Free quilt pattern! Thea's Puzzle

Improvisational quilts are SO much fun to make. Here's an archived FREE pattern by Amy Butler! Thea's Puzzle is an improvisational nine patch quilt with big blocks for easy piecing. Click on the link below to download the PDF, and scroll to the bottom of this post for MORE freebies!

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Thea’s Puzzle quilt, 64 x 64”, free pattern by Amy Butler (CLICK for PDF download) 

For more freebies, check out our FREE Pattern Days for Easy Modern Quilts: CLICK HERE for Part 1 and CLICK HERE for Part 2!  

 

 

Free quilt pattern! Liberated Log Cabin

Improvisational quilts are SO much fun to make, allowing for unlimited creativity. Here's a FREE pattern by Gwen Marston! This quilt consists of 6 rows of free-pieced ("liberated") log cabin blocks and 3 rows of half square triangles. Download the PDF instructions today!

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Sampler in Solids, free pattern by Gwen Marston for Robert Kaufman Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

 

Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (4)

In quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category within modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy these photos of improvisational quilts.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

Relax by Karen Bolan (California) @karen.bolan 

This quilt is based on catenary curves. A catenary is a curve that describes the shape of a hanging chain or wire under gravity. Catenary curves are the physical embodiment of relaxation. The curves in the quilt are made from yarn draped between two pins. The shape has many real-world applications outside of quilting, You see them in bridges, arches, cables, even soap bubbles!  

Karen Bolan explains the title of her quilt, Relax: "I sometimes feel every quilt has to be the best quilt I've ever made, and also solve all the world's problems. It's an impossibly high bar.  Why is it so hard to relax? 

Nurturing the Pod by Jane Rundle (Queensland, Australia) @janemadlyquilting 

"Nurturing the Pod" is improvisationally pieced with various checkerboard and suare shapes in bright orange and red hues.  Jane Rundle explains Nurturing the Pod: "Nurturing is what mothers do, it's what family does. Our jobs sometimes turn us into nurturers of our colleagues, especially during difficult times... Being nurtured makes us feel safe and loved, and gives us the chance to grow to our potential."

 Back Off! by Annie Hudnut (Colorado) @anniehudnut 

Annie Hudnut says that leftover scraps can produce guilt, frustration or inspiration (so true!) "I decided to do a series to use up some of my leftover pieces. Back Off emerged as a favorite. A two-headed monster invading someone's space? We've all had that person who's just too close for comfort.  I love that my yellow figure actually conveys that feeling despite his/her lack of detail.  Circles and curves are such a delight!"

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (3)

In quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category within modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy these photos of improvisational quilts.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

Lifelines by Emilie Trahan (Joliette, Quebec, Canada) @mili.tra 

Winner of Judge's Choice award at the 2025 QuiltCon show, Emilie Trahan says this piece was created at a point of exhaustion, as she was working as a healthcare professional during the pandemic in 2022. "Whether you see it bursting and being torn apart, or being held and pulled together, this quilt explores how sinuous the lines of our destiny can be, and how a narrow lifeline could change everything," she says.

Lifelines was created with improvisational curve piecing. Amazingly, the quilt was made entirely of upcycled fabrics (mainly sheets and pillowcases), improvisational curve piecing, and machine quilting without a frame (domestic).   

Scattered Thoughts by Deborah Boschert (Texas) @deborahboschert 

Here is a lovely art quilt collage made by Deborah Boschert with a variety of techniques: machine applique, hand embroidery, machine quilting without a frame, printmaking, and surface design. Notice the chair, stitched in red, in the open space at the right of the quilt. Deborah says: "For me, the chair symbolizes the importance of stillness. And making space.  And the idea that clarity can come from rest."

Deborah explains the quilt title, Scattered Thoughts: "Even when I have the opportunity to sit quietly and observe everything around me, sometimes my thoughts are chaotic and interrupted. Other times they are ordered and predictable. I created this textile collage during a time when I was grasping for control and predictability. And yet I made something completely random, irregular and unexptected."   

Embers by Barbara Danzi (California) @barbdanzi

 

Embers was inspired by the warmth of a campfire and the glowing embers; the red hot hues bring the embers to life. Barbara Danzi says that Embers is a study in figure/ground composition, with the ground, or negative space forming shapes so similar to the figures. Embers was improvisational pieced  and machine quilted on a frame (longarm) with matchstick quilting.  You can see more of Barbara's fine art quilts at her website.

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (2)

In modern quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category for modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy these photos of improvisational quilts.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

Pop Art Dandelion by Jo Avery (Stirlingshire, UK) @joaverystitch 

Outstanding - improvisational - and SO colorful!  Pop Art Dandelion is "a further exploration of my Dandelion clock block," says Jo Avery.  "I used light through dark shades of the same colour to create large flowers using my Freehand Foundation Piecing technique. The interlocking rings of petals give a layering effect. The use of bright colours with strongly contrasting backgrounds and the four block layout give this a Pop Art vibe."  The piece was quilted on a Handi Quilter MoxieXL long arm using FMQ and some rulerwork.

Tryst by Irene Roderick (Austin, Texas) @hixsonir 

Irene Roderick is the author of Improv Quilting (available at Amazon)! We love the painterly quality she achieves with solid color fabrics, making Tryst look from a distance more like an oil painting than a quilt!  She explains, "I love playing with shape and color and when it's all finished, stepping back to see what I've made. "This quilt looked like two figures meeting in the dead of night and [they are] probably up to no good!" 

Disco Robots (Vertebrae #6) by Mindy Brown (Alexandria, Virginia) @A_study_of_mindy

This improvisational quilt vibrates with energy and movement! Mindy Brown says that Disco Robots (Vertebrae #6) came from an idea to try and create the same motif with strip piecing. The use of strong contrasts emphasizes the "vertebrae" motif. Mindy Brown says, "I ended up with these funny figures and when I put them together they looked like they were at a party!" You can see more of her fascinating Vertebrae quilts on her website.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Quiltcon show in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE: This post has some affiliate links for products we think you’ll like. Even if you don’t want to buy the items online, we think it’s helpful to see what they look like, so you can buy them at your local craft store. If you make a purchase from one of these links, we’ll make a small commission. There is no extra charge to you.

Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (1)

In modern quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to quilt design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category for modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy our photos of improvisational quilts.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

A ZigZag Journey, The Quilted Life by Frieda Anderson (Florida, USA) @FrieStyle

We love the freeform zigzags and subtle color changes in this quilt! Frieda Anderson used zigzags to represent the non-linear pathways that life often takes.  "The continuous and sharp turns of a zigzag reflect the unexpected twists, turns and obstacles we encounter on our life's journey.  It serves as a reminder that progress is not always straightforward and growth often comes from facing the challenges, detours, and unexpected changes."

Swimming the Salish Sea by Krista Hennebury (British Columbia, Canada) @Poppyprint

With this beautiful piece, Krista Hennebury reflects on her experience of swimming the Salish Sea (near British Columbia). She says, "This quilt is my swimming story. Each breath takes my view from depth to surface in a rhythm of dark to light as I swim in the beautiful and sparkling Salish Sea." Free cutting and improvisational piecing were used to create these effects.

String Theory by Sue Erdreich (@quiltcrochetcolor) / New Jersey Modern Quilt Guild (group members: Margy Schilling, Mary Kirchoff, Miguel Huidor, Kathy Morganroth)

String Theory is bursting with color and energy! Sue Erdreich says, "This quilt was created as part of my guild Improv Bee.  I wanted to show how warm and cool colors can play against each other for graphic impact.  Bee members sewed the scrap strips together, which I then cut into the curved forms that make up the quilt." (p.s.  This is a wonderful way to use up fabric scraps!) 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.
 

 

Modern Quilt Month: Minimalist Design! (2)

Minimalism refers to a design approach that emphasizes simplicity, clean lines, and a restrained aesthetic. Within the Modern Quilt Guild, it has its own category for shows! We're honoring modern quilts for the month of July, starting with minimalist designs.

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Klee for a Day, 37" square, by Karen Duling (Michigan) @karenbduling

Paul Klee's inspiring work "Fire in the Evening" influenced the use of color and line in this quilt.  Karen Duling explains, "My version started by sewing together a long-held collection of medium and dark value strips.  Strips were arranged using lessons learned by studying Klee's work.  Textile artist Rosalie Dace opened my eyes to Klee's work in her virtual class "The Thinking Eye." Klee for a Day is machine quilted in a grid using silk thread, adding subtle texture to the minimalist design.

Off Kilter by Margo Yang (California) @Quiltmagic

  

This quilt with its creative use of reclaimed materials and its minimalist design conveys a heartfelt message: "Distractions in life happen, They can throw your world into chaos. That's when you hold on to things that anchor you, be it faith in God, family, and friends. These distractions will be but a short while and then life goes on and everything will be okay at the end. This quilt is made of old denim, garment top and painter's drop cloth as background. It reminds me that life is not perfect but beautiful." For more about Off Kilter see this post by Margo Yang.

 

Extreme Dopamine by Jenn Burt (North Carolina) @jenngeorgeburt  

Dopamine is a chemical messenger that works in the brain and is associated with pleasurable reward and motivation. This quilt is titled "Extreme Dopamine" because of the way the artist felt about creating this piece: "It was joy-inducing from the design process to the color scheme selection, to the embracing of a newly-found love of piecing inset organic shapes, to the time devoted to hand quilting." 

We found our eyes moving from the subtle curves and contrasts in the background, to the intense colors and quilting within the circles, shown below.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Splitting Seams: A Tribute to Arbie Williams

Today's featured quilt is a tribute to Arbie Williams (1916-2003), a renowned African American quilter and National Heritage Fellow. Quilt artist Stephanie Jurgensen says: "Despite humble materials and practical purposes, Arbie Williams made undeniably artistic quilts with bold designs. She was struck one day to fashion a quilt from pants leaving them largely intact and fully identifiable as pants."

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Splitting Seams by Stephanie Jurgensen (Boston Modern Quilt Guild)

Inspired by a Sherri Lynn Wood quilt workshop, Stephanie Jurgensen interpreted Arbie Williams' "Britches Quilt" by re-assembling coral colored corduroy pant parts into an abstract layout with glowing edges revealed from dye-resist areas in the seams.  

The orange polkadot fabric provides the perfect accent to this modern quilt.  Splitting Seams was machine pieced, improvisatonally pieced, and hand and machine quilted. Visible mending with patching was added behind button holes and damaged areas of the corduroy.  Stephanie Jurgensen's hand quilting can be seen in the closeup photo below.

 For more information on Arbie Williams and her quilts see Arbie Williams: Masters of Traditional Art and Arbie Williams: National Heritage Fellow.

Image credits: Photos of Splitting Seams were taken at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Upcycled Denim and Leather

Today's featured quilt transforms discarded materials into art.  The artists' work reimagines waste as something modern and beautiful, highlighting the resilience of denim and leather.  We are drawn to the soft indigo hues and the contrasts with gold/brown leather.

Note: Please check out our eBay shop for great bargains on gorgeous beaded jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!

A Study on Wash Formulas and Dye by Radha Weaver (San Francisco, California) @sewingthroughfog

Radha Weaver explains that her quilt is a study of contrasts - light and dark, raw and refined, organic and industrial.  It was made with upcycled jeans and denim factory samples hand-dyed by the artist in natural indigo.  The denim samples were paired these with commercially dyed leather scraps to reclaim waste from two environmentally toxic industries.  

