The dog trainers I work with are all of African American descent. One of them collects ethnic art work and she also adores babies. Every time a baby comes in to the training center with a parent (and dog), my trainer lights up. So when I found this un-named pattern, house brand ethnic fabric at Jo-ann's Fabric and Craft Store I knew I had to make an African Village quilt for her.

Jo-ann's Fabric and Craft Store Ethnic print

Isn't this fabric delightful?

I decided I wanted to have a village and a river since some of the women are carrying water jugs on their heads.

Here is the design I created on my computer with the program EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7). I scanned and imported the ethnic print fabric and the batik I'm using for the river. The other fabrics are in EQ7's stock fabric library and are close approximations of what I plan to use.

African Village Quilt Design 41 x 58 inches

NOTE 2021: The PDF patterns for this quilt are no longer available so the links to them have been deleted. I’ve left the other instructions in case you still have the original patterns.

I'm working on this quilt this week and will post new blocks and PDF patterns for them on Wednesday, August 6 and Friday, August 8.

Here are links to the PDF paper piecing patterns for African Hut 1 A and 1 B. The huts are the same but the door face slightly different directions. Print out 2 copies of step B, one for each hut. The 1/4 inch seams are very faint on these PDF files. Make sure you allow for the 1/4 inch seams around the outer edge of each section. The unfinished block measures 9.5 x 9.5 inches and will finish at 9 inches square.

This is a great quilt for using your scraps. If you wish to purchase fabric, here is the estimated yardage.

3/4 yard of the Focus ethnic print fabric

1/2 yard inner red border

1 yard outer orange border

1 yard tan background fabric for the paper pieced hut blocks

1/2 yard various yellow or similar color for thatched roofs

5 Fat Quarters (Fat Eights should do if you have them) or scraps for the 5 hut walls if you want the all the huts to be different

1 1/4 yards various greens, I recommend getting 1/2 yard pieces if you get more than 1 green

1/4 yard for blue in the river

1/4 yard for the brown in the river section

1 3/4 yards backing IF you have a full usable 42+ inch width and don't mind tight margins OR 2 2/3 yards if you wish to piece the backing if you need wider margins for quilting

Binding 1/2 yard

Let me know if you plan to make this quilt too so I set up a link or place to share your work. I hope you'll join me!