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Forty-Love: A Tennis-Inspired Quilt Pattern

Spring has officially sprung and tennis season is here with the Forty - Love Tennis Quilt pattern.


This design is a modern take on the tennis court and tennis ball, perfect to serve up some cozy nights early in the season.


Grab some greens from your stash to make it scrappy, or curate the perfect two-toned green combination for a more visual striping effect on the court.


Keep reading for more details about this new quilt pattern.




About the Design

A green two-toned quilt featuring a layout to look like a tennis court with a ball that has come to rest. The yellow, pink and orange ball is shadowed as it sits on the court.

The Basics


The design features a layout to look like a tennis court with a tennis ball. To make the ball have a little more dimension and like it's really sitting on the court, a shadow has been added next to it.



The Details


To make this design come alive and show movement, the tennis court itself is made of half rectangle triangles positioned so the dark and light colors meet creating a striping effect similar to a grass court. Additionally the outer border is comprised of a strip-pieced checker pattern to add interest.


The tennis ball block features quarter square triangles to break up the solid bright lime color of the ball. Use bright oranges or pinks for these or use multiple lime greens in prints to bring the ball to life.




A close up of a multi-colored green quilt with a yellow and orange tennis ball block.



A close up of a multi-colored green quilt with a yellow and orange tennis ball block.




Techniques 


Dark green and light green squares of fabric are pieced together in sections to make a checkerboard pattern sitting on a white cutting mat with a tennis ball and clear quilting ruler laying to its side.

Forty - Love is an intermediate level pattern that utilizes traditional piecing including half rectangle triangles, quarter square triangles, strip piecing and snowball corners. Additionally long borders are part of the design which require careful piecing.













A stack of dark green and light green fabric sewn together to make half rectangle triangles sits on a white cutting mat with a blue and yellow rotary cutter sitting to its side.

There are quite a few half rectangle triangles so this is the perfect opportunity to practice your HRT trimming skills! Not a HRT pro yet? Video instructions are included for the HRT step to guide you through the sewing and trimming steps.













A pieced tennis ball quilt block made of yellow, orange and pink fabrics sits on a white cutting mat with a small pair of black scissors sitting on top.



Color Options


This pattern is written with two main color options for the background:

  • A simple two-color background or

  • Scrappy Background


Some general advice for choosing fabrics for each color option :


  • If you want to go with a more simple two-color option, you may choose to use fabrics with a high contrast or with lower contrast for more subtle movement. Color contrast between fabrics isn't as crucial with this option but you'll want to stick to one color in two different values. For example: light green and dark green.

    A two-toned green and white tennis-inspired quilt made of triangles is loaded onto a quilting frame and in the process of being quilted. A multi-colored backing is rolled onto the takeup bar.

  • For the scrappy background option, you'll want to pay more attention to the contrast of your fabric choices, especially when using prints. When using prints for this pattern, the design of the tennis court naturally dilutes so to keep some of that movement you will want to sort your fabrics into light and dark values.


    • If you're using Fat Quarters for the scrappy background, it is okay to use multiple FQs of the same fabric, just be sure to distribute the fabric when piecing so you don't have the same fabric right next to itself to maintain the scrappy look.

      A closeup of a multi-toned green and white tennis-inspired quilt made of triangles is loaded onto a quilting frame and in the process of being quilted. An orange and pink striped backing is rolled onto the takeup bar and a pink measuring tape spans the width of the frame.

Not sure what your fabric color value is? Take a photo of your fabrics sorted into dark and light values and use the black and white filter on your phone to see if the colors contrast enough.


Shown below are all green fabrics with the top fabrics grouped into lighter value and the bottom group darker value.


A black and white photo showing the value contrast between multiple pieces of fabric.

Finished Sizes

A green multi-toned quilt hangs on a wall featuring a layout to look like a tennis court with a ball that has come to rest. The yellow, pink and orange ball is shadowed as it sits on the court.
Throw Size with Scrappy Background

This pattern is available in two finished sizes:



  • Throw (56" x 70") and

  • Twin (70" x 84")



The twin size is a little on the short side of twin sizing so if you need more length, you can simply add extra checker borders to each end.


The layouts for the two sizes are similar but slightly different so be sure to pay attention to the specific assembly instructions for each size in the pattern.




A green two-toned quilt hangs on a wall featuring a layout to look like a tennis court with a ball that has come to rest. The yellow, pink and orange ball is shadowed as it sits on the court.
Twin Size with Two Color Background

Stay Organized and Plan Your Quilt


A pieced tennis ball quilt block made of yellow, orange and pink fabrics sits on a white cutting mat with a small pair of black scissors sitting on top of cut pieces of green fabric.

Labels and a coloring page are included in the PDF download of the pattern but you can also print an extra set here.




Get started by coloring your own!
















Fabric Requirements for the Forty - Love Tennis Quilt

Ready to get started? Get started gathering your fabrics with the fabric requirements below.


Quilt fabric chart showing fabric requirements for a quilt in front of a photo of a two-toned green quilt made of triangles.
Fabric Requirements

Color names listed above are Ruby and Bee Solids by Heather Ross and Annabelle Wrigley for Windham Fabrics which were used on the cover version of the quilt.



Quilt fabric chart showing fabric requirements for a quilt in front of a photo of a multi-toned green quilt made of triangles.
Fabric Requirements for Scrappy Background

I'd love to see your Forty - Love Tennis Quilt when you're finished! Be sure to tag me on Instagram @jessicasteeledesign and use the hashtag #fortylovequilt. Or feel free to send an email anytime at hello@jessicasteeledesign.com.


I hope you enjoy this pattern!



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