2 free and easy quilt patterns

Download these 2 free and easy quilt patterns, get the same fabrics, or raid your fabric stash. Either way, you will love them!

I designed two quilts for the Magical Desert collection by Mayo Moreno of Safari of Ideas for Henry Glass. This collection features cacti, adobe houses, desert motifs, and textures rendered in rich southwestern hues. The first is Mesa Quilt – it measures 79″ x 79″ with 12″ blocks.

Piecing the blocks is very easy. The diagrams show you where to place the fabrics, and if you like chain-piecing like I do, you will be in a Zen-like state as you put them together.

The log cabin blocks in the Mesa Quilt are turned this way and that to create a beautiful design. This collection’s palette lends itself to traditional or modern home decor, and the negative space is the perfect background for whimsical quilting.

There are four blocks, each showcasing a unique combination of the fabrics. For the lighter strips, I used Off-White from the Brushstrokes collection by Henry Glass, a tone-on-tone, textured background against which to display the desert colors of the Magical Desert collection.

I designed two other log cabin quilts, both published in a book by Annies Publishing called Log Cabin Variations. Albuquerque also has a southwest look to it, with vibrant colors. The second is Natural Elegance, featured on the cover of the book. Natural Elegance was made with beautiful blues and white, with machine appliqué on the negative space. I longarm quilted both projects on my friend Lisa’s machine.

The second of the 2 free and easy quilt patterns I designed for this collection is the Prickly Pear Quilt. It measures 62½” x 62½” with 12″ blocks. I chose three fabrics for the center of the different blocks, but repeated the fabrics on the ‘prickly’ parts of the blocks to add harmony to the design and draw the eye to the snowballed centers.

Prickly Pear is also a beginner quilt, as the only method used in all the pieces of the blocks is stitch-and-flip. It is a great candidate for chain-piecing, ensuring you will get the quilt top done during the weekend.

I chose this block because the points remind me of the spines in cacti (there is usually a method to my madness, and fabric motifs often inspire my designs). The Prickly Pear pattern will come in handy when you want to show cool prints that you don’t want to cut into tiny pieces.

But the Magical Desert collection is so amazing in this quilt! It will be in stores in September, so download the patterns now and call your local quilt store to make sure that they will have the collection waiting for you!

Time to go back to designing quilts! Have a fantastic week!