[ Thanks to Maddog
for this link. ]
“The GIMP comes with a wide variety of patterns that can be used
on your compositions. A pattern can be applied as a fill into a
selection or to an entire layer, or it can be painted onto a
specific area. Click the pattern selection at the lower right of
the toolbox and you’ll see thumbnails of the available patterns. As
I said, there’s quite a variety, but you’re not restricted to just
those. You can easily add new patterns to the collection by saving
a graphic as a PAT and placing it in the patterns directory. Begin
by making sure you have write permission to that directory.”