish the Quilt Top, sew together these 12 finished rows. Here’s how . . .
Working from the top down and with right sides together, stack the first and second row on top of each other. Align the long bottom edge of the first row with the long top edge of the second row. Pin them together along this edge, making sure that all straight seams are aligned. Sew along the pinned edge with a ¼-inch seam allowance. Press the seams open.
Now, stack the third row on top of the second row, again with right sides together and adjacent sides aligned. Pin and sew, as described above.
Repeat with the 10 remaining rows.
Your Quilt Top is now finished!
Mark for Quilting
Press the Quilt Top and then, with the right side facing up, lay it down on a clean, hard surface, most likely a floor.
Using masking tape, tape the fabric down to the floor around all four sides, pulling it taut as you tape. First tack down the centers of the opposite sides and then tape along each side, from the center out.
Using a long ruler and starting in one corner, use your preferred fabric-marking tool (I used my Hera Marker) to mark a line along the seam of the corner Small Triangle, shown above in bold.
Now, mark a line 5 inches below and parallel to that line. Use the seam line of the Small Triangle in the opposite corner of the Square as your guide.
Mark the next line 2 inches below and parallel to the last. Use the seam line at the other side of the diamond as your guide.
Continue marking the Quilt Top in this manner, drawing parallel lines that follow the seam lines of every other diagonal row of diamonds.
Now, draw a line perpendicular to any previously drawn line, running along the seam line of any previously marked diamond.
Draw lines parallel to this line in the same manner as described, following the seam lines of every other diagonal row of diamonds.
Baste
Make a quilt sandwich and pin-baste the Backing, batting and Quilt Top together. For instructions on how to do all this, please check out our Pin-Basting Tutorial!
Quilt
Now it’s time to quilt all the pieces together along the marked lines, first sewing all the lines slanting in one direction and then the lines slanting in the other direction..
Using your machine’s walking foot, start with a line that runs through the center of the Quilt (or close to it), sew along this line from one edge of the fabric to the other (you do not need to backstitch at the beginning and end).
To sew the next line, rotate the Quilt 180 degrees and sew along the line running next to the line you just stitched.
Continue to sew along the remaining parallel lines in this same manner: When you have finished sewing one line, rotate the Quilt and sew along the line next to it.
Sew all of the parallel lines on one side of the center line and then sew all of the lines on the other side of the center line in the same manner.
Next, quilt all of the diagonal lines slanting in the other direction in the same way: Start sewing with the center line and alternate directions as you sew along all the parallel lines running to the right and then to the left of this center line.
Trim the batting and Backing along all four sides so that they align with the Quilt Top.
Bind
Use the binding strips you cut from the Binding Fabric to bind the Quilt with double fold binding. For instructions on how to do this, please check out our Making Double Fold Binding and Sewing on Double Fold Binding tutorials. Be sure to use the Hand Quilting Thread for the hand-sewing steps!
Hello! I just started my tiny tiles quilt journey and just thought I’d add the measurements in metric for any non USA-ers out there.
Quilt Back: 2.7m
Big Squares: 1.2m
Binding: 70cm
Fabric B: 50cm
Fabric C: 50cm
Fabric D: 50cm
Fabric E: 50cm
Fabric F: 30cm
Fabric G: 30cm
The big squares are 14 x 14cm and the small squares are 5 x 5cm. The fabric amounts above add a little extra. For simplicity sake I’ve roughly worked out all the elements separately rather than using leftover bits from back/binding etc. So you’ll probably have a bit extra of those fabrics. Can’t wait to piece it altogether! This is going to be my COVID-19 lockdown project 🙂
Sorry, Big squares should be 1.7m!
Thank you so much, Dee! This is also my Covid-sanity project. First-time quilter, in Australia. Time to use all the fabric I’ve been hoarding… !
Thanks Dee. How did you quiltmaking go?
I am starting this quilt today!
Penny (SE QLD)
Hi Dee!
Just stumbled upon this quilt and am so excited to give it a go. Do you think using small prints for the triangles rather than solids would take away from the look of the quilt? It’s so stunning!
Thank you!
Hi Lindsay,
I think that using small prints for the triangles is a lovely idea! Let us know how it goes if you decide to do this.
All the best,
Lili
I’m new to quilting so I was wondering at which points in the process I should use the 100% Cotton thread vs the hand quilting thread. What is the difference?
Thanks!
Hi Isabella,
Great question! You will be using the 100% Cotton Thread for all machine sewing steps, including piecing the top and machine quilting all three layers together. The Hand Quilting Thread will be used for the final step of attaching the binding, which is done by hand. If you wish to hand quilt instead of machine quilting, you should use the Hand Quilting Thread for that step as well. It has a waxy coating that makes it stronger and less prone to tangling, which makes hand sewing much easier!
Best,
Julianna
I love the simplicity of this! I am looking for the bundle and cannot find it. I want to make one with each colorway for my grand children for Christmas. Looking at the fabrics individually, many of them are out of stock. Is there an expected date for them to be back in stock?
Hi Patricia
Thanks so much for writing in! We are currently working with very limited staff at our warehouse due to social distancing requirements, so, unfortunately, we are experiencing some delays in building and restocking kits. We do not have a firm ETA, but I hope that it will be soon. Please sign up to be notified when we get it back in stock by going to the product page. Thanks for being understanding!
Best
Jessica
Hi! What did you do with all the scrap triangles left from trimming the corners where the large and small squares were pieced?? I’d hate to waste so much, just curious if anyone came up with something creative to do with the scraps 🙂
Hi Irene,
Great question! We haven’t tried to use up the leftover triangles ourselves, but you might want to look up something called a Crumb Quilt! It’s a great way to use up even the tiniest scraps of precious fabric!
