Riley Blake Great Outdoors - Downloadable PDF

Riley Blake Great Outdoors Quilt Pattern by Jina Barney – Downloadable PDF Summary

About This Quilt Pattern

The Riley Blake Great Outdoors is a free downloadable PDF quilt pattern designed by Jina Barney for Riley Blake Designs. It produces a striking 56" x 56" finished quilt built entirely from a single repeating block design known as the Great Outdoors Block, each measuring 8" x 8" finished. With its nature-inspired palette of greens, browns, creams, and chocolates, this pattern is perfectly suited to quilters who love an outdoorsy, woodland aesthetic. The pattern is rated intermediate difficulty, making it an excellent next step for quilters who are comfortable with basic piecing and ready to tackle more precise geometric units.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a square lap or throw quilt measuring 56" x 56". The quilt center is assembled from 25 Great Outdoors Blocks arranged in a 5-row by 5-block grid. The design features two alternating center colorways within the blocks — 13 blocks with Cream Damask centers and 12 blocks with Green Trees centers — creating a subtle checkerboard rhythm across the quilt top. Borders are added to frame the pieced center, and the quilt is finished with a binding.

The Great Outdoors Block Explained

Each Great Outdoors Block is built around a central square surrounded by Flying Geese units, creating a design reminiscent of a compass or star set within a frame. Understanding the block structure is key to successfully completing this pattern:

• A Flying Geese unit is a classic quilting unit consisting of one larger triangle (the "goose") flanked by two smaller triangles (the "sky"). In this pattern, the goose is cut from chocolate blender fabric (C200-25 Chocolate) and the sky triangles are cut from green plaid (C2655 Green).
• Four Flying Geese units are sewn to the four sides of a central square — either a 4½" cream damask square (C2651 Cream) or a 4½" green trees square (C2652 Green).
• Corner squares of 2½" green damask (C2651 Green) and 2½" brown leaves (C2654 Brown) are added to the two remaining Flying Geese units to complete the top and bottom rows of the block.
• The three rows — top, middle, and bottom — are then sewn together to complete one Great Outdoors Block.
• This process is repeated to make all 25 blocks total.

Techniques Used

This pattern calls on several core and intermediate quilting techniques that will build skills and confidence:

• Flying Geese construction: Triangles are cut from squares using diagonal cuts and then pieced together. The chocolate squares are cut twice diagonally (quarter-square triangles) to yield the goose triangles, while the green plaid squares are cut once diagonally (half-square triangles) to yield the sky triangles. Precise cutting and sewing are essential for sharp points.
• Accurate ¼" seam allowances: All measurements in the pattern include a standard ¼" seam allowance, and consistent seam width is critical for the Flying Geese units to nest and align correctly.
• Right-sides-together piecing: All seams are sewn with right sides together unless otherwise noted, which is standard quilting practice.
• Block layout and quilt center assembly: Blocks are arranged in a 5 x 5 grid with careful attention to the placement of cream damask and green trees center squares, requiring the quilter to refer to the quilt photo for correct orientation and color placement.
• Border attachment: The pattern instructs quilters to measure through the center of the quilt before cutting border strips, an important technique that prevents wavy or distorted borders — a hallmark of intermediate-level quilting practice.
• Binding: A separate binding fabric is cut and applied to finish the raw edges of the quilt.