Creating a king size quilt is an incredible undertaking, and one not for the faint-hearted!
But… what an achievement and a labor of love.
So, today I have for you:
- An exciting selection of free king size quilt patterns, and
- A discussion about resizing quilt patterns to enable you to convert other patterns designed for smaller quilts to king size dimensions.
I’ll also introduce you to a frame kit perfect to use for quilting, which makes handling the amount of large amount of material necessary for a king size quilt (and other sizes) easier.
How to resize quilting patterns
Have you been looking for the perfect king size quilt pattern, but struggled to find exactly what you have in mind?
King size quilts are not particularly common projects––perhaps because they are so labor intensive––but you will find many more designs for quilts in other sizes which you can easily convert and use.
There are size charts available to help you resize patterns in stores, and online. They will help you gather all the information you’ll need, including how much material is necessary for the resized quilt pattern.
Here are some quick reference charts which you might find useful. And here’s a great post all about How to Resize a Quilt Pattern.
When resizing your pattern, you need to decide if you would prefer to:
- change the number of blocks suggested by the pattern, while maintaining the block sizes, or
- change the size of the blocks, recalculating the size they need to be to get your desired completed size.
Further increase in size can be achieved by creating larger borders. This can help to reduce the numbers of blocks you need to increase by.
But a word of caution, use this method carefully so as not to over-exaggerate the border size.
If you are using a pattern with quilt blocks, then you can add sashing between the blocks, and add to the border to increase the size. This will obviously change the design somewhat, so it’s a good idea to lay the blocks with the sashing before stitching just to check you are happy with the result.
It’s very important to estimate how much fabric you will need for your pattern:
- Here’s a helpful post called Figuring your Quilt Yardage.
- And here is a free tool to estimate quilt fabric requirements – to use this tool, you simply enter the measurements, and it will provide you with the estimated yardage required.
Using a frame kit
A special roll quilt frame kit can be really helpful when you’re making a king size quilt. It helps to keep the quilt contained, which makes it easier to machine quilt. The kit can be expensive, but if you’re quilting regularly, it may well be worth the investment to you.
Before starting the project, it is important to draw a detailed plan of your quilt design because when you have the material loaded onto the rolls and you’re busy working with it, it’s really easy to forget what you want to go where. And if you duplicated areas it becomes further complicated. A good plan helps to prevent confusion.
When using the kit it is important to mount the fabric onto the kit rolls in the correct direction:
- When you load the fabric for the top of the quilt onto the roll, make sure the fabric comes from the bottom of the roll.
- With the fabric for the quilt backing, make sure it comes from the top of the roll.
- This will ensure the layers lay flat. If the fabrics come from a different direction, then you create distance between the fabrics which can lead to needle breakages when you start to sew.
Once your quilt fabrics are mounted, it really is just a matter of sewing, while the frame kit provides the support you need.
Many domestic sewing machines can successfully be used for quilting, providing you drop the feed dog, and use an open embroidery type of foot on your machine.
King size quilt patterns
Here is a selection of five patterns that I love.
1. ‘Cactus Flower’ quilt pattern
Image from mccallsquilting.com
This beautiful pattern designed by Toby Lischko, comes with instructions on how to make it up as a king size quilt.
The PDF files include the fabric requirements, cutting instructions, diagrams for the piecing, quilt top assembly instructions, quilting, and finishing.
The size of the finished quilt is 108½ ” x 108½ “.
2. ‘Gobble Chain’ quilt pattern
The Gobble Chain Tutorial by Natalia Bonner, Kathleen Whiting & Whitnee North, guides you through the creation of this beautiful quilt with contrasting colors. Completed size: 100″x 120″.
You will find a list of all the materials you’ll need, together with a detailed, step-by-step tutorial.
3. ‘Bed and Breakfast’ quilt pattern
Image from mccallsquilting.com
I love the color blue, and this quilt with its Mediterranean vibe looks amazing. Here is a link to this adaption of a quilt designed by Toby Lischko.
The finished king size quilt is 108½” x 108½” .
4. ‘Peaches & Dreams’ quilt pattern
All the instructions you’ll need to recreate this stunning quilt are found here as a free PDF.
5. ‘Scrappy Ocean Waves’ quilt pattern
If you love triangles then this pattern is perfect for you. The size of the finished quilt is 91″ x 104″.
You will find the detailed instructions here.
If you have found other free patterns online that you love, please share them with us in the comments below, together with your quilting photos and experiences… especially any projects of epic king size proportions!
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