Designing a Quilt with GIMP
2011
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Planning your quilt and want to see what it will look like in the fabric you just got from your LQS? You
don’t need to purchase a super expensive program. Try this…and the best part it’s FREE!!! *** Please
note this guide is update to date as of GIMP Version 2.6. Some aspects of this guide could become
different or even irrelevant in the future as the program version changes.
Items Needed:
• Basic knowledge of computers
• Be comfortable installing a new program
• Ability to go to the manufacturer’s website to find the fabric you’re interested in using.
• Download and install GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
o http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-2.6.11-i686-setup-1.exe
• Download graph paper templates (depending on the type of quilt you are using)
o Main Site: http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/
From this page you can click on the different patterns available
o Simple Squares - http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/custom/centimeter-black.pdf
Save this PDF to your desktop
o Split Squares - http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/axonometric/
This is used for more complex blocks. Each square is separated into quarters.
User the below settings to get the page I describe.
Save this PDF to your desktop
• Next navigate to your fabric manufacturer’s website and locate your fabric collection. (Please
note if you are not using a current fabric that you might not be able to find that particular fabric
on the manufacturer’s website.
Designing a Quilt with GIMP
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1. Setting up your templates (You should only have to follow these steps once)
a. Open GIMP
b. Click on FILE – OPEN
c. In the “Open Image” window you will navigate to where you saved your PDF file and
double click on the file to open it
d. You will then be given a prompt that asks you about importing the file. Make no
changes to this screen. Simply press the IMPORT button
e. GIMP will then open the PDF
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f. Now go to VIEW – ZOOM – 1:1 (This will change the size to 100% however you can
change the zoom to any size you wish)
g. Now press CTRL+S to save your blank template.
i. You can name this anything you like. I normally put something that “Blank
Quarter Squares”
h. Once that is done you will want to RE-SAVE this picture,
i. Choose FILE-SAVE AS
j. this time you will want to give it the name of your new project
i. For my example I named my project “30s Quilt”
k. Now your template has been setup and you’re ready to begin designing your quilt!
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2. Designing your quilt
***I would like to preface this section with the following statement. The next part of this will be
mostly cutting and pasting. It may seem awkward at first, however after your first quilt I believe
you will find this goes extremely quick.
***Also manufactures websites are all different; you may find a website that gives you all of the
small pictures of fabric on one page, others you might have to click on different pages to find the
fabric you are looking for. I cannot take each website into account so I am leaving it up to the
end user to figure that part out. ☺
a. Navigate to the website you have found that have pictures of your fabric. Right click on
the fabric and choose “Copy”
b. Next switch to the GIMP program
c. Press SHIFT+CTRL+V
d. An additional window will appear with the image you copied in it.
e. Click on your FABRIC window press CTRL+C
f. Now click on your QUILT window
g. Click on the “Paint Bucket” icon
h. Choose the “Pattern Fill” option
i. Then click on the picture to the left of “Pine”
j. In the pop out window scroll to the top and choose “Clipboard”
a. It should look like the fabric you want to use.
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k. Now you can click on the square in your quilt you want to fill.
l. When you are ready to change fabrics navigate to the new fabric in your web browser.
m. Right click on the fabric and copy it
n. Return to your Fabric Window
o. Press CTRL+V
p. Then press CTRL+C
q. Return to your quilt window, when you look at your fill pattern it should now be
changed to your new fabric.
r. Fill your quilt with that fabric.
s. Rinse and repeat steps l-r until you have a completed quilt.
3. Your finished quilt design
a. Once you have finished your quilt press CTRL+S to save it.
b. If you want to export it to a JPEG image please follow these steps
c. If you want to, you can crop your picture so it only shows the quilt and not the rest of
your blank grid. To do this press the “Crop Tool”
d. Select your quilt
e. Then click once in the middle of your selection to crop it.
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f. Then go to FILE-SAVE AS
g. On the “Save Image” screen you will need to expand the “Select File Type” section and
choose JPEG in the list
h. Then click save
i. Then click EXPORT
j. Click on SAVE
k. Go to your picture and double click on it to open it
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l. Your picture should look similar to the one below:
m. You should now be able to repeat these steps to create many different quilt designs, try
out fabric placements etc. I hope you found this information helpful and informative!
