Making a 'Plaidish Quilt'

A quilt along! So much fun to join in on Instagram with a great quilt along and this one was just the impetus I needed to get on with the project which has been on my wish list for ages. If you know me at all, you will know that I am #outlanderobsessed and have already made an ‘Outlander quilt’ which you can read about here. It turned out to be a more difficult project than I could have imagined and had I come across this pattern then, it might have been a different story. I was expecting this wonderful free pattern by Kitchen Table Quilting (link at the bottom) to be tricky for all the same reasons, but it really was not. It is a simpler pattern but really very effective and if you check out the hashtag for this pattern, you will be amazed, as I was was at the different combinations of fabrics and how they all look beautiful, without exception.

For my quilt, I chose ‘Sea glass colours’. Mossy greens, sandy yellows, vibrant turquioses and deep teals. Maybe a tiny pop of coral too, for my ‘Coral year’ theme and to represent the tiny bits of treasure still to be found in rock pools and on the seashore. I wanted to make a quilt that can be in the car for picnics and days out, sort of like the old tartan blanket my mum got with the Green Shield stamps (hands up if you remember those!). Anyways I was pleased with my fabric pull from my stash and ready to go with the instructions.

It’s a straight forward pattern and the blocks come in two sizes and the three classic colour tones of light, medium and dark. I made all the dark blocks first as per the instructions and they are really easy to construct.

The lighter blocks followed quickly. It is a bit compulsive.

In fact the whole thing was ready to assemble in no time. Because the shades are so clearly defined, it was so easy to construct and I was not sure how the tartan pattern would emerge, but emerge it did with great clarity and a striking effect. I actually think this would make a fabulous beginners project too, so if you are just starting out on your quilting journey this is a good pick to work on.

It was ready for layering up in no time at all. I was loving the colours and also the absence of a lot of plain white, which seems to have been in my quilts for quite some time now. I think the fact that it is such a busy, heavily coloured quilt makes it feel more cosy.

All the time I was working on this, I was listening to the radio as always and whole heartedly horrified by the whole Russian-Ukrainian situation. It just seems beyond belief to me that in modern times this should happen. I decided to switch to an audio book instead and I picked Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘North and South’. There is an excellent reading of it by Juliet Stevenson on audible and it is a real (oft forgotten) gem. Perhaps I am more partial to it than most because I was born and grew up in the North of England, with a southern Mum and grandparents who lived on the South Coast. I have a line drawn down the middle of my heart and a sympathetic ear to both camps, but this book was remarkable to me in so many ways. I am not sure why Mrs Gaskell is always standing in line behind her contemporaries and friends Emily and Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens, but more me her writing is neither melodramatic or over descriptive as the others are apt to be. The story of Mr. Thornton, the Mill town of Milton and Miss Margaret Hale, is a love story fully steeped in as much tension and twists and turns and Pride and Prejudice, but set against a very real and well portrayed setting of a grim northern working mill town. I read a lot of historical fiction, but you simply cannot beat a novel actually written in the times. I found it a powerful and compelling tale of industrial britain and the hierarchical levels of society that ran it. It kept me company while I sewed and by the time I reached the end of the audio book, I picked up my paper copy and read it over too. I was so blown away by this book that I decided to think again about my plan to make a new book quilt based on Penguin Classics. I rejigged my idea and made a block for this book using the Tale Tales quilt block and printing the titles on my inject printer to make it as in keeping with the book as I could. I am planning on making 12 blocks to reflect 12 classics and then maybe to add some embroidery on too for a rather unusual wall quilt.

I think this will prove an interesting project, so if you want to follow it, you can see the progress on my instagram ‘Literary.Threads’ page here. Anyhow, this was an interesting diversion, while I considered how to quilt my plaidish quilt, which by now I was calling ‘The Sea Glass Quilt’.

I always like to try something new and as usual turned to my Leah Day book on Freemotion quilting designs to pick something. I came across one design called ‘knit stitch’ which I thought would fit in well with the straight lines of this quilt and also represent the fact that tartan is make of wool and to pay homage to the original car rug ideas. It was quite intense to stitch.

However, the denseness of the pattern just added to the already cosy feel of this quilt and although it did take me a week or two to get through it all, it was worth it for the finished effect. For the binding I used a piece of Alison Glass fabric that coordinated with the gingham style backing and it all looks just delicious.

As it turned out, I had one rogue dark block left over and decided to make a cushion with it for the car. Using up log cabin style strips seemed an obvious choice and I added a touch of appliqué and embroidery to give it a bit of a pop and actually the combination of it all is just makes me happy. Teeny tiny buttons and freestyle flowers in an assortment of perle cottons just looked so pretty on the geometric block.

Once everything was done and dusted, I am just over the moon with this project. I would definitely make this pattern again and I just know that this quilt is going to be used and treasured and hopefully in lots of sunny day photos of family days out. When I look at holiday snapshots from my childhood, my Mum is often wearing the same sundress year after year and I like to think this quilt will turn out to be like that, in all the pictures, soaking up the sunshine and happy family times.

This is my first quilt finish for this year and I’m happy to have been able to write about it here. Next time though, something a bit different ‘What I did with my 1987 wedding dress’…. I think it will make you smile. See you soon, Ruby x

Useful links:

The pattern is free to download here

The ‘Tale tales’ book quilt block is available to buy here