The Taj Quilt Featuring Pure Solids by Art Gallery Fabrics

Hey there! Today I'm talking all about my modern quilt pattern, The Taj. You know, like the Taj Mahal. More about the name and inspiration later... But let me just say The Taj is a block based quilt pattern which uses fat quarters and comes in two variations. This modern design looks great in solid fabrics, like the quilt I'm featuring today, or patterned fabrics. With 5 size options The Taj packs a punch.

You can find a copy of The Taj in my shop.



About the Inspiration

As I mentioned above, The Taj was named after and inspired by the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is probably one of the most famous tombs in the world. With thousands of visitors each year and being listed as one of the wonders of the world this place is high on most people's lists of things they want to see when visiting India. I have visited twice and both times loved seeing the rich history and learning more about this love story.

This may sound weird, but tombs were kind of a common thing for us to see or explore when we lived in Delhi, India. Our favorite park/garden had one that my kids liked to climb around in and local lovers liked to kiss in... don't ask. Our neighborhood was famous for it's two ancient tombs. Heck, just a couple blocks away, the whole neighborhood was build around and on top of tomb stones. My friend's goat now calls a famous musician's gave site and tombstone as home.



Here's my point, we interacted regularly with these beautiful structures. They are not just tombs, but works of art created hundreds of years ago and many times they were years in the making. I noticed a couple commonalities about these structures, they usually had four wings in each direction. Of course there is an outer wall, but then there is an inner chamber where the tomb is kept inside. You can see this basic concept in the main block of my pattern.

There is one unique thing about the Taj Mahal. It is symmetrical on all sides. So not matter which side you are on, it is an exact replica of all the other sides. Which is quite amazing if you look at all the minute details of the structure. It was important for me that the quilt block also be symmetrical. This took me a bit of time adjusting my measurements and trying different block constructions.

I added in the smaller blocks to fill in some of the white space of the quilt. But also because it adds the illusion of another set of blocks with a different color way. See what I'm talking about with the images below.




The Taj Pattern

The Taj modern quilt pattern is block based, as I said before. I didn't intend for the blocks to be as large as they are, but here we are... The blocks measure over 20 inches!! I know right?! I had some testers who couldn't believe I was asking them to make such a large block. But, here is the fun part, since the blocks are so large you don't need very many to complete your quilt. Let's go over the sizes:

  • Baby: 30 in. x 40 in. (1 block)
  • Throw: 63 in. x 63 in. (9 blocks)
  • Twin: 63 in. x 64 in. (12 blocks)
  • Full: 84 in. x 105 in. (20 blocks)
  • King: 105 in. x 126 in. (30 blocks)

This also means you don't need very many fat quarters. Each fat quarter is efficiently cut and has very little waste. Another plus for this quilt!

The Taj using Pure Solids

I usually like to make all my patterns in at least one version using all solids. I frequently choose Pure Solids by Art Gallery because they are so vibrant and the quality is so good. I have also had no bleeding problems with their fabrics, which is super important when you have a bright white background as with this quilt.


I always like it when other quilters share what colors they used in their quilts. That way I can buy the same ones if I like them. So let's go left to right through the colors above: Cozumel Blue, Fresh Water, Turmeric, Flamingo, Dragon Fruit. I wanted all the blocks in this quilt to be the same colors to give it a uniform look and to show more emphasis on the pattern. These colors really made the pattern pop.



I realized I had enough fabric to make a twin size. So I added an extra row to throw and decided to add this size to the pattern.

This quilt is the option 2 of the quilt pattern. This means there is an extra step of piecing the smaller stars. The extra work of the corner squares slows down the time it takes to make this quilt. If you want a faster finish then option 1 on The Taj pattern might be for you. But the extra detail of adding the smaller corner pieces really adds a lot to the quilt. I like to piece all of the corners first. That way they are all finished and I can get on to the main part and just add them in.


Finished The Taj modern quilt top!


This quilt was larger than I like to quilt myself. I was happy to send this one off to Kaitlyn from Knot and Thread Design to have her quilt it up for me. She helped me choose a fun, modern design.




If I use all solids on the front of a quilt I usually like to use a print on the back of the quilt. I chose the Boscage Borneo Imprint by Katrina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics. I love the map background and thought my kids might like to pretend the back of the quilt is a pirate map... this has not occurred to them so far.  Give it time.

Look at that quilting!!


The Taj modern quilt pattern is fun to make. I just finished my fourth version and every time it looks completely different. I'm contemplating a fall version now that the weather is changing. Don't forget to stop by my shop and peak around. Grab a copy of this modern design and a couple others while you're at it. Don't forget to share all your projects with me on Instagram!
Find me: @thenomadicquilter

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