A photo quilt doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful. In fact, some of the best photo quilts start with a great quilt pattern and a handful of favorite pictures.
One of the things I love about using Photo Quilt Blocks with traditional quilt patterns is that you don’t have to completely redesign a quilt just because you want to add photos. Instead, you can look at the blocks already in the pattern and ask:
“Where would a photo look amazing in this design?”
Sometimes one large photo becomes the focal point. Sometimes several smaller photos tell the story. And sometimes you can use a combination of both!
Here are six of my favorite quilt patterns from our store that work beautifully with Photo Quilt Blocks.
1. Chasing Fireflies by Gracey Larson – A Sweet Way to Add Photos to a Traditional Quilt
The Chasing Fireflies pattern is a great example of how you can take a traditional quilt design and turn it into a beautiful photo memory quilt.
The center of each star block gives you two options for adding photos:
- Use four 4″ x 4″ photo blocks
- Or use one 8″ x 8″ photo block
And here’s the fun part—you don’t have to use the same photo in every block!
You could use four different pictures to tell a story, or repeat the same favorite photo throughout the quilt for a more coordinated look.
Try this idea:
For a family memory quilt, use different family members in the star blocks. For a baby quilt, use different stages of the baby’s first year. For a pet quilt, you could even use several adorable photos of your favorite four-legged family member.
The same quilt pattern can look completely different depending on the photos you choose.
ORDER YOUR CHASING FIREFLIES QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Now that you’ve chosen the Chasing Fireflies pattern, you can decide which photo option you want to use—and ordering your Photo Quilt Blocks is easy!
If you’re using four 4″ x 4″ photo blocks in each star, you can order your blocks individually, or save money by using our 4″ x 4″ Fat Quarter Layouts. We fill each fat quarter with as many 4″ x 4″ photo blocks as possible, giving you 20 photo blocks on one fat quarter at a discounted bulk price.
Order Individual Photo Quilt Blocks | Shop 4″ x 4″ Fat Quarter Layouts
If you prefer the one 8″ x 8″ photo block in the center of each star, we have a Fat Quarter Layout for those too. You can also choose our combo layout with both 8″ x 8″ and 4″ x 4″ blocks if you want to mix and match your photos.
Shop 8″ x 8″ + 4″ x 4″ Combo Layouts
Have lots of photos to upload? Don’t worry! If you’re not especially comfortable with computers, we’ve made a step-by-step video showing you exactly how to load your fat quarter with photos.
Watch the Photo Upload Tutorial
Choose your pattern, choose your photo size, upload your favorite memories, and we’ll print them on fabric for you. Then you get to do the fun part… quilting!
2. Songsparrow Quilt Pattern by Beverly McCullough – A Flower Quilt With a Photo at the Center
Who doesn’t love a flower quilt?
This flower block pattern is especially fun because the center of each flower becomes the perfect little spot for a photo.
You can make the center of your flower block with:
One 4″ x 4″ photo block
or
One 8″ x 8″ photo block
That means you can create a completely different look without changing the basic quilt pattern.
A larger 8″ photo makes the flower feel like a dramatic focal point, while the one smaller 4″ block let’s it blend into the quilt more subtly.
One of my favorite photo quilt tricks…
Don’t feel like every photo has to be different.
You could choose your favorite photo and make all the blocks the same, or choose all different photos to tell a complete story. Both can be adorable!
ORDER THE SONGSPARROW QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Once you’ve decided which photo size you want to use for your Songsparrow quilt, ordering your Photo Quilt Blocks is easy!
If you’re using one 4″ x 4″ photo block in each flower, you can order your blocks individually, or save money by using our 4″ x 4″ Fat Quarter Layouts. We fill each fat quarter with as many photo blocks as possible—20 finished 4″ x 4″ photo blocks per fat quarter—so you get our discounted bulk pricing when ordering lots of photos.
Order Individual Photo Quilt Blocks | Shop 4″ x 4″ Fat Quarter Layouts
If you’ve decided to make the flowers with one 8″ x 8″ photo block, you can order those individually or you can use our 8″ x 8″ Fat Quarter Layout. This layout includes 8×8 and 4×4 blocks on the same layout. Only four 8×8 blocks will fit in a fat quarter space so we made this combo layout to get as much as possible in the space! This would give you a combination of the two sizes throughout your quilt, which would be perfectly adorable and fun!
Shop 8″ x 8″ + 4″ x 4″ Combo Layouts
Have a lot of photos to upload? Don’t let that scare you! We’ve created a step-by-step video that shows you exactly how to load your fat quarter with photos. Just follow along and fill your layout with all of your favorite memories.
Watch the Photo Upload Tutorial
Choose your photo size, load your favorite pictures, and we’ll print them on fabric for you—so you can turn this beautiful flower quilt into a one-of-a-kind memory quilt!
3. Bake Off by Jillily Studio: Make a Senior or Celebration Quilt With Multiple Photo Sizes
Some of the best photo quilts aren’t just about one event. They’re about telling an entire story.