 

Radha Weaver is a member of the Silicon Valley Modern Quilt Guild (California). This piece was machine pieced, improvisational pieced, and machine quilted without a frame (domestic).

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Improvisational Rainbows

Today we're featuring two modern quilts that exemplify what can be achieved with improvisational techniques, imagination, and beautiful fabrics in a rainbow of colors. Truly works of art, these pieces were exhibited at QuiltCon 2025. We hope you enjoy our photos!

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My Heart by Stephanie Ruyle (Colorado) @spontaneousthreads  

Entered in the Modern Traditionalism category, this quilt is a rioutous color celebration of a traditional log-cabin design, in which the "fabric" is created improvisationally from quilting cotton and silk scraps.  The binding, like the top, is also pieced in colors to compliment the overall composition. 

The quilting really stands out against the blocks! Stephanie Ruyle explains that "The heavily quilted top uses the same philosophy as the quilt constructions, using the thread I had on hand in many, many different colors, material and thicknesses to create texture and shine."    My Heart was improvisationally pieced and machine quilted without a frame (domestic machine).

Exist Out Loud by Allie McCathren (Texas) @exhaustedoctopus

 Exist Out Loud is a poem which Allie McCaffrey wrote during a period of self discovery. She says, "It can be terrifying to come face to face with who you are and what you want.  You might lose everything.  And you may live more, feel more, and experience more joy and presence than you ever thought possible."  The words of her poem are incorporated into this quilt, against a brilliant array of improvisational blocks! 

 

The pieced letters stand out beautifully against the brightly colored backdrop. We enjoyed the fascinating details of the construction (check out the closeup photo below). Exist Out Loud was machine pieced and machine quilted on a frame (longarm).

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Works of Tara Faughnan (3)

Tara Faughnan is a quilter, teacher and pattern designer who began quilting in 2001. For many years she worked for Michael Miller Fabrics, Pottery Barn Kids and Riley Blake creating textile designs. Tara was the featured artist at this year's QuiltCon show, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. It was fascinating to see her work in person! We hope you enjoy these photos.

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Half Square Triangles #1 (2014), 55" x 63", by Tara Faughnan

Here's a wonderful quilt made solely with half-square triangles set "on point" with high contrasts. Tara Faughnan says, "This quilt represents a big moment for me in my design journey - this was my first step into disrupted patterning.  a long time admirer of Rosie Lee Tompkins work, a master of disrupting the pattern, I carried that influence into this piece.  Using color and value to create and then blur the lines of patterning has been the focus of my work since this quilt.  The quilt was machine pieced and quilted.

Mod  Log Cabin (2013), 55" x 66", by Tara Faughnan

We love the optical illusion created in this modern log cabin quilt.  Tara says, "This quilt is one of my earliest dives into color, using different values and hues to study how colors interact. Limiting each block to a few colors allowed me to really see the effect that contrast, value and saturation had on color interaction."  It was machine pieced and quilted.

 Give and Take (2020), 59" square, by Tara Faughnan

Tara Faughnan says that the name of this quilt comes from the method of adding sashing and cutting away the background color - thus there was a give and take to each block as I created them. I attempted to create this quilt (or a version thereof) for several years before finally figuring out the piecing needed for the design.  I enjoyed the freedom of this design, and the way the shapes and colors slightly drifted as I sewed the top."

Tara says, "To finish the quilt, I chose a very set [hand] quilting design to compliment and contrast with the organic nature of the piecing."

Jubilation (2021), 62" square, by Tara Faughnan

Inspired by the colors of Mexico, Tara Faughnan says: "I created this quilt as a celebration, an expression of the joy I was feeling during the spring of 2021.  We were coming out of the long pandemic winter.  I was heading off to a coastal town in Mexico, and thinking of its bright gorgeous colors. 

Jubilation was machine pieced and hand quilted, as shown above. Tara says, "As I pieced this quilt, I put these colors together thinking of hugs and warm nights and tacos and tequila, laughter and the sound of music somewhere nearby."  

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.