Make an adorable cat quilt with this free pattern

Make an adorable cat quilt with this free pattern

Create the cutest kitty portrait using clever FPP cat quilt pattern by Jo Carter.

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Jo Carter

Sophia Cano

Published: April 10, 2025 at 3:03 pm

Make an adorable cat quilt with this free pattern

Is there anything cuter than a cat? Yep, a cat quilt pattern, free for you to make! The lovely Jo Carter originally designed this cat quilt block for Love Patchwork & Quilting (check out their latest issue for more cute quilts) but now it's here on Gathered just for you.

You'll love the level of detail you can achieve with Foundation Paper Piecing: the technique allows you to create his sweet face and green eyes, making him look more realistic. Stitch this little kitty quilt for yourself or give it to a cat-lover in your life – you could even change the cats colouring to match their pet.

If you're new to the world of quilting, don't worry, you can still sew this little fella. Just head over to our quilting for beginners guide for technical help and our best sewing machine for quilting round-up for detailed machine reviews.

Or, treat yourself to a long arm quilting machine. But for now, it's time to hand over to Jo and her cat quilt pattern!

Jo Carter's cat quilt pattern

You will need

  • Background fabric: one (1) fat quarter
  • White fabric (ears and muzzle) 8in square
  • Grey cat fabric: 14in square
  • Light brown box fabric (Fabric A) 16in square
  • Beige box fabric (Fabric B) 12in square
  • Medium brown box fabric (Fabric C) 14in square
  • Dark brown box fabric (Fabric D) 14in square
  • Green scrap (eyes) 5in square
  • Black scrap (eyes) 2in square
  • Pink scrap (nose) approx 1½ in square
  • Backing fabric: 17in square
  • Batting: 17in square
  • Binding fabric: ¼yd
  • One copy each of Cat Section A–M templates

Finished size

15½ in square

Notes

  • Seam allowance is 1/4in throughout, unless otherwise noted.
  • Press seams to the side, unless otherwise instructed.
  • Templates include seam allowances around the outer edge only.
  • Download templates from Love Patchwork & Quilting templates issue 60 (Peek a boo templates)
  • FPP = Foundation Paper Piecing.
  • WST = wrong sides together.
  • WOF = width of fabric.

Fabrics Used

  • Grey cat fabric is Knock On Wood in Light Grey by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake Designs.
  • Background fabric is Twinkle in Snow/ Night Sky, Eat, Drink and Be Ugly by Sandy Gervais for Moda.
  • Fabric B is Spectrum Solid in Beige by Makower. Fabrics A, C, D and scraps are all Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman:
  • Fabric A: Parchment.
  • Fabric C: Honey.
  • Fabric D: Biscuit.
  • Scraps are Snow, Peapod, Black and Primrose.
  • Find the full collection of Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids at Wool Warehouse (woolwarehouse.co.uk)

Layout Diagram

Cutting out

Step 1

From the background fabric cut:

  • Two (2) 14in x 2¼in strips.
  • Two (2) 15½in x 1½in strips.

Step 2

From the binding fabric cut:

  • Two (2) 2½in x WOF strips.

Step 3

From the remaining fabric, using the templates and referring to the Layout Diagram, cut out fabric for each section of templates A–M. Make sure each piece is at least ¼in larger than the section they cover, all the way around. Note, the Layout Diagram is a reverse image of the completed block. Box fabrics A–D are also marked to indicate colours.

Step 4

Take one Cat Section A template and one Section A1 fabric piece. Place the fabric right side up on the unprinted side of the template against Section A1. Make sure that it covers the whole section plus at least ¼in all the way around. Pin in place, making sure not to pin along the seam line between Sections A1 and A2.

Step 5

Take a Section A2 fabric piece and place it right side down on top of the Section A1 fabric piece, matching up the raw edges on the side where Sections A1 and A2 will be joined and making sure that when folded back along the seam line, Section A2 will be covered by the fabric plus at least ¼in all round. Pin in place.

