Upscale Plaid Quilt - the Speckled version
It’s been a few months since I last featured an Upscale Plaid quilt on the blog, so I’m excited to share my latest take on the pattern!
The Upscale Plaid pattern
We released the Upscale Plaid pattern in November 2023 (almost two years ago!). I had wanted to create the perfect holiday coaster…and instead, I ended up with a complete quilt pattern with seven sizes and five layouts!
Given the pattern’s origin story (and the fact that Upscale Plaid launched so close to Christmas), I ended up going with a festive, red and green palette for the cover quilt. 🎄 Then, a few months later in March, I made the Shamrock version with some bold green stripes. ☘️
I’ve made other, non-holiday versions of Upscale Plaid, of course (four, in fact!). But this pattern just lends itself so well to holiday color-ways. I think it’s because the classic plaid design doesn’t scream “holiday,” but the big pieces let your colors shine…so you get a subtle but festive quilt!
Anyway, it was only a matter of time before I got around to a Valentine’s-themed version!
My Speckled Upscale Plaid quilt
For my Valentine-inspired version, I made the Upscale Plaid pattern in a throw size (67” x 67”) using Layout 1. I love all five layout options included in the pattern, but I keep coming back to the first one…probably because the asymmetrical layout feels the most modern to me.
FABRICS
I know it’s the middle of summer, but I sewed up this very pink quilt top months ago…much closer to Valentine’s Day! We’ve just had so much to share that I wasn’t able to show it off until now.
Luckily, I think the color palette still works outside of February! Yes, it uses very Valentine-y colors, but no one will wonder why I have this quilt out in July. It also gives fruit smoothie vibes, or just fun, playful energy!
As soon as I came up with the idea for this quilt, I knew I wanted to include some prints on this version. I’d used prints already on my Duval Upscale Plaid, but I wanted to go with something a little subtler this time…with just a little extra pizzazz compared to a solid version. ✨
So I reached for Ruby Star Society’s Speckled collection. The subtle, small-scale print adds just a hint of texture without calling too much attention to itself (and the seams blend so beautifully!). In fact, this quilt can read as a solid from across the room…so it’s a fun surprise to get closer and see those gorgeous speckles.
I still balanced the prints out with some Kona solids. Here’s the complete list of fabrics I used:
- BG - Speckled Candy Pink
- A1 - Speckled Metallic Berry
- A2 - Speckled Purple Velvet
- A3 - Kona Valentine
- B1 - Speckled Metallic Sorbet
- B2 - Kona Iced Peach
- B3 - Kona Bellini
- C1 - Kona Shell
- C2 - Speckled Metallic Earth
- C3 - Kona Carnation
It’s such a sweet color-way, isn’t it? Especially with the Speckled fabrics, this quilt reminds me of Valentine’s candy or a glittery Valentine’s card. 💖
You can make your own candy-colored quilt with our Speckled Upscaled Plaid kits!
QUILTING AND FINISHING
I wanted to keep up the Valentine feel with the backing, so I chose Cupid’s Garden Tender from Art Gallery Fabrics’s Love Struck collection. The colors go so well with the top, and I like how the floral is just a little less obvious than a heart-themed fabric would have been.
The Upscale Plaid pattern has so much negative space, which lends itself well to more complex quilting patterns, so I had this version longarmed by the wonderful Megan at Blue Ridge Quilt Co. We went for the Lovebirds panto from Longarm League. It’s such a cute panto, but again, it’s just a little more surprising than a straightforward heart panto and keeps this quilt from being just for February.
For the binding, I picked another Speckled fabric: Speckled Strawