Quilt Block in Honor of St. Barbara

I apologize that it has been so long since I have posted one of these. I had to take a break during December for Christmas preparations, then in January I had to scrapbook photos from the past six months. So, I got back to quilting in February with this block in honor of St. Barbara. Honestly, this block gave me fits and took me much longer than most of my blocks do. As you can see the final product I created differs from the pattern. I offer this one as a creative challenge - I'm sure many of you out there could do this better than I did!

St. Barbara (4^th century) was brought up as a heathen. Her father, Dioscorus, kept her secluded in a tower, where she dedicated herself to prayer and study and received baptism in secret by a priest. Angered by her conversion, her father turned her over to the civil tribunal. She was tortured and beheaded by her father’s own hand. She is a patron of the U.S. Army Field Artillery. One of her symbols is a peacock feather, which is the basis for this 12" x 12" block.

 For the free download of this pattern, please visit: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Barbara

Quilt Block in Honor of St. Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene was one of the earliest followers of Christ. She is known as the Apostle to the Apostles because Jesus appeared to her after his Resurrection, and she then went to tell the Apostles.

Throughout history, she has been known as the repentant sinner, and her symbols are a skull or a jar. While you can certainly make a quilt block that looks like a skull (they have Halloween blocks that include this), I decided to go with a jar design as it is a better fit for the quilt I am working on.

This 12" x 12" block has several pieces but it works up easily enough. If you want a different color scheme, you can certainly use one. You just need to adjust the shades accordingly in order to keep the 3D illusion of the jar.

Download the Free pattern here: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Mary Magdalene

Quilt Block in Honor of Divine Mercy and St. Faustina

St. Maria Faustyna Kowalska (1905 - 1938), commonly known as Saint Faustina, born Helena Kowalska was a Polish nun, mystic and visionary. She is known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy.

 This 12' x 12" quilt block represents the rays of divine mercy emanating from the heart of Jesus. It is a fairly easy block to construct and could easily be a repeated block to create a whole quilt in honor of Divine Mercy.

To download the free pattern please visit: Quilt Block in Honor of Divine Mercy and St. Faustina

Quilt Block in Honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, S.C., (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church (September 14, 1975). She established the first Catholic school in the nation, at Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the first American congregation of Religious Sisters, the Sisters of Charity.

This 12" x 12" quilt block features a school in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's founding of the first Catholic School in the United States. This would make a great quilt block for your favorite teacher!

You can download the free pattern here: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Quilt Block in Honor of St. Clare

St. Clare of Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253), born was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life—the first monastic rule known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares.

St. Clare is often pictured with a monstrance because when her abbey was under attack she carried the Eucharist to the gates and prayed for protection. The abbey was spared.

This 12" x 12" quilt block is designed to look like a golden monstrance with the Eucharist in the center. If I were a better seamstress, I would have appliqued a circle for the Eucharist into the center. This is certainly an option for those of you more skilled than I. The brown field is representative of the Franciscan order.

This block would make a great repeating pattern.

Please download the free pattern here: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Clare

Quilt Block in Honor of St. Anne

St. Anne is one of my favorite saints. I pray to her every day to help me in my parenting and in my writing. She was the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus. She is often symbolized by a book because she was Mary's first teacher. She is also frequently symbolized by a lily because of the purity of her daughter.

In this 12" x 12" quilt block, I have combined these symbols. I have incorporated two lilies along with a book. I have also used a blue field in honor of Mary, and used purple for the book in honor of Jesus.

To download the free pattern for this block: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Anne

A Rosary Quilt

Here is a link to a quilt project (along with curriculum materials) designed to help children learn more about the rosary: A Rosary Quilt