# TideStitch: Quilt Designer — See your quilt before you sew > Quilt design and calculation tool with real fabric visualization. (iPhone/iPad app by Slack Tide Studio LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tidestitch-quilt-designer/id6785949038 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Slack Tide Studio LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1872482808) - Category: Lifestyle, Graphics & Design - Price: Free - Rating: 4.80/5 from 11 App Store ratings · 4 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.0 · 8 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-07-07 - Data updated: 2026-09-08 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tidestitch-quilt-designer/id6785949038/reviews.md ## What is TideStitch? Quilting's scariest moment is committing to a design you can only half-see in your head. TideStitch is where you see it for real first: lay out your quilt block by block and see the whole thing before you cut a single piece. No graph paper, no colored pencils, and no math. Design the quilt you actually want and TideStitch works out the finished and cut sizes, so you walk away with an accurate cut list instead of guesswork. Drop in real fabric from your stash or paint with color, and audition the whole quilt until it's exactly right. DESIGN WITH REAL FABRIC • Photograph fabric from your stash and save named swatches • Audition fabric tiled at correct physical scale: a 6" print reads like 6" • Make seamless lines up a stripe or directional print so it tiles without a jog • Tag and filter by base color, material, print style, designer, manufacturer or line • Narrow a quilt's palette to just the fabrics it uses • Or paint with solid colors: tap a color family for its tints and shades A LIBRARY OF TRADITIONAL BLOCKS • 50 blocks: Pinwheel, Sawtooth Star, Log Cabin, Nine-Patch, Churn Dash, Bear Paw, Rising Sun, Lady of the Lake, Cross and Crown and more • Every block is generated geometrically and verified to tile its square exactly • A blank HST grid: set how many half-square triangles across and down, rotate any unit, or merge units into squares • A simple squares grid, sized by the square or by the finished top DESIGN YOUR OWN QUILT TOP • Start a Design Your Own board: a blank grid you draw yourself, splitting cells with diagonals and merging patches into bigger shapes • Or go radial: set an anchor point, fan rays from it, and fill the wedges WHOLE-QUILT LAYOUTS • Build a quilt from a grid of blocks: repeat one, or mix different ones • Set it straight, on point, or brick: on point works out the setting triangles, brick staggers every other column by half a block, a third, or a quarter • Color each block independently for gradients and secondary patterns • Paint every border side, sashing strip, cornerstone and setting triangle its own fabric BARGELLO • Photograph a jelly roll, arrange the strips into a color ramp, and shape the wave • Start from Single Diagonal, Classic Wave, or Mirrored Wave, then tap any column to widen, narrow, or roll it • TideStitch does the tube math: how many tubes to sew, and how many strips that takes COLORWAYS • Try one design in more than one set of fabrics without losing the first • Audition a swap, save it as a variant, compare two side by side • On every kind of quilt: block grids, your own boards, jelly roll patterns A PATTERN, NOT JUST A PICTURE • Make Pattern turns a design into a cut list, per-fabric yardage and numbered assembly steps, as a PDF • Yardage in fat quarters and precuts as well as off the bolt • The Patterns tab keeps every quilt you're making one tap from the cutting table JELLY ROLL MODE • Tell the app about your jelly roll, photograph the strips • Strip patterns (Jelly Roll Race, Rail Fence, Strip Twist, Strip Patchwork), sized by blocks across and down • See exactly how many of your strips each pattern needs • "Shuffle" for instant scrappy layouts REAL QUILTING MATH • Everything is finished size: the space a piece takes in the quilt • Set your seam allowance (¼", scant ¼", metric, or custom) and see squared-up / cut sizes • Backing, batting and binding pay for their own seams and joins • A half-square triangle calculator, in Settings under Tools BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU WORK • Designed for iPad and Mac, runs on iPhone: your phone is the camera, your iPad or Mac the studio • On Mac: a real window, keyboard shortcuts, click-and-drag painting, and zoom • Pinch to zoom and pan into tiny patches, with undo and redo • Your designs and stash sync privately over iCloud • Export your whole library to one file, and import it back without overwriting what's there Your fabric photos and designs stay in your own iCloud account. No ads, no tracking, no accounts to create. ## Key features - Design quilt blocks with real or painted fabrics - Automatic calculation of cut sizes - Library of traditional quilt block patterns - Design custom blocks with grids or radial layouts - Whole-quilt layout with block repetition - Jelly roll specific design modes - Accurate quilting math with seam allowance