Mariners Compass Barn Quilt Pattern
A classic barn quilt block you can customize and print as a paint-ready plan.
Member: Choose your size, borders & colors + personalized Paint Maps
Free: Complete 2' × 2' drawing grid + measurements
Planning the board? Use the sizing calculator for exact cell and border measurements, or read the paint color guide before you buy paint.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Grid
- 8 × 8
- Colors
- 8
- Suggested board sizes
- 2′ × 2′, 3′ × 3′, 4′ × 4′
Get the Free 2' × 2' Mariners Compass Pattern Plan
A complete, printable drawing plan: a large 2' × 2' grid diagram with every measurement you need, plus an example colorway.
What's in your free plan
- 2' × 2' drawing grid diagram
- Layout measurements
- Layer diagrams when applicable
- Example colorway + paint equivalents
- Measuring and marking instructions
Personalized Paint Maps — the diagrams showing exactly which pieces to paint each color — come with Designer Membership.
Want to make it your own?
Customize the size, borders and colors — and get personalized Paint Maps — with the Barn Quilt Designer.
Customize in DesignerFree plan vs. Designer Membership
The free plan gives you everything you need to draw the standard 2' × 2' barn quilt. Membership lets you make the plan fit your project.
| Feature | Free Plan | Membership |
|---|---|---|
| Printable 2' × 2' drawing plan | ||
| Layout measurements and grid markings | ||
| Measuring and marking instructions | ||
| Layer diagrams when applicable | ||
| Example colorway and paint equivalents | ||
| Choose your barn quilt size | ||
| Add or change borders | ||
| Customize colors | ||
| Automatically recalculated measurements | ||
| Personalized Paint Maps | ||
| Save and edit designs | ||
| Unlimited personalized plan downloads | ||
| Build your own patterns for the designer |
Want to make it your own?
Customize the size, borders and colors — and get personalized Paint Maps — with the Barn Quilt Designer.
Customize in DesignerAbout the Mariners Compass block
Mariner’s Compass is one of the earliest named American quilt patterns. Written references to the name date to 1798, and the earliest known surviving American quilt using the design dates to 1834.
The pattern became especially popular along the northeastern seaboard in the 1840s and 1850s, including among Pennsylvania German quiltmakers. Its circle of sharply radiating points echoes the compass roses and wind roses found on maps and nautical charts, giving the pattern its distinctive sense of movement and direction.
Learn more about the history
Tips for painting a Mariners Compass barn quilt
Prime both sides of your board and seal the edges before painting to keep moisture out.
Lay out the pattern in pencil first using a grid — every shape lines up on a regular fraction of the board.
Paint the lightest color first, then work toward the darkest so any drips can be covered.
Use painter's tape along straight edges and burnish it down with a credit card to prevent bleed-through.
Ready to design your Mariners Compass?
Customize the colors in the online designer and download a printable paint-by-color plan with a grid diagram.
Open in the designerPainted the Mariners Compass? Share your photo.
We feature finished quilts from real makers in the gallery — it helps other painters see how the Mariners Compass looks in different color combinations.