Going Green

March is the month of St. Patrick's Day on the 17th and the Spring Equinox on the 20th. In the Northern Hemisphere, it's the month where trees and plants start to pop out new leaves. To honor the month, here are some beautiful green quilts.

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

Solstice, made and quilted by Ruth Suk

This quilt was beautifully pieced, with a giant star medallion highlighted in the center of a field of gold. Ruth Suk used freezer paper piecing to create the gorgeous green medallion.  "I am new to paper piecing and enjoyed the freezer paper piecing process."  Published design: Solstice by Bryan House Quilts.

Starget by Joyce Holley, quilted by Nancy Goans

Star lovers will love this design! Starget is a double circle of stars that bring light, medium and dark fabrics colors together to shine. Joyce Holley says that each block in this quilt is named after a rock & roll musician (star) including Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, and Johnny Cash. Starget is a pattern designed by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design.  

 Joyce Holley says, "The challenge of Starget is to maintain every point on each star.  Starget is a great quilt to challenge your skill. I enjoyed making this quilt."  Nancy Goans quilted and brought out the stars.

Black & White & Green all over by Christine Nelson, quilted by Athena Taylor

Lime green strips really stand out against the graphic black prints in this quilt, creating a woven look. The pattern is by Carolyn Forster, published in Today's Quilter magazine (Cariad Mawr, a Welsh Frame Quilt, in Today’s Quilter issue 87 Page 67(2022).  Christine Nelson says, "I saw a quilt in Today's Quilter magazine and had to make it... I chose black and white with touches of green to make the unusual quilt design stand out."

The original pattern, by Carolyn Forster, was itself inspired by a project in the book The Quilts of the British Isles by Janet Rae (1987).  The book featured a scrap quilt made in Wales around 1910.  It looks like it would be fun to make - although keeping everything in line would be a challenge!

For more Quilt Inspiration, please check out our Free Pattern Day for Green Quilts (CLICK HERE!)

 

Image credits: Original quilt photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson Quilters Guild show (Starget, and Black & White & Green All Over) and the 2025 Arizona Quilters Guild show (Solstice).

 

Trichotomy: Creating with Triangles!

Here's a stunning quilt made from triangles within triangles, creating the impression of pyramids! The title of the quilt - Trichotomy -  means "division into three parts or elements". We admire the stunning use of color along with the precision piecing.  (Scroll down for more information on triangle quilts.)

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

Trichotomy by Barbara Oliver Hartman (Texas) @barbaraoliverhartman

Barbara Oliver Hartman says, "A quilt I started a very long time ago was resurrected and I am so pleased with how it turned out.  Not sure why I put it away.  I love the hand dyed fabrics, mostly Cherrywood, and how the lights and darks played so well together. This makes me happy."  

Trichotomy was machine quilted in wavy lines on a domestic machine, echosing the diamond shapes while softening the geometric design.

Throughout quilting history, the use of triangles to create a tessellation is called "Thousand Pyramids". We recently updated our Free Pattern Day for Thousand Pyramids quilts; CLICK HERE for the latest free patterns!

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

 

Free Pattern Day! Thousand Pyramids quilts

Here are some wonderful FREE patterns for Triangle and Diamond quilts, also known as Thousand Pyramids. Use them to design your own "pyramid scheme"!  To go to a pattern: Scroll down the page until you see the quilt you like, then click on the words "CLICK for PDF download" (or the hyperlinked website name) in the title above the quilt.

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

Carnival quilt, 60 x 70", free pattern by Ashley Newcomb for Windham Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

 Ambience quilt, 79 x 87", free pattern by Matthew Boudreaux for Art Gallery Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Bias Tiles quilt, 43 x 57", free pattern by Marinda Stewart for Michael Miller Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download) 

Jewel Tones quilt, 60" square, free pattern by Makower UK (CLICK for PDF download)

Equilateral Quilt, ~64 x 70", free pattern by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download) 

Heart Beats quilt, 68 x 72", free pattern by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Mountains Quilt, 36 x 50", free pattern at Art Gallery Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Argyle Style, ~41 x 60", free pattern by Kathy Doughty for Free Spirit Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Tri Love Quilt, 88 x 90", free pattern by Melissa Lunden for Birch Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Peppered Cottons quilt, 66 x 74", free pattern by Pepper Cory at Studio E Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Confetti quilt, 64 x 76", free pattern at Art Gallery Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Prisms quilt, ~57 x 72", free pattern by Heidi Pridemore for Timeless Treasures (CLICK for PDF download)

