Over 500 Free Quilt Patterns and Projects

I'm always on the lookout for free quilt patterns and quilt projects, so this page was a lot of fun to put together.  It was wonderful to find so many free patterns and patchwork designs, some I had never seen before.

There are great quilt projects below like quilted pillows, placemats, table runners, gift bags, pincushions, and so many more.

The page also has specific quilts like rag quilts, T-shirt quilts, and other quilt patterns with quilt and patchwork designs that include jelly roll projects and applique quilt patterns.

Types of Quilts 

What are the types of quilts?

Charm Quilts: These quilts are made with squares of different fabrics, with none of the fabrics used more than once.

Autograph Quilts: These quilts are also called Friendship quilts and are still popular in the quilting world.  Many different quilt block patterns are used, but there are always sections where a friend or family member can write and sign their name.

Crazy Quilts: When I was in college my roommate was working on a crazy quilt.  This quilt uses all different types of fabric and beautiful embroidery to embellish the pieces that are in different shapes and sizes sewn together randomly.

Applique Quilts: These quilts are unique in that fabric pieces are hand or machine sewn on top of the quilt fabric to design a picture.  

These quilts were and still are very intricate and considered very special because of all of the work that goes into making them. They are most often made for special occasions.

Sample Applique Quilt - The flowers and border were hand appliqued on this quilt.

While many quilts are pieced together, meaning pieces of fabric are cut into shapes and sewn together, appliqué quilts are made by sewing pieces of fabric to the top of a larger piece of fabric. The Baltimore Album quilt is a famous example of this type of quilt.

Pieced or Patchwork Quilts: These quilts are made by sewing pieces of fabric together to form a design. Most quilts fall under this category of quilts.  English paper piecing and Paper piecing are also types of patchwork quilts.

Memory Quilts: A memory quilt is most often made for special occasions like births, graduations, the death of a loved one, or other important occasions. 

The quilts are usually made of special fabrics from clothing of a particular person or people as a way of marking the event.  The death of someone special would be made of their clothing and given to the family as an honorable way to memorialize them.

Paper Doll Memory Quilt - The outfits are made with fabrics from the child's clothes.

T-shirt quilts, made with T-shirts used and collected over someone's life make great graduation memory quilts.

Special photos, especially old photos, can be copied onto fabric and used in memory quilts as well.

Traditional Quilt Block Patterns

Over the years, quilts have documented the history of America.  The quilt block patterns show the culture, the history of the people and the passing on of quilt projects as art through the generations.

What are traditional quilt patterns?

Some of the traditional quilt patterns are Pinwheel, Double Wedding Ring, Eight Pointed Star, Log Cabin, Nine Patch, Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Dresden Plate, and Flying Geese.  There are several more, but these are the most popular and are definite classics.

It is impossible for me to choose a favorite!  They all have wonderful different aspects to them.

With over 500 quilt patterns and projects on this page, there is just so much more to say, but I will leave it to you to scroll down and enjoy them.