Riley Blake Picnic Time Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Riley Blake Picnic Time Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern by Amanda Herring

The Picnic Time Quilt is a cheerful, beginner-friendly quilt pattern designed by Amanda Herring and offered as a free downloadable PDF by the Fat Quarter Shop. Featuring fabric from the Hello, Lovely collection by Amanda Herring for Riley Blake Designs, this pattern produces a finished quilt measuring 59½" x 77½" — a generous throw or lap quilt size that is perfectly suited for outdoor picnics, cozy living rooms, or as a thoughtful handmade gift. As a bonus, the pattern also includes instructions for a matching pillow, making it an excellent two-in-one project for quilters who want a coordinated set.

What Is Being Made

This pattern guides quilters through constructing a full-size patchwork quilt with a coordinating decorative pillow. The quilt's design relies on a structured arrangement of rectangular and square fabric pieces set against a unified background fabric, creating a visually balanced and lively layout. The Hello, Lovely fabric line brings together a range of colors and prints — including aqua, pink, and gray colorways — that give the finished quilt its signature bright, welcoming aesthetic.

Design Layout and Piecing Structure

The quilt is built from a combination of carefully sized background pieces and colorful block units cut from 12 fat quarters. The background fabric requires 3⅝ yards and is cut into several distinct piece types that form the quilt's structural framework:

• Piece A: 48 rectangles measuring 3½" x 6½"
• Piece B: 60 squares measuring 3½" x 3½"
• Piece C: 17 rectangles measuring 3½" x 15½"
• Piece D: 8 strips cut at 4½" x width of fabric

From each of the 12 fat quarters (each measuring 18" x 20"), quilters cut the following block pieces:

• Piece E: 4 squares measuring 4½" x 4½"
• Piece F: 2 rectangles measuring 3½" x 9½"
• Piece G: 2 rectangles measuring 3½" x 6½"

This variety of rectangle and square units is characteristic of strip-style and block-based patchwork quilting, where consistent cutting and careful pressing are key to achieving crisp, well-aligned seams throughout the finished top.

Fabric Collection

The pattern is specifically designed around the Hello, Lovely fabric collection by Amanda Herring for Riley Blake Designs. The fat quarters used in the sample quilt include fabrics in aqua, pink, and gray colorways, with specific SKUs referenced in the pattern (including C7240-AQUA, C7240-PINK, C7241-GRAY, C7243-AQUA, C7243-PINK, C7244-GRAY, among others). These prints are paired with a solid or low-volume background fabric to let the colorful blocks stand out. While the pattern is optimized for the Hello, Lovely line, the straightforward block structure makes it adaptable to any fat quarter bundle of a similar color palette.

Techniques Used

As a beginner-level quilting project, the Picnic Time Quilt focuses on foundational quilting techniques that are accessible to those new to the craft while still producing a polished, professional-looking result. Key techniques include:

• Rotary cutting – precise cutting of rectangles and squares from yardage and fat quarters using standard quilting measurements
• Straight-line piecing – sewing rectangular and square units together with consistent seam allowances to build block sections
• Strip piecing – using width-of-fabric strips (Piece D) to efficiently construct portions of the quilt top
• Pressing seams – an essential step between each piecing stage to