What a fun pattern to do just this! With the scrolling accents and frames, it make the photo story fun and cohesive!
The pattern gives you several different photo opportunities, including 5″ x 5″, 12″ x 12″, and 8″ x 10″ photo blocks.
That makes it especially useful for a senior quilt.
Imagine using:
- 5″ x 5″ blocks for photos from kindergarten through high school
- An 8″ x 10″ block for the senior portrait
- The 12″ x 12″ block for a favorite graduation or family photo
Suddenly, the quilt becomes more than a pretty quilt.
It becomes a timeline of someone’s life.
This layout would also work wonderfully for a birthday, anniversary, retirement, wedding, or other milestone celebrations.
Use the larger photo blocks for the most important pictures and the smaller blocks to fill in the story.
ORDER YOUR BAKE OFF QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Now that you’ve chosen this pattern, it’s time to decide which photos you want to use in each size. This quilt gives you three different photo sizes—5″ x 5″, 8″ x 10″, and 12″ x 12″—so you can use each size to highlight different types of memories.
For the 12″ x 12″ photo blocks, you can order them individually. These larger blocks are perfect for the photos you really want to make a focal point in your quilt—like a favorite family portrait, senior picture, wedding photo, or special milestone.
Order 12″ x 12″ Photo Quilt Blocks
For the 8″ x 10″ and 5″ x 5″ photo blocks, you can save money by using our Fat Quarter Layouts. Instead of ordering each photo individually, we fill a fat quarter with as many photo blocks as possible, giving you our discounted bulk pricing. When you receive them, you just cut them apart and piece them into your blocks!
Shop 8″ x 10″ Fat Quarter Layouts
Shop 5″ x 5″ Fat Quarter Layouts
Think of Your Photos as Part of the Quilt Design
This is a great pattern for mixing up your photos. Use your 12″ x 12″ block for the star of the show, your 8″ x 10″ photos for important supporting memories, and your 5″ x 5″ blocks for all those little moments that help tell the story.
And remember—you don’t have to use a different photo in every block! You can repeat a favorite picture, use photos from the same event, or choose completely different memories.
Choose your photos, choose the sizes that work best for your quilt, and we’ll print them on fabric for you. Then you get to turn those photos into a quilt full of memories!
4. Patches Across by Bound to be Quilting: Panel Quilt Patterns Make Fantastic Photo Quilts
Here’s a tip that can open up a whole new world of photo quilt possibilities:
Don’t overlook panel quilt patterns!
Panel quilt patterns often have larger areas of fabric that can easily be replaced with Photo Quilt Blocks.
The pattern shown here uses finished blocks that are approximately 10½” x 10½”, creating a beautiful, orderly layout.
Instead of putting the same fabric in every block, you can substitute photos into selected areas.
This gives you a photo quilt that still looks like a traditional quilt—but your memories become part of the design.
And if you fall in love with a panel pattern but need a different size for your photos, ask us about a custom layout.
We love helping quilters figure out how to make a pattern work with their photos!
ORDER YOUR PATCHES ACROSS QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Now that you’ve chosen this pattern, you’re ready to order the Photo Quilt Blocks you’ll need to create it!
This pattern uses 10½” x 10½” finished photo blocks, so you’ll want to order the corresponding size from our Photo Quilt Block shop. Simply choose the 10½” x 10½” size, upload your favorite photos, and we’ll print them on fabric for you. Our Photo Quilt Blocks are custom printed and sized specifically to make adding your photos to your quilt easy.
Order the 10½” x 10½” Photo Quilt Blocks
Have lots of photos?
If you’re making a quilt with several photo blocks, you can order the photos individually, or contact us if you need help figuring out the best way to order your blocks.
Once you’ve chosen your photos, we’ll take care of the printing so you can concentrate on putting your quilt together!
5. Picture Wall by Wendy Sheppard – A Pattern That Was Destined for Photo Quilts
Some quilt patterns just seem to say:
“Put a picture here!”
Picture Wall is one of them.
This pattern has individual framed areas that make wonderful spots for Photo Quilt Blocks. The finished photo block shown here is approximately 9″ x 11″, giving you a nice-sized photo without overwhelming the rest of the quilt.
I especially love this type of design when you have a lot of meaningful photos that tell the complete story. This pattern is for when you want all your photos to shine in the spotlight.
Think:
- Wedding portraits
- Favorite family photos
- Child’s school pictures
- A beloved pet
- A wedding anniversary
- A special vacation
- A family home
- Treasured vintage photographs
ORDER YOUR PICTURE WALL QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Now that you’ve chosen the Picture Wall pattern, we’ve made ordering your photo blocks especially easy! Because this pattern uses a unique photo size, we created a special Photo Quilt Block size specifically for the Picture Wall quilt.
Instead of trying to figure out how to make a standard photo block fit the pattern, simply order the Picture Wall Photo Quilt Block and upload your favorite photos. We’ll print them on fabric in the size needed for this pattern, ready for you to add to your quilt.
