Skip to main content
Free quilt pattern: Picture Frame Quilt
It only takes a tiny spark to ignite a quilter’s inspiration. Many of us have found a focal fabric we love and designed a quilt top around it. That’s what happened with this quilt, but this time the focal fabric didn’t come from a 44-inch-wide bolt.
A longarm machine renter fell in love with a wide backing fabric that Myrna Ficken of APQS West/A Quilter’s Choice had in the store. As they played with ideas on how to make that fabric the focal point in a quilt, Myrna spied a Jelly Roll that highlighted the fabric fabulously. The Picture Frame quilt came to life.
Jelly Rolls are so popular—the fabrics coordinate so well and you don’t have to bother with cutting. Everyone seems to be looking for new, creative ways to use them. Every quilter has a special piece of fabric that they’ve been loath to cut up. This simple pattern is a great way to highlight that fabric and keep it intact. Play with the pattern a bit. Try offsetting the “picture.” Or create an “attic window” effect by separating your roll into light and dark shades, then sewing light strips on two sides and dark on the other ones.
Myrna chose a dark grey thread and an overall quilting pattern since the “star” of the show was the focal fabric. The pattern, “Oriental Leaf” from Wasatch Quilting Designs, complements the main fabric’s pattern well. She quilted it with Quilt Path on her APQS Lucey quilting machine.
After creating this quilt, Myrna found more inspiration. Next she wants to try sewing it all together, cutting it into quarters, then flipping the picture (now in 4 pieces) to the outside corners. Her ‘slice and shuffle’ idea is sure to create another cool quilt. Of course, “picture” does not have to be a fat quarter as described in the pattern. It can be any size you want it to be. You’ll simply need to adjust the amount of jelly roll strips accordingly.
Myrna loves to teach and encourage other quilters at her store. Her quilting family is just that—her family. Getting to see their eyes light up when they learn something new in class, realize they can quilt their own quilt by renting APQS machines, or helping them experience the pure joy of owning their very own machine makes her heart swell.
If you are in the Denver area, be sure to stop by and see what’s happening in the studio. Myrna would love to meet you and welcome you into her quilting family.
