This post may contain affiliate links. Full disclosure policy
Quilting can be an expensive hobby! One way to make it a little less pricy is to take advantage of the many free online patterns. Read on for some of the internet’s Best Free Quilt Patterns!
Best Free Quilt Patterns – Creativity Is Just A Click Away
It seems like the price of everything keeps going up these days, including the cost of my favorite hobby – quilting.
Prices for fabric, thread, and batting have significantly increased over the last few years. So has the cost of patterns.
There are certainly patterns out there that are worth buying. Just a couple of months ago, a wonderful quilt designer came to speak at my guild. I happily handed over my credit card to purchase half a dozen of her beautiful patterns.
However, with the advent of the Internet, accessing free quilt patterns has never been easier, and many of them are pretty terrific.
I’m just wrapping up a quilting retreat with friends. During the retreat, I’ve been working on three projects this week, all from free online patterns and tutorials. It’s proof positive that some of the best quilt patterns around won’t cost you a dime.
The online options for free quilt patterns are almost endless, so there truly is no objective way to say which are the best.
However, I do have some personal favorites. I thought I’d start with the quilts I’ve been making for myself recently.
Sew Can She – Best Free Quilt Patterns For Fat Quarters
Most quilters love collecting those 18 by 22-inch cuts of fabric known as fat quarters. I’m no exception.
So, when I learned we were to be blessed with a seventh grand darling, I already had a great collection of fabrics ready to go. All I needed was a terrific pattern to use with them, preferably one that was free.
A quick internet search brought me to an article on the SewCanShe blog, featuring 25 free quilt patterns that are fat quarter friendly.
After some consultation with my daughter-in-love, I settled on the Fancy Star pattern. The pattern was written for 10-inch blocks, and made an 88-inch square quilt, which was too big for my purposes.
I decreased the block size to 5 inches, which gave me an approximately 44-inch square quilt with the borders. It’s the perfect size for this new little addition to our family. I still need to have it quilted, but it turned out to be really cute.
It was also really very easy to make, which was nice. Generally, I aim to get my grand darling’s “baby” quilts completed before they go to kindergarten. But because the pattern was easy to make, this little love will actually receive her baby quilt while she is still a baby!
Missouri Star Quilt Company – Best Free Quilt Pattern Tutorials
We quilters also love to collect pre-cut fabrics. I am especially fond of “layer cakes,” which are collections of 10-inch squares from a particular designer in complementary colors.
Jenny Doan, the founder and owner of the Missouri Star Quilt Company, is also a big fan of precuts. She has an almost endless number of online tutorials that show quick and easy ways to turn precuts into beautiful quilts.
Just before I left on my retreat, I went looking for a free pattern to use with my layer cakes and found a terrific Missouri Star tutorial for a gorgeous quilt called Summer Season. It uses two-layer cake collections plus some extra for the borders.
Apart from the borders, the whole thing is made up of Half-Square Triangles. Jenny shows you a method for making 8 at a time, so even though you need 320 of them to make this twin-size quilt, it really comes together very quickly.
Jenny also showed a method for making a scalloped border. I haven’t yet decided if I will add that to my quilt, but I love how it is turning out. I was able to finish the main body of the quilt in just three days!
My Scrappy Star String Quilt Block – Best Free Quilt Pattern for Scraps
If you’ve been quilting very long, you’ve probably got a whole box of scraps lying around. Maybe more than one.
One of my favorite ways to use up scraps is by making string quilts. When I went to a retreat with friends a couple of years ago, one of them showed me a fun and easy method for making star-patterned string quilts.
I shared a tutorial on the blog last year, and brought the project out again this year to keep working on it. One of the things I love about making these Scrappy Star Blocks is that it’s easy to pick up and put down.
It’s also a great quilt to work on if you only have a few minutes to sew. Each quadrant only takes a few minutes, but the result is very satisfying!
Triple Irish Chain Quilt – Best Free Quilt Pattern If You’re Up For a Challenge
Quick and easy patterns are a lot of fun to make. But if you’ve been quilting for very long, at some point, you’re going to want to tackle something more challenging.
The Triple Irish Chain is one that absolutely qualifies. Though it’s a complicated quilt to make, I was still able to find a great free pattern online, designed by Jessie Fincham and published as a free download from the Sew and Quilt Shop website in the UK.
It’s a gorgeous quilt, and just what I was looking for. (PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE PATTERN CORRECTIONS THAT ARE MENTIONED IN THE BLOG POST FOR THE PATTERN.)
Though this is a pattern that will take me quite a while to complete, I made some good progress on it during my retreat. It’s really fun to sew and I’m very excited to see how it will look when I’m done!
From Yours Truly – Best Free Quilt Patterns for Booklovers
Quilting is one of my hobbies, but writing novels is my profession.
I’ve written more than twenty books so far, and many of them have themes centered around creativity and quilting. (I guess it’s part of that whole “write what you know” thing.)
Over the years, I’ve offered quite a few free quilting patterns on my website that are based upon or inspired by my novels.
There are all kinds of projects there, from lap quilts and baby quilts, to table runners and wall hangings. Eleven are available so far, and all of them can be downloaded for your personal use.
All you need to do is go to my website, and click on Patterns from the drop down menu under the Goodies tab, then submit your email address in the form. Here’s a link that will bring you directly to the patterns.
Best Free Quilt Patterns from Fabric Companies and Fabric Designers
Another fantastic source for free quilt patterns if fabric companies and designers. They offer patterns featuring the fabric they sell, hoping that quilters will want to purchase them to use in their quilts.
And certainly, you can do just that. These designers have made some gorgeous quilts with beautiful fabrics! But you can also make it your own by using what you have on hand or by picking different colorways from the same designer.
Some of my favorite sources for free quilt patterns from fabric companies and designers are…
Maywood Studios
I’ve been using Maywood fabrics for years, and I really love them. They’ve got a terrific variety of prints, themed fabrics, and blenders, and the quality is excellent. I also love the many free patterns they offer on their website!
One thing to note, once you go to the website, click on the purple tab that says “Get Started” next to each project. That will bring you right to the download for the pattern.
Riley Blake Designs
Oh, how I love Riley Blake fabrics! With so many colors and themes, it’s easy to get inspired to use their fabrics in my projects. The variety and quality of their free patterns is pretty darned inspiring too!
There are so many to choose from that I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. But the book lover in me is especially intrigued by the Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy Pride and Prejudice pattern, with its Jane Austen theme.
Moda Fabrics
Moda is one of the biggest fabric companies in the country. So, it’s not surprising that they offer such a huge library of free quilting patterns. There really is something for everyone here!
However, I’m a big fan of Moda’s “Blockheads” patterns – a quilt-along program with free block patterns from various designers that will come together in a sampler quilt. I especially love this sampler quilt, Julia’s Table, designed by Karen O’Connor of Lady K Quilts. It’s simply beautiful and would be a lot of fun to make!
Photo courtesy of Moda Design
As I said before, with so many options out there, it really is impossible to create an objective list of the best free quilt patterns. But whether you’re a seasoned quilter or a beginner, free quilt patterns available online offer a treasure trove of creativity.
I hope you’ve been inspired by looking at some of my favorites, and will try some of these patterns soon!