All the best,
Julianna
I bought this kit 3 years ago and I’m finally sewing it up. This is my very first quilt and for the most part it’s actually gone pretty well. My triangles aren’t perfectly lining up and what I thought would be really easy – sewing the strips of binding fabric together – has actually been my greatest source of seam ripping.
I’m really loving the pattern and the fabrics (my kit had the Kiyohara fabrics instead of the Spectrum fabrics). Anyway, I would just suggest that you not shake up your 2″ squares in a bag to grab at random because all of mine ended up frayed a bit, esp. the double gauze, and that’s just really annoying to trim up.
Pease notify me when bundle for Tiny Tile quilt is available. I understand you are doing your best during this mess we are all in. Thanks.
Hi Beverly,
Thank you so much for reaching out and for the kind words! Unfortunately, we are no longer stocking the Tiny Tile Quilt Bundles, as several of the colors we used have been discontinued. However, you can put together your own palette from our current selection of Spectrum Cotton! A few of the basics, including Raw Oats which we used for the large squares, are out of stock, but should be back soon. You can always enter your email address on the product page for missing colors and we will let you know as soon as they are available!
All the best,
Julianna
I am making a king size quilt with this pattern. 361 back ground squares and 14444 colored squares. I am using 15 colors for the corners. I have all the lines drawn on the backside of the squares and half the squares pinned it the back ground squares . Just started sewing them on. Anxious to see how it works out.
I would love to make this in a king size. Have you completed yours? Do you have photographs you can share? I would love to see them.
Thanks, Sharon
would love to see it when youre done. i want to make a queen size quilt – any suggestions on how to figure out the number of background squares and tiny squares needed? thanks!
I started this quilt with pieces all pre-cut squares which I measured and re-measured many of the pieces. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance but it’s a small disaster. Some are misaligned 1/8″ to a bit more. Such a bummer for my first quilt pattern from PS. Not sure it’s a beginner quilt but one could make it and have it look “off” all over. It would be better to do a simpler pattern if you haven’t every done pieced quilts.
…P.S. ; a full 1/4″ off on some parts
Hi Claus,
Thank you so much for reaching out, and I’m sorry that you aren’t happy with how your Tiny Tile Quilt is turning out! Precisely piecing blocks together is a fundamental skill in quilting, and it can take quite a bit of practice to get the hang of it. Even advanced quilters sometimes struggle with getting their points to line up just so! Our Rotary Cutting tutorial should give you some ideas for how to cut or square up your pieces, and if you don’t already have one, I strongly recommend getting 1/4 inch foot for your sewing machine. It makes it much easier to sew your seam allowances at exactly a 1/4 inch, which will help a lot!
All the best,
Julianna
I bought fabric for this to make a twin size of this pattern 2 or 3 years ago!! I had seen a comment in here somewhere about making this a twin sized quilt, but now I am confused how many “large squares” I should end up with to make the twin sized quilt. I think my math might be off. If anyone could help me out, that would be great!!
The large squares should finish at 5″, so you can divide your desired width and length by 5″ to know how many large squares you need per row and column. Then multiply those to know the total number of squares in the quilt. The number of small squares is 4 times the number of large squares. For example, if you want a 70″ by 90″ quilt, it would be 14 squares wide by 18 squares long, you would need 252 large squares and 1008 small squares
Ashley, did you figure out the yardage needed for a twin size? My math also seems spotty and I’m just not sure how much fabric I need…
Fun pattern! I have 18 fat quarters. Would that be enough to make a king size? I’m afraid to start cutting and I don’t trust myself to figure it out correctly.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for writing in! Depending on the dimensions of your fat quarters I would say you will definitely have enough for the 2″ squares for the color section of the quilt!
All the best,
Gianna
Hi! Is there anyway I can buy just the pattern? Thank you!
Hi Madalyn,
Thanks for reaching out! This is a free pattern and you can find the instructions under the PATTERN section on this page!
I hope this helps!
Warmly,
Gianna
Love this pattern, recently made the quilt top and currently quilting it. Thank you so much for the fabulous and easy to follow instructions.
I made two sets of squares, one set with the seams pressed “in” and one set pressed “out” and alternated them over the whole quilt – the quilt just went together so easily and each seam joint nested up.
Has anyone done the math for how much fabric you would need for a baby blanket size quilt?
Hi! Can anyone please indicate how much fabric would be needed for a baby blanket in this pattern? Thanks.
Hi Rachel!
Thank you for your question! We currently do not have a baby size of this quilt, however we do have our Broken Dishes Baby Quilt, which would be a good reference for how much fabric is needed to make a baby version of this Tiny Tile Quilt! The Broken Dishes quilt uses 1 + 1/4 yards of fabric for the backing, and 1/2 yd. to 1/ yd. pieces of fabric for the various triangles. For the Tiny Tiles Quilt, I would still get at least 1 yard of Fabric A, too, since it is the main color for the large squares in the front section.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Margaret
Hi! Do you know how many large squares would be needed for a baby size of this quilt?
Hi Sara,
Thank you for asking! Each large square measures 5 1/2″ by 5 1/2″, and for the original size of this quilt we have 12 squares for the length by 10 squares for the width. For a baby size of this quilt, you can do as many or as few squares to reach your desired dimensions, but a good reference point would be 40″ x 30″ or 6 squares x 5 squares!
I hope this is helpful!
All the best,
Margaret
Hey, I just stumbled across this. I’m kind of new to quilting and this was a really neat pattern. I used to quilt with my aunt, but this will be the first one I make all on my own. I like the simplicity. It would be really easy to add on more or less squares and make it whatever size someone wanted it to be. I also really like the way you made it. I think it would be interesting to do the large squares with a couple of different colors or patterns. This is a really good pattern to build off of.