How to Find Quilt Patterns Online

Have you ever started searching for a quilt pattern and soon enough you’ve been searching for an hour and have nothing to show for it? Maybe you can’t find a pattern that is beginner-friendly or you can’t find that perfect gift for your loved one. Maybe you’re looking for something totally unique and have no idea where to start? Yeah, me too! 

I’m going to share with you my favorite ways to find quilt patterns online and give you my best tips to narrow down your search so you can find exactly what you’re looking for — FAST! After you review this post, you’ll be able to spend less time browsing and more time quilting.

Let’s get started!

Quilt Patterns on Etsy

When you think of handmade products, you probably think of Etsy. However, Etsy isn’t just great for physical goods. A large portion of their creators sell PDF downloads! When you’re searching for quilt patterns online, you’ll most likely be purchasing PDF patterns.

When searching in Etsy, I recommend keeping things broad, yet specific. I’ll give you a few examples.

Here is the search result when I type in “Quilt Patterns” into the search bar:

413,654 results, whew!

It will take a long time to sift through these results and find the type of quilt that you’re looking for. If you narrow down your search by adding just one or two other keywords, you’ll have a lot more luck finding a quilt pattern that catches your eye.

Let’s try searching for “Modern Quilt Patterns”:

35,308 results, much better!

While this may seem like a lot of results, the most popular and most relevant quilts will show on the first few pages. You’ll be able to find a really nice pattern that suits your needs by narrowing down your search criteria.

Another reason why Etsy is a great platform to purchase quilt patterns is that the PDF download will live forever in your account. You don’t have to worry about losing an email or reaching out to the designer if you can’t find the download. You can re-download the PDF as many times as you need once you purchase the pattern using your Etsy account!

Get started with Etsy here!

Patterns on Pinterest

The next platform I want to highlight is Pinterest. Pinterest is a search engine and operates similarly to Google. It’s seriously awesome for finding new ideas and resources for almost anything.

It’s also awesome for browsing quilt patterns! The thing that I love about Pinterest is that you can get super specific and it doesn’t confuse the platform.

Go ahead, try to search “gender neutral baby quilt patterns” on Pinterest. Now get even more specific and type in “gender neutral baby quilt patterns with animals”. Wow! It still shows super relevant search results and it will include everything from patterns with animal motifs to patterns created with animal fabrics.

When searching on Pinterest, I recommend being detailed with your search. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Fat Quarter Friendly Quilt Patterns
• Free Beginner Quilt Patterns
• Half Yard Quilt Patterns
• Half Square Triangle Quilt Patterns for Beginners
• Neutral Geometric Quilt Patterns
• Wedding Gift Quilt Patterns
• Jelly Roll Quilt Patterns for Beginners

Get started with Pinterest here!

Patterns on Fabric Brand Websites

This next resource is SO under utilized! Fabric brand websites usually offer their own free and paid patterns as resources for their customers. Think about your favorite fabric line. Who is the manufacturer? Go to their website and see if they have an inventory of free patterns for you to check out!

I love this resource because it’s a fantastic way to learn how to read patterns and they are usually very easy to read and simple to construct. It’s the perfect resource for beginner quilters.

Here are a few fabric brand websites to get you started:

• Moda Fabrics
• Robert Kaufman
• Art Gallery
• Ruby Star Society
• Riley Blake
• Free Spirit

Don’t forget to check out your local quilt shop’s website, too! Small quilt shops have such a fun curation of patterns and you’ll be sure to find some styles and designers that you may not have otherwise known about.

Patterns on Instagram

Instagram is a true powerhouse when it comes to finding quilt patterns. One of my favorite ways to use Instagram is to follow my favorite quilt designers and manufacturers. Go ahead and find your favorites and give them a follow. You’ll be up to date with what they’re doing and you’ll get the first look at upcoming patterns. 

This is a great option if you know who your favorite designers are, but I know a lot of folks are just starting on their quilting journey so they may not even have a list of designers to follow. If you’re in this boat, skip ahead and start searching by hashtags!

I LOVE hashtags! It’s the best way to get specific information fast on Instagram. The quilting community has a robust presence on the platform and there are millions of photos that feature quilts and quilt patterns.

Try typing these hashtags into the Instagram search bar:
#modernquilts
#modernquiltpatterns
#quiltsinthewild
#quiltsofinstagram

There are way more hashtags than this, but you’ll get a great start with these four. If you want to dig in deeper, you can find more hashtags in the captions of the photos you find. 

I can’t finish talking about Instagram before I mention an account I created called A Quilt Pattern By. A Quilt Pattern By is a place to celebrate and discover newly released patterns. The account posts recently released quilt patterns to help quilters find their next work in progress (with permission from the designer, of course!). I created this page because I was having a hard time locating quilt patterns and it took a lot of time to search for patterns that I actually wanted to quilt. I thought this would be a great resource for our community. Based on the positive response, I know this is a pain point for a lot of folks in our community. I no longer manage the account, but it still exists and is as strong as ever!

Check out A Quilt Pattern By on Instagram!
Get started with Instagram here!

Quilt Patterns on YouTube

Lastly, I want to touch on YouTube. If you are a quilter, I’m sure you’ve used YouTube for tutorials or tips at some point in your journey. It’s an awesome resource for quilters to learn new skills. A lot of larger YouTube channels have realized this, and they are creating videos where they share quilt patterns and show how they put together the quilt from beginning to end. 

Some of my favorite larger YouTube channels for patterns are:

• Fat Quarter Shop
• Angela Walters – The Midnight Quilter
• The Midnight Quilt Show
• Missouri Star Quilt Company
• Jordan Fabrics

This is a small list, but each of these channels has a TON of videos to get you started. I highly recommend checking out Angela Walters’ The Midnight Quilter series or The Midnight Quilt Show if you’re not sure where to start.

You can also check out my recent blog post about my favorite crafting YouTube channels if you’re wanting to follow some more crafty channels on the platform. They aren’t all quilting-related, but I’m sure you’ll love them all as much as I do!

Other Resources

This list is in no way comprehensive, and there are almost unlimited ways to find quilt patterns online. A few of my other favorite resources are Reddit and Facebook. You can join a quilting related subreddit (r/quilting) and see some awesome patterns there, or join a few quilting related Facebook groups to connect with other quilters and see what they’re working on.

Another way to be the first to see a new pattern is to become a pattern tester. I’ll have to write a blog post about this topic in the future. If you are interested in how to do this, I recommend heading to Instagram and following some of your favorite designers. They will put out a call for pattern testers when they are about to release a new pattern!

I am confident that you’ll be able to quickly find your next work in progress by using the tips I’ve shared today. If you have a favorite way to find quilt patterns that I missed, share it down below! I’d love to hear what works for you.

xo, Hailey