adjustment ## Recent user reviews (4 of 4) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tidestitch-quilt-designer/id6785949038/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Awesome!! *2026-09-01* Literally have been waiting for something like this. Love love love that you can add your own fabrics to mix and match with designs. Can’t wait to see all the updates to come! **Developer response:** Krista, thank you so much! I so appreciate you reaching out to make suggestions, that back-and-forth is exactly how this thing gets better. That mix-and-match part is the whole reason the app exists, so hearing it's the piece you love lands just right. And keep an eye out, there's a lot more coming (some of it closer than you'd think). Thanks for being here for it. 💛 ### 5/5 — Best Quilt App! *2026-08-24* If you’re looking for a user friendly tool for designing quilts or just playing with patterns, look no further. This app can design anything from a beginner 9-block work of art to a Picasso masterpiece. The developer is constantly improving the app and I am excited to see what new features will soon be at or fingertips to spark our imaginations. **Developer response:** Thank you so much, this made my whole day (the Picasso line especially, I'm stealing that). You nailed exactly what I want the app to be: easy enough to just play with, deep enough to build something you're proud of. And yes, more is coming... I've got a running list and your imagination-sparking is safe with me. Happy quilting! 🐿️ ### 3/5 — Missing many options on my iPad mini *2026-08-22* Many described features such as layout and borders missing from the app **Developer response:** Hey, thanks again for the extra detail, it helped me pin down exactly what happened. TideStitch has two design surfaces with names too much alike: the freeform "Design Your Own" board doesn't include the layout and border tools in your version, but a design started from the "New design" button does, with Layout and Borders right along the top, so you can reach both today. Even better, I've been adding them to the freeform board too: Borders is in the update currently in review, and Layout is coming right after. That's a naming mix-up on my end, not anything you did, and I've also followed up with you by email. Thanks for helping make the app better! ### 5/5 — Wonderful easy to use quilt pattern app! *2026-08-11* I found this app searching for a good way to graph out my quilt patterns before cutting any fabric. It is easy to create your own layouts and add photos of your fabric to use in the blocks. Today I made 6 different color versions of a quilt pattern I’m working on using the Design Your Own feature. This app makes it easy to create a layout and decide on your color pattern. I would love to see an addition where you can duplicate a board you designed on your own, so you can make different color variations to compare. Thanks for creating this app! **Developer response:** Cam3mommy, thank you for this! Six color versions of one pattern in a single day, by hand, is exactly the workflow I want to make less tedious, and duplicating a Design Your Own board just went to the top of my list. The plan: copy the board with its colors and fabrics intact, swap fabrics on the copy, and put the versions side by side so you can actually see them together instead of flipping back and forth from memory. I can't promise a date (it's just me, and I'd rather ship it working than ship it fast), but it's queued and I'll let you know when it lands. Reviews like this one are genuinely how I decide what to build next, so thank you for taking the time to write it all out! ## Frequently asked questions about TideStitch ### What is TideStitch? TideStitch is a quilt design application that allows users to visualize their quilt projects before cutting fabric. It helps in laying out blocks, auditioning fabrics, and calculating precise cut sizes. ### Can I use my own fabrics in TideStitch? Yes, you can photograph fabric from your stash and save it as a swatch. The app auditions fabric tiled at its correct physical scale, so a 6" print appears as 6". ### Does TideStitch help with quilting math? Absolutely. TideStitch handles all the real quilting math, calculating finished and cut sizes based on your specified seam allowance (e.g., ¼", scant ¼", metric, or custom). ### What traditional quilt blocks are available in TideStitch? TideStitch includes a library of traditional blocks like Pinwheel, Sawtooth Star, Broken Dishes, and Log Cabin, with new blocks added regularly in free updates. ### Can I design my own unique quilt blocks with TideStitch? Yes, you can design your own blocks from a blank grid by splitting cells, merging patches, or using a radial design. Snapping features ensure your designs remain neat. ### What devices does TideStitch support? TideStitch is designed for iPad and Mac, and also runs on iPhone. You can use your phone as a camera and your iPad or Mac as your studio. ### How often is TideStitch updated? New blocks are added in free updates every couple of weeks, ensuring the app stays fresh with new design options. ### Is TideStitch free to use? Yes, TideStitch is available for free, with no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned in its description. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.6.1 (28) — 2026-09-04 Paint every piece, not just the blocks. Borders, sashing strips and cornerstones are now painted one at a time, so a quilt can have a different fabric on each border side and a cornerstone that does not match the strips running into it. On-point quilts get the same treatment: every setting triangle takes its own fabric. Choosing a background is easier too. Tap Background on the tool rail and the whole palette becomes the background picker, with the quilt in full view behind it, so you can try three grounds in a row and see each one on the actual design. The old pop-up sheet is gone. In the stash: • The select tool does more than delete. Pick several fabrics and tag them, change their type, or edit their details in one pass. • The filters, Select and New now stay put at the top while you scroll. • Big stashes scroll noticeably faster. • The Tags filter is easier to hit. Pattern fixes, all of them things you cut fabric to: • Strip yardage now packs different cut sizes onto shared strips instead of starting a new strip for each one, so you buy less. • Foundation paper piecing prints its trim ring at your seam allowance, not always 1/4". • Half-square triangles in rectangular blocks keep the right handedness in the cut list. • Hourglass units are recognized as four triangles meeting at the center. • Turning off top-left inheritance no longer disturbs the top row of half blocks. ### 1.6 (27) — 2026-09-03 Make Seamless: point TideStitch at any regular print, dot, or stripe and it lines the repeat up so the fabric tiles across your quilt with no visible join, at its true real-world scale. HST Calculator: a free half-square-triangle calculator now lives in Settings. Enter your finished size and how many you need, pick 2, 4, 8, or 16 at a time, and get exact cut sizes with a method diagram. A bigger block library: 20 new pieced blocks join the pack, from Storm at Sea and Variable Star to Cathedral Window and Jewel Box, for 50 in all. Design Your Own, faster: freeform painting is dramatically smoother now, with cleaner strokes and quicker saves. Shop smarter: patterns now suggest fat quarters and fat eighths when they save you fabric over yardage, and your stash gains filters by designer, manufacturer, line, and your own tags, plus multi-select delete. Per-design palettes: narrow the paint tray to just the fabrics in one quilt. Plus a tidier design editor with Background, Borders, and Layout on the tool rail, a fixed white-balance eyedropper, and a batch of smaller fixes. ### 1.5 (23) — 2026-08-25 Four new ways to design a quilt. ON POINT. Set your blocks on the diagonal. Setting and corner triangles are drawn from the block itself rather than left as blank filler, and Design Your Own boards get a medallion layout. The cut list gives you the real triangle pieces in the right shapes, with grain notes and the starting squares to cut them from. BRICK. Stagger your blocks like brickwork. Every other column drops by half a block, a third, or a quarter, and you can stagger rows instead. The quilt finishes exactly the size a straight set would, because the block missing from one end of a dropped line is the one hanging off the other. It sews in full-length strips: no Y-seams, no partial seams, no bias edge to stretch. BARGELLO. Photograph a jelly roll, arrange your strips into a color ramp, and shape the wave. TideStitch does the tube math: how many tubes to sew and how many strips of each print that takes. Start from Single Diagonal, Classic Wave, or Mirrored Wave, then tap any column to widen it, narrow it, or roll its colors. COLORWAYS. Try a design in more than one set of fabrics without losing the first. Audition a swap, save it as a variant, put two side by side to compare. On every kind of quilt, not just your own boards. Cam3mommy, this one is for you! The design editor is rebuilt around the quilt. Tools sit on their own shelf, with words on them, instead of a menu inside a menu: Rename is one tap instead of three. Turn an iPad or iPhone sideways and the palette stands beside the quilt and wraps, so your whole stash is reachable. Stacked underneath, it has a lid you can shut, and on a phone you can drag the band away entirely. And "swap this fabric everywhere" finally works on block quilts, showing every patch it will change before it changes one. A long quilt can fill a wide screen. Turn the view a quarter turn, or let the quilt scroll and spend its side gutters, so a tall design stops being a strip down the middle. Both change what you look at and never the quilt: every measurement and cut size stays put. Colors you can browse. Tap a color family for nine tints and shades, then drag for hue and for vivid-to-dusty. Your quilt looks more like a quilt. Every piece now shows its own part of its fabric, instead of fifty copies of the same square