Old Muscat Souq Using Pinks and Reds

The Old Muscat Souq is one of my favorite modern quilt patterns. It uses fat quarters to create a star design, highlighted by inset corners. Taken as a whole the blocks intersect and form a design and lines of their own.

You can find a copy of the Old Muscat Soup quilt pattern here.


 
This version of the Old Muscat Souq has been in the works for 1 and 1/2 years. Yikes! I finished the quilt top a while ago, but it sat at the bottom of a pile for too long. I wasn't sure how to finish it, or quite what to do with it.

This quilt was a bit of a stretch for me stylistically. I usually choose very muted background fabrics for my quilts. However, I just loved this leaf fabric by Art Gallery Fabrics (see the image below)!

I decided to use it in this quilt by pairing it with a bundle of solids. The idea would be that the solids would help tone down the busy background fabric and overall balance out the quilt.


I love this bundle of fabric from Fabric Bubb. Mixing up the fabrics for the blocks of the quilt was so fun. Of course I had a hard time telling some of the colors apart since I am red/green colorblind. A couple colors looked exactly the same to me.

However, I call in backup whenever I get confused. My oldest daughter and husband help me reorder fabrics or separate them if I get confused. My son, Jack, is no help. He can't see color either.




I love how the solids play off each other while also providing a high contrast with the background fabric.

I think when I first made it, I wasn't quite sure if I liked it or not. Do you ever do that? You make something and you have to stare at it for a while to decide if you like it.

Not only was I not sure what I thought about the quilt top, I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it. I couldn't picture adding more to the quilt by quilting on top of the fabric also.



It finally took me moving back to India to decide what I wanted to do with the quilt top. I chose a solid background fabric that went well with the fabrics on the front of the quilt.

I then sent it off to Knot and Thread Design and asked Kaitlyn to figure it out for me. LOL! She is great at deciding how to finish a quilt.

It really wasn't until after she quilted it for me and sent it back that I fell in love with the quilt. She chose a pantograph which mimics the background fabric. It added a softness to the quilt without overpowering it.


About the Old Muscat Souq Pattern

I agree, Old Muscat Souq is a strange name for a quilt pattern. However, I designed this pattern after an ancient market (souq) in Oman. This market was a highlight of the trip. We were able to see more of the culture and old part of the city while visiting the Souq.

I love the star in this quilt. I have seen it so many times while traveling the world that I love to incorporate it in my designs.

The Old Muscat Souq modern quilt pattern is a block based pattern. Each block uses three accent fabrics of different colors plus a background fabric. The pattern comes with two variations.



This quilt would be considered a scrappier version. I used a fat quarter bundle to include a variety of fabrics. You can find the other version of the Old Muscat Souq quilt pattern here. This version uses four fabrics total to create a more modern look.

The pattern has four sizes:

  • Baby: 36 in. x 36in.
  • Throw: 52 in. x 69 in.
  • Twin: 69 in. x 85 in.
  • Queen: 102 in. x 118 in.

The Old Muscat Souq is a great pattern for the advanced beginner quilter. No special rulers are needed, just consistent 1/4 inch seams.

 


I have made this pattern several times and each time it comes out unique. You can check those versions out here and here.

It's a versatile pattern which looks great in print or solid fabrics. It's an easy pattern to grab a fat quarter bundle of your favorite fabric designer and get to work.

 

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1 comment

👋 Shelby, so cool that you’ve traveled to Thailand and your quilts too. Your family is growing up and they’re so beautiful and adorable. Thank you for all your updates.

I am in awe of your background fabric choice. It doesn’t detract from the solids, nor does it stand out if that makes sense. I’m envisioning walking on tile in that old market place. All your versions are my favorites. One of these days I should make this pattern.
I’m slowly moving along on my Jack’s Gate throw size. Also making another Red Fort of Agra (in AGF Gloria ) which I plan to turn into a quilted jacket. Just have to get back at it. My sewjo is on/off again .

Diane Beavers

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