Windham Fabrics Frosted Blocks - Downloadable PDF

Frosted Blocks Quilt Pattern by Debby Kratovil for Windham Fabrics

Frosted Blocks is a free, downloadable PDF quilt pattern designed by Debby Kratovil and published by Windham Fabrics. The finished project is a cozy lap quilt or throw measuring 52" x 61", featuring a festive, wintry aesthetic that makes it an ideal holiday or seasonal project. The pattern is rated beginner-friendly, making it an accessible introduction to quilting with a touch of geometric interest.

Featured Fabric Collection

The pattern is specifically designed to showcase Candy Cane Lane by Whistler Studios, a Windham Fabrics collection. The fabric palette is rich with holiday colors, incorporating a range of blues, greens, reds, and whites across multiple coordinating prints. Specific fabrics used include SKUs such as 51252-2 (Blue), 51253-4 (Green), 51254-2 (Blue), 51255-2 (Blue), 51256-4 (Green), 51257-3 (White), 51257-4 (Green), 51259-2 (Blue), 51259-4 (Green), 51259-5 (Red), 51259-7 (White), 51260-2 (Blue), 51260-5 (Red), 51261-2 (Blue), and 51261-5 (Red). This wide variety of coordinating prints gives the quilt its layered, frosted visual effect.

What Is Being Made

The finished piece is a quilted throw blanket measuring 52 inches wide by 61 inches tall — a generous lap size perfect for draping over a sofa or gifting during the holiday season. The design features tilted or "frosted" blocks set at an angle within their block frames, creating a dynamic, slightly off-kilter look that adds visual movement and interest without requiring advanced quilting skills. The block centers are paired with coordinating triangles to create the signature tilted effect, and the quilt is finished with both an inner border and an outer border for a polished, structured appearance.

Techniques Used

• Template Cutting: The pattern makes use of custom Left Triangle Templates and Right Triangle Templates, which must be transferred to template plastic or freezer paper before cutting. This is a classic quilting technique that ensures precise, repeatable cuts for non-standard shapes.
• Tilted Block Construction: The central design element involves assembling tilted blocks — square block centers surrounded by angled triangles to create the illusion that the center square is rotated or "frosted" within its frame. This technique is visually striking but remains approachable for beginners.
• Block Center and Triangle Pairing: Specific fabric combinations are assigned to each block, and quilters arrange and sew block centers with their corresponding triangles according to the quilt layout image provided in the pattern.
• Border Construction: The quilt features a two-border system. The inner border uses pieced strips cut at 2-1/2" wide, while the outer border uses wider 6-1/2" strips along with corner squares for a framed finish. This is a foundational quilting technique that teaches strip piecing and mitered or butted border application.
• Binding: The quilt is finished with a traditional straight-grain binding, cut at 2-1/4" wide across the width of fabric, a standard and beginner-friendly finishing method.

Stitches and Piecing Methods

• Straight stitch piecing is the primary sewing method used throughout, consistent with standard quilting practice. All blocks, borders, and binding are assembled using straight seams on a sewing machine.
• Accurate seam allowances are essential for this pattern, particularly when working with the triangle templates, to ensure the tilted block centers align properly within their surrounding triangles.
• Strip piecing is employed for the inner border, where multiple width-of-fabric strips are joined end-to-end and then subcut to the required lengths.

Materials Required

Fabric

• Fabric A (51252-2, Blue): 1-7/8 yards — used for outer border strips and