Pattern making in Illustrator - missing parts

[Lisa26176733astz]

Does anyone know why I am missing parts of my design once i try to put them close together? 

[CarlosCanto]

the elements inside the rectangle will get repeated, I see blank space inside the rectangle.

is this what you need? I would start with my initial tile as shown

[Lisa26176733astz]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help! I understand your example. 

But why doesn't my image work? (1st picture)

Aren't images supposed to overlap? My design does not have a white background; I thought if i pull the repeated images closer they would just line up next to each other. Why do some parts turn blank where they are supposed to overlap? Is there a way around it? I understand your method, but that means I have to first cut up my design and line them up accurately before I can use the pattern function. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

[Monika Gause]

Try and group your artwork before entering pattern editing mode

[Lisa26176733astz]

Thank you!

[CarlosCanto]

your art is symetrical, instead of "cutting up" your design, think of building it modular. I recreated a quarter of it, applied a couple of Transform Effects (knowing the width x height) to make the four initial tiles, then I used the pattern tool.

[Lisa26176733astz]

Thank you! Brilliant!