PWS - How to Write a Quilt Pattern - Topic 3 - Turning a Quilt Design into a Pattern

Topic III – Turning a Quilt Design into a Pattern

Once you have your design idea in your mind, it is time to get it onto paper (or the computer).  I tend to start drawing out at least a few blocks on graph paper just to more clearly visualize the design and then I use a quilt design program such as Electric Quilt (EQ7) to play with color, scale, and block repeats.  I tend to go to the computer quicker than some other designers as I really like the ease of being about to quickly change the block (and my drawing skills leave more than a little to the imagination). 

Do not feel that you need to go to the computer at all, nor that you have to have EQ7 to design quilt patterns because you absolutely do not.  You can do all of the quilt design rendering using paper and pencil or a computer program you might already have such as Microsoft PowerPoint™ or Paint™.

A.    Breaking the Design into Blocks

Take a look at your quilt design and find the repeating elements that form the block (or blocks if you quilt contains more than one type of block).  Most of the time, figuring out the blocks will be pretty simple, but if you have a complex design, it might be more challenging.  If you are designing an improvisational or very modern design this might be even more challenging. 

These blocks will form the building blocks for your quilt and pattern.  In Ninja Bears (our example quilt pattern that I am showing the development of throughout the series), the building block of the quilt is the Friendship Star block.  

B.    Even and Odd Numbers of Blocks

If your block is rotated or mirrored within the quilt top like On a “Jelly” Roll (one of my published patterns), then the design typically looks best when the blocks are in even numbers.  See how the same quilt pattern looks when there is an odd number of blocks?  It looks a little as though part of the quilt is missing.

If your blocks are symmetric like our sample quilt Ninja Bears, then you can have an even or odd number of blocks and the design will look cohesive and balanced.

If you have 2 different block types like the design below, the quilt top will most likely (there are a few exceptions) look better with the an odd number of blocks so that the design is book-ended with the same block (such as A - B - A - B - A).

C.    Multiple Quilt Sizes within a Pattern

Should your quilt pattern have more than one size?  There is no right answer to this question, the answer will be determined by block size, complexity, and your personal preference.  (Our guest designers are also going to be weighing in on this question in the Round Table discussion on Wednesday.)

In my opinion, for a free pattern all that is expected is one size.  In a for sale pattern, it is definitely not required, but is looked upon favorably for a pattern to have more than one size.  When I polled pattern purchasers, most said that having multiple sizes increased the value of the pattern for them and made the pattern more useful. 

Some of my own patterns are available in 5 sizes and some are only available in a single size or two.  The size options provided in my patterns depend on the pattern and whether the designs lend themselves to alternative sizes. 

To keep our quilt pattern for this series more simple, the Ninja Bears quilt pattern will contain instructions for only a baby sized quilt.  However, if this was a "real" for-sale pattern, I would probably offer this pattern in 5 sizes, baby, lap, twin, queen, and king (and probably additional fabric options too).

D.    Two Ways to Make Multiple Sized Quilts

There are two main methods to scale your patterns for different sized quilts.  The first is the more common where you simply make more blocks to increase the size of the quilt. 

For example, if you had a 12” square (finished) block, you might design a 4 block x 4 block baby quilt which would measure 48” x 48”.  If you wanted to also include a lap sized quilt you might go with a 5 block x 6 block design for a 60” x 72”.  To include both of these sizes, your quilt pattern would contain instructions for 16 blocks (for the baby quilt) and 30 blocks (for the lap quilt).

The second method to scale your patterns for different sized quilts is to scale the block.  Starting with the same baby quilt as before (4 block x 4 block arrangement of 12” square blocks for a 48” x 48” baby quilt), you could increase the size of the block 1.5 times.  This would result in an 18” square block which would make a 72” x 72” lap sized quilt.

Which method you use to scale you patterns depends on the pattern and your personal preference.  I would recommend that within a pattern you only use one of the methods.  If you try to change the size of the pattern by changing number of blocks for some sizes and block size for other quilt sizes, your pattern is going to get lengthy and complicated very quickly.

E.    Borders or Not?

Borders can be added to a quilt for a variety of reasons.  It could be that the quilt design looked better with framing or extra space to breathe, or needed to be enlarged to a particular size.  You can play around with your design by adding a narrow or wide border, or even multiple borders.

In our sample quilt, I did not want the points of the stars to be chopped off by the binding so I added a small border (2” finished) on all sides of the quilt.

F.    Determining the Size of the Block

Most traditional quilt blocks tend to be between 6” and 18” (finished), as these blocks have been found to be big enough to not have tiny piecing and yet are not too large to be unwieldy.  Blocks do not have to be square, but could be rectangular, or even triangular or other shapes.  

One factor in considering the block dimensions is the size of the smallest piece within the block.  If your block is made up of half square triangles, you probably do not want them finishing at 1”square, but maybe 2” to 4” square.  Figuring out the size of the smallest feature of the block will sometimes help determine the size of the full block.

G.    My Design Process for Ninja Bears

I made the Ninja Bears quilt a couple of years ago for friend's new baby.  I had a charm pack of Bernstein Bears I wanted to use, was on a tight timeline so I wanted a quick finish, and knew it had to be a baby size.  With those parameters, I started to brainstorm quilt designs.

I looked through one of my favorite quilt block book's, "The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns" (non-affiliate link) for some inspiration and came across the Friendship Star block which looked like it fit the bill.

To figure out the block sizes, I looked at the layout of the block.  Each block is made of 9 squares, a 3 x 3 grid containing 5 square fabric pieces and 4 HST (half square triangles).  By changing the size of the squares within the grid I can quickly scale the design:

Size of each square within the block	Finished size of block (square size x 3)
1”	3”
2”	6”
3”	9”
4”	12”
5”	15”
6”	18”
7”	21”
8”	24”

I decided to go with a 12" (finished) block so that each of the pieces within the block were 4" (finished) so I could make them with my charm pack (and the HST are a decent size (4” x 4”)).  

I settled on making my quilt in a 3 block by 4 block layout for a total of 12 blocks.  I added a small border to the quilt so that the points of the stars would not be cut off by the binding.   As an added bonus, the width of the quilt was about 40” (3 x 12” block + 2” border + 2” border) so I could use a single width of fabric for the backing (because I really dislike piecing backings). 

12” is a very popular size for a quilt block and a nice balance between a small and large block.  I could have also made the quilt using 4 blocks finishing at 9” across the quilt which would result in the same width as the 3 blocks finishing at 12”.  I went with the 12” because there were less blocks to piece and the ability to use my charm pack precut to make the quilt.

And that was how I decided on the block and quilt size for Ninja Bears.  As you can see, you can create an almost endless number of quilts just by varying the size and number of blocks.  

C.    Fabric Options

One question to consider when planning out your block size is are your blocks or any component of your blocks able to be made with precuts, like in Ninja Bears? (Precuts being fabric of a single color or a fabric collection that is sold already cut down to a certain size like 5” squares or 2 ½” x width of fabric strips).  You might consider amending your quilt block size to accommodate these popular quilting fabrics as precut friendly tend to be very popular.

I hope that this post helps you start to take your quilt design, break it down into blocks, and start figuring out block and quilt sizes!  The series will be back on Wednesday with a guest designer round table discussion around multiple sizes in quilt patterns and the difference between free and for sale quilt patterns.  All of the posts are linked in the Pattern Writing Series Tab above.