Winter Plaids

 There's a distinct relationship

between winter and plaids.

All those plaid flannel shirts come out of the closet.

They're warm, comfortable and familiar.

Many quilters are currently having fun working with plaid fabrics

Plaids have cycled around again,
 but these gals are finding treasures

 on clothing hangers

by taking older clothing and repurposing it.

When Roberta Horton first started to 

bring plaids into the quilter's market place,

I became a fan.

Some quilters wrestle with the black arrow syndrome 

when working with plaid fabric.

What is that?

It's the flashback from laying a garment pattern 

on plaid fabric and 

 trying to keep it straight on the grain.

Me?
It doesn't matter,
Being slightly off grain adds character.

In 1996, a group of friends,

each started on their own plaid quilt using the Bear Paw pattern.

We exchanged half square triangle pieces.

Any combo was okay.

Every piece in the quilt is a plaid, from the blocks, lattice, borders, backing and
the scrappy binding.

I hand quilted it with an overall grid.

The backing was pieced with several leftovers and

with appliqued bear paws for special effect!

  I'm always glad when I include a label as a 

reminder of the story 

of my slightly off grained friends.

So if you're tired of some of your winter plaid shirts,

get some scissors and start a new project.

Repurpose, recycle, redo.

Until Next Time-