Step 6

Turn the template over to the printed side and, using a short stitch length (we recommend 1.5mm), stitch along the marked line between Sections A1 and A2. Check that when pressed open, the fabric will cover all of Section A2, plus ¼in all the way around.

Step 7

Fold the template away from the seam and trim to ¼in. Fold the template back, turn the work over to the fabric side, flip Section A2 open and then press.

Step 8

Repeat steps 5–7 to piece the remaining sections on the template in numerical order. Carefully trim the finished pieced template along the dotted seam allowance line on the template.

Step 9

Repeat steps 4–8 to piece template Sections B–M (Templates G, K and M are unpieced but need to be cut to size).

Step 10

Piece the templates together as follows, matching points and ends of sections as shown. Return your stitch length to its normal length, join sections, remove paper from seam only and press seams open.

Step 11

cat quilt pattern figure 1 and 2

Join Sections D and C, then join Section E to the bottom (Fig 1). Join Section F to the left of this pieced section (Fig 2).

Step 12

cat quilt pattern figure 3

Join Sections A and B. Join this to the bottom of the pieced segment from the previous step. Then join Section G to the top (Fig 3), to complete the right hand side.

Step 13

cat quilt pattern figure 4 and 5

Join Sections H and I (Fig 4), then join Section J to the right side. Add Section K to the top (Fig 5).

Step 14

cat quilt pattern figure 6

Join Section L to the bottom of the pieced section from the previous step. Then join Section K to the top (Fig 6), to complete the left hand side.

Step 15

cat quilt pattern figure 7 and 8

Join the left and right hand sides together along the centre, carefully matching points and block ends. Remove the paper templates from the back of the block and press.

Step 16

Take the 14in x 2¼ in background fabric strips and sew one to the top and the other to the bottom of the block. Join the 15½in x 1½in strips to either side to finish the quilt top.

Step 17

Press the quilt top and backing well. Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing fabric right side down, the batting on top, then quilt top centrally and right side up. Baste the layers together.

Step 18

Quilt as desired. Jo quilted triangles across the background and straight lines on the box. Leaving the box flaps un-quilted makes the design stand out.

Step 19

Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric and square up to 15½ in square.

Step 20

Join the binding strips together end to end using diagonal seams. Press the seams open and trim away the dog ears then press in half lengthwise, WST.

Step 21

With the raw edges aligned, sew the binding to the front of the quilt, folding a mitre at each corner.

Step 22

Bring the folded edge of the binding to the back of the quilt and hand stitch in place to finish

We hope you enjoyed sewing Jo’s cat quilt pattern.

Discover more cat quilts in our round-up

For more sweet quilting projects check out our round-up of cat quilt patterns.

 

Jo Carter

Designer Maker

Jo worked for ten years as a soft toy designer turning company characters into soft toys ready for factory production. Whilst taking time out with her two sons she rediscovered her love of all sewing, and especially toy-making. She drinks tea by the litre and her work has been fearured in Simply Sewing and Love Patchwork and Quilting magazines. Her soft toy designs have won her an army of fans and she’s also appeared on Sewing Quarter TV. She sells a collection of her toy designs and kits in her Folksy store. Find her on Instagram @jo2owls.

Sophia Cano

Production Editor, Love Patchwork & Quilting

Keen crafter and editing aficionado Sophia loves to keep tabs on the latest trends in modern quilting and work with leading quilt designers worldwide to produce top quality content for Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine. Sophia feels at home in the crafting community, having successfully run an indie biz on Instagram selling hand-embroidered hoops, t-shirts and tote bags alongside studying for her degree from UCL in History of Art & Philosophy and running her university magazine as editor-in-chief. When she’s not busy editing, she’s probably embroidering at home, snuggled up in a jumper knitted by her abuela, or a blanket crocheted by her mum (evidence of her lineage from a long line of amazing crafty women).
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