Quilt Pattern Maker: Design with Your Fabrics

A quilt pattern maker here is the step after the picture. You design in the studio, with the same quilt on iPhone and iPad. A Chromebook or a locked work computer uses the quilt designer for web. The click-by-click manual is the designer guide. How a print sits on a piece is the fabric print-scale guide. A sum that is not tied to a saved design stays on the free quilting calculators. Public calculator pages stay free.

From fabrics to a sewing plan

You do not fill in a form called “make a pattern.” You build the quilt, save it, then open the pack. The labels below are the ones in the browser designer.

1. Add fabric photos Sign in, then open Fabrics in the right panel. Choose Add a new fabric. In Add a fabric, choose Choose photos, name each picture, and add them. Free accounts keep ten fabric photos. Solid colours are unlimited and are not part of that ten. A new photo appears in the palette when the dialog saves it. How large the motif looks is the crop, plus Stretch or Tile, as the print-scale guide describes. There is no single “true size” field yet.
2. Arrange pieces and blocks Stamp a block from Blocks, or paint pieces with Place. To change pieces already on the quilt, press V for Select, click those pieces, then click a fabric. The palette header should read Picks apply to and the selection, for example “Picks apply to 1 block.” If it says nothing is selected and a pick loads the Place brush, the quilt does not change until you click the canvas. Undo is Command-Z or Ctrl+Z. You can type the quilt’s size, grid, sashing and borders while you are still designing.
3. Save the quilt Press Save. The first save asks you to name the quilt and, if you are signed out, to create an account. Re-saving this same quilt stays inside the free allowance. Save as variation and Save as duplicate are new saved quilts and use that one-quilt allowance. Closing an unsaved tab loses the work.
4. Open the sewing plan More → Pattern Pack — cutting & assembly, or Fabric Calculator on the top bar. The design is saved first, then the pack opens in a new tab. Exact piece measurements, per-fabric yardage, cutting instructions and the download come with Unlock this layout — $4.99 or a Quilter subscription. The designer guide is the full menu.

What the pattern pack can contain

• Overview. Finished size, the block layout, piece count, seam allowance, and a fabric key with yardage. Backing, binding and batting are on that page too.
• Shopping list. Yardage for each fabric, plus backing and binding.
• Cutting chart. Strip widths, sub-cuts and piece counts. Identical pieces are grouped.
• Cut and fabric guide. A tile for every fabric and shape, as cut.
• Blocks and assembly. Each block type with a piecing diagram, then the quilt row by row, with pressing directions.
• Finishing. Backing, batting, quilting and binding notes for that design.
• True-scale templates, when a shape has no rotary shortcut. A template page includes a one-inch calibration square so you can check the print.
• Foundation sheets, when a block is set up for foundation paper piecing. Those sheets are mirrored pieces, in the same pack, not a second product.
• Strip sets and units, when pieces are cut in bulk. A quilt cut piece by piece skips that section. A blank note from you is skipped too.

Free, one layout, or Quilter

Designer measurements, fabric calculations, cutting instructions and downloads require paid access. Standalone public calculator pages stay free.

Checkout shows the price before you pay. Public calculator pages stay free.

Layout unlock details

• Unlock this layout — $4.99 is once, for the saved layout you pay for. Save the quilt before you pay, so the unlock belongs to the design.
• You can change fabrics and colours, and resize the whole quilt proportionally. The version you bought stays available to download.
• A different block arrangement, cut shape or border structure is a new layout. A copy needs its own unlock.
• After a one-time unlock, unsaved edits hide the measurements. Save your changes to update the measurements. A Quilter subscription keeps the measurements visible while you edit.
• The $4.99 unlock is not a pass for every future design. Quilter is not required if this one layout is all you want. Quilter includes measurements and pattern packs for the quilts you design while subscribed, plus unlimited saved quilts and fabrics.

Selling a pattern

Listing a design for sale uses a subscription, not the $4.99 unlock. The Designer plan is the commercial license. A Quiltler-designed marketplace listing opens in the studio so the buyer can recolour it. A designer’s PDF on the marketplace is that file, not an editable Quiltler project.

Around the pattern