Can you turn off spacing for object-repeats so that objects can overlap in a grid when editing?

Attached is an example/sample file and screenshots of what I mean. As you can see in the example, I am basing a pattern around a black-rectangle as a guide for my pattern spacing, but I want to be able to draw in new overlapping elements (e.g. leaves etc) that connect between the repeats, without the repeats moving apart everytime something extends beyond the rectangle; as seen in the example pictures. Attached is also a copy of a Willliam Morris pattern design, so you can see the kind of pattern that can only be achieved through being able to draw over the edges of a rectangle.

You can actually already do what I am describing through an old 'MadPattern' illustrator template https://www.madpattern.com/

it also allows you to use linked files or images in making your pattern (which illustrator does not, another capability that could be added please?), however you have to use the premade square or triangle-based cells, and can't alter their dimensions to a rectangle like what I want to do in my example.

It's be awesome if Illustrator's Repeat tool could be tweaked to make this possible 🙂

Cheers

One solution could be to be able to lock the 'spacing' setting to one part of the repeated object, e.g. the black rectangle?