Celestial Garden Pattern by Corliss Searcey

Celestial Garden Quilt Pattern
Original Design by Corliss Searcey
Finished Size: 81" x 81"

Celestial Garden is a richly layered quilt that celebrates the beauty of scrappy piecing and hand appliqué, inspired by 19th-century quilts and the maker’s love of working with many fabrics at once. This design is ideal for quilters who enjoy thoughtful fabric placement, gradual shading, and the slow pleasure of handwork.

The quilt features striking star blocks surrounded by pieced units, framed with an elegant appliqué vine and leaf border. Corliss encourages working from the center outward, allowing the fabrics to transition naturally from dark to light—much like antique quilts where variety and balance were achieved through careful scrap use rather than strict matching.

Celestial Garden was designed with reproduction fabrics in mind, particularly 1800s-inspired shirtings and small prints, and works beautifully with scraps, fat eighths, fat sixteenths, charm squares, and small bundles. The more variety you use, the richer and more authentic the finished quilt becomes.

This is a wonderfully flexible pattern—both structured and forgiving—making it a satisfying project for experienced quilters and confident hand stitchers who enjoy building complexity over time.

Pattern only. Fabric starter kit curated by Margo are available separately to help you begin your journey with historically appropriate reproduction fabrics.