Order Picture Wall Photo Quilt Blocks – COMING SOON! WATCH HERE FOR THE LINK!
And because Picture Wall is designed to let every photo shine, this is a great opportunity to choose a collection of photos that all tell your story. You can mix family portraits with candid moments, old photographs with new ones, or highlight one special event.
Choose your photos, upload them to your order, and we’ll take care of printing them on fabric. Then you can turn your favorite memories into your very own Picture Wall quilt!
6. Ensemble Quilt Pattern by Hello Melly Designs – When You Have A LOT of Memories!
Now let’s talk about the quilt for those times when choosing your favorite photos is practically impossible!
The Ensemble pattern is a fantastic choice when you have LOTS of memories you want to include.
The layout shown here uses:
4″ x 4″ finished center blocks
and
2″ x 2″ finished outside blocks.
And look at how many photos you can fit!
You can use up to approximately:
20 – 4″ x 4″ photo blocks
plus
120 – 2″ x 2″ photo blocks
That’s a LOT of memories packed into one quilt!
This would be a fantastic choice for a large family memory quilt, a milestone birthday, a retirement quilt, a wedding quilt, or even a quilt celebrating an entire family history.
The tiny photo blocks can almost work like a scrapbook page—little snapshots scattered throughout the quilt.
Here is a tip: Let the 2×2 blocks be close up photos of items, people, pets, or accents. That way you can see them well even though they are small. Do NOT try to put a family photo with 20 people in it in the 2×2 block. LOL! That will not print well, or make you happy in the end!
ORDER YOUR ENSEMBLE QUILT PATTERN HERE!
Ready to Order Your Photo Quilt Blocks?
Now that you’ve chosen the Ensemble pattern, you’re ready to start filling it with all those wonderful memories!
This quilt uses two different photo block sizes: 4″ x 4″ and 2″ x 2″. The combination of the two sizes is what gives this quilt so much personality—and it means you can include a LOT of photos!
For the 4″ x 4″ photo blocks, our Fat Quarter Layout is the perfect way to order. We pack 20 photo blocks onto each fat quarter, giving you a discounted bulk price compared with ordering each block individually. It’s an easy and economical way to get all of those larger photos printed and ready for your quilt.
Shop the 4″ x 4″ Fat Quarter Layout
And what about all those 2″ x 2″ photos?
We’re working on it! We’re creating a special ordering option for the 2″ x 2″ photo blocks specifically for this quilt.
Coming Soon! Watch for the link here.
In the meantime, start gathering all those little snapshots you’d love to include. This is the perfect quilt for those photos that may be too small for a traditional photo quilt but are still too special to leave out!
Once the 2″ x 2″ blocks are available, you’ll be able to fill this quilt with dozens of little memories—all working together to tell one big family story.
Choosing Photos Is Part of the Quilt Design
One of the biggest mistakes people make when creating a photo quilt is choosing the photos after choosing the pattern.
Instead, think of your photos and your quilt pattern as working together.
Look at the size and placement of the photo blocks and decide what role each picture will play.
Large photo blocks
Use these for your most important images.
These might be:
- A family portrait
- A wedding photo
- A senior picture
- A baby’s face
- A favorite pet portrait
Medium photo blocks
These are great for supporting photos that help tell the story.
Small photo blocks
These are perfect for snapshots, details, candid moments and lots of little memories.
Don’t Forget About Color When Choosing Your Photos
Here’s another thing that can make a huge difference in how your finished photo quilt looks.
Your photos don’t all have to have the same colors—but you should think about how the colors work together.
A quilt made with mostly warm-toned photographs will have a completely different feeling from one made with cool-toned photographs.
For example, photos with lots of:
reds, oranges, yellows and warm browns can create a cozy, nostalgic feeling.
Photos with:
blues, greens and cooler neutrals can give the quilt a softer or calmer appearance.
And sometimes a little variation is exactly what makes a quilt interesting!
You can also edit your photos before ordering your Photo Quilt Blocks—cropping them, adjusting them or even changing the color treatment so they coordinate better with the fabrics you’re using.
The Best Part? You Get to Choose How Many Memories to Include.
That’s what I love about using quilt patterns for photo quilts.
There isn’t one “right” way to do it.
You can create a quilt with:
One special photograph.
Or…
Twenty favorite photographs.
Or…
A whole lifetime of memories!
A traditional quilt pattern gives you the framework. Your photos give it the story.
And that’s what turns an ordinary quilt into a memory quilt that your family will treasure.
Ready to Turn Your Photos Into a Quilt?
Choose a quilt pattern you love, decide which blocks you’d like to turn into photos, and then let Photo Quilt Blocks do the hard part!
We print your photos on fabric and prepare your Photo Quilt Blocks so you can concentrate on the fun part:
QUILTING!
Whether you’re making a senior quilt, baby quilt, birthday quilt, wedding quilt, pet memory quilt, family history quilt, or a quilt just because you love your photos, there’s a pattern waiting to become something uniquely yours.
Browse the quilt patterns in our store and start planning your next photo quilt!
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