inch. And a quilt you haven't colored yet is shaded by the block's own light and dark parts, so a Nine-Patch reads as a Nine-Patch instead of white on white. Both have a switch in Settings. One screen for your swatches. Adding, editing, recropping, replacing, and adjusting all happen in one place that uses the whole screen, with exposure, contrast, and saturation. Replace a badly lit photo without losing the fabric and every quilt using it recolors itself. Rail Fence, Strip Twist, and Strip Patchwork take a size now: blocks across by blocks down. And a jelly roll pattern is answered in strips rather than yardage: exactly how many of your strips it takes, because you already own the fabric. Both tabs have a gallery, and Patterns has its own tab split into Overview, Cut, and Sew. Six new blocks: Rising Sun, Rocky Glen, Clay's Choice, Lady of the Lake, Cross and Crown, and Laurie's Bear Paw. Quilts can be 12 blocks across and down. The rest is arithmetic. Three audits of the pattern math since 1.3: • A Snowball is cut the way you sew it: one background square and four corner squares, because nobody cuts an octagon. • A piece the rotary ruler can't name prints its true outline and says to trim to it. • Batting buys the shorter way around the roll, and says how long to cut. • Pieced borders cut to fit the border you actually drew. • Backing and binding pay for their own seams and joins. • Merged pieces are billed, and drawn, as the one piece of fabric they are cut from. • An hourglass is cut as an hourglass: two squares subcut on both diagonals, not four triangles trimmed to an outline. If any number disagrees with your rotary ruler, that is exactly the report we want. ### 1.3 — 2026-08-11 New: Actual Size. Tap the ruler and the block on screen becomes its true physical size, so you can lay your own fabric against the glass and check the scale for yourself. The first time, it asks you to check it against your rotary ruler. The rest is mostly about the numbers. Pattern fixes worth having before you cut again: - Blocks built from other blocks had cut sizes an eighth of an inch too big. - The first assembly step was leaving units out of its count. - Printed patterns no longer strand a step heading at the foot of a page, or cut a pressing note in half. Three new blocks: Cactus Bud, Missouri Puzzle, and Tide Line. The size picker now offers every size a block can actually be cut at, and warns you before you choose one that won't sew flat. The starter designs come at sizes you can cut. Painting a large quilt top is faster. ### 1.2 — 2026-08-09 Y'all, TideStitch runs on your Mac now! That's the big one: same app, same designs, syncing right alongside your iPad and iPhone, but with a real window, a sidebar, keyboard shortcuts (⌘Z and ⌘⇧Z for undo and redo, plus the ⌘ zoom keys), and click-and-drag painting so you can fill a whole run of patches in one sweep. If you've been wanting to design on the big screen, here you go. A few more things worth mentioning: You can back up your entire library to a single file now: every design, every swatch, every jelly roll, all in one .tidestitch file you can tuck away for safekeeping or carry to another device. Import it back anytime and it merges in without stepping on what's already there. New starter designs are waiting when you first open the app, so you land on real quilts instead of an empty grid (they're free extras, they don't count against your design slots). And five new blocks joined the library: Anvil, Birds in the Air, Flying Dutchman, Double X, and Cat's Cradle. More on the way, I'm adding them every couple of weeks now. One fix worth calling out too: a few pattern types were leaving the cut list and sewing instructions off the exported PDF. That's sorted now, so every export comes with the full cut list and instructions, the way it always should have. Happy stitching! -Bec ## More apps by Slack Tide Studio LLC - [YEET Flips](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yeet-flips/id6758367513) All apps by Slack Tide Studio LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/1872482808 ## Related topics [quilt pattern creator](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/quilt-pattern-creator) · [lavender lime quilts designs](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/lavender-lime-quilts-designs) · [shabby fabrics](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/shabby-fabrics) · [patchwork studio](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/patchwork-studio) · [agfmojis app](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/agfmojis-app) · [quilt](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/quilt) · [quilters attic utah](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/quilters-attic-utah) · [qsheen designer](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/qsheen-designer) · [quilt design](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/quilt-design) · [thimbles quilts](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/thimbles-quilts) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-08.*