Triangles quilt, ~66 x 80", free Kaffe Fassett pattern at Free Spirit Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Perfect Harmony quilt, 57 x 72", free pattern by Heidi Pridemore for Benartex (CLICK for PDF download)

Karakoram quilt, free pattern at Art Gallery Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Three Times Around quilt, 57 x 66", free pattern by Valori Wells for Robert Kaufman Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download) 

Modern Lace Stars at Midnight, ~46 x 68", free pattern by Amanda Murphy for Blend Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download) 

Prismatic quilt, 40 x 60", free pattern at Cloud 9 Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Patchwork Prism Quilt, 70 x 76", free pattern by Anna Maria Horner (CLICK for PDF download)

Soundscape quilt, 80 x 95”, free pattern at Robert Kaufman (CLICK for PDF download) 

Crystalia quilt, 65 x 73”, free pattern by Denise Russart for Hoffman Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Prism quilt, 40 x 60”, free pattern by Marinda Stewart for Michael Miller (CLICK for PDF download)

Meadow Quilt, 54 x 58", free pattern by Beth Studley for Makower (CLICK for PDF download) 

Park Slope Triangles Quilt, 49 x 61", free pattern by Michael Miller Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download) 

Alfresco, 80 x 96", free pattern by Jean Ann Wright for Marcus Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download)

Note: This post originally was inspired by the 2014 Winter Olympics, which took place in Sochi, Russia.  The theme was based on the patchwork quilt! The designs resemble Thousand Pyramids quilts.

Image credits and links: This post was updated on March 7, 2025.  All images are copyrighted by their owners. Please respect their generosity in sharing their free patterns, and the restrictions they have placed on the use of these designs. Complete information can be found at the designers' websites provided in the links.  If any links are broken, we'd love to know; email us at quiltinspiration {at} gmail {dot} com.

The Works of Tara Faughnan (4)

Tara Faughnan is a quilter, teacher and pattern designer who began quilting in 2001. For many years she worked for companies such as Michael Miller Fabrics 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.

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

Railyard (2022-24), 60" square, by Tara Faughnan

Different angles of the regular and irregular triangles create so much movement in this design! Tara says that she wanted to work with triangles that were non-uniform, but still had points.  "After a few attempts at free form piecing, I realized it was more work than fun, so I created foundations to piece this quilt." Railyard is machine pieced and hand quilted.

  Pineburr (2015), 52 x 54", by Tara Faughnan

Pine Burr quilts are constructed of folded triangles (prairie points) sewn side-by-side onto a foundation.  Tara says, "I have long been enamored with Pine Burr quilts (it's the official quilt of Alabama), and this is my second attempt at making one. This is such a heavy quilt, that I had to make it in pieces and attach them to a backing fabric as I went, not being able to plan or foresee the pattern beforehand, but designing it row by row." 

Beautiful solid colors were chosen for this quilt.  Each row was quilted down and the next row added on top, hiding the quilting on the front.  Made from cottons and poly blends, machine pieced and quilted.

Diamonds (2015), 59 x 69", by Tara Faughnan 

Tara says that Diamonds was started as a quick color study.  "Working intuitively, this was one of my early investigations into how shape informs color and value interaction." "I cut and arranged all the pieces over the course of a couple of days, and didn't make too many changes to the layout when I pieced it together.  If you look in the top center, you will see a "hole" where the values are close together. I purposely kept this in the quilt, as a beautiful reminder to respect the intuitive process of design, that there are no "mistakes" and that "balance" is overrated.  Machine pieced, hand and machine quilted.

Quilts made of triangles arranged in rows are also known as Thousand Pyramids.  Scroll down for a link to our Free Pattern Day!*

Hourglass #2 (2025), 60" square, by Tara Faughnan 

 

This quilt is infused with rich, dark hues.  Tara says, "I run a membership for 1/2 the year, and we play with curated (but limited) palettes each month. And every year when the membership closes for the season, I have a visceral desire to use all the colors, and use them with abandon.  I chose the Hourglass block to work with, as I love the structure of a simple repeated block, giving me room to play with color and value."  Hourglass was machine pieced and hand quilted.

*For two dozen FREE patterns for Thousand Pyramid quilts, CLICK HERE!

 

 Image credits: Photos of Tara Faughnan's quilts 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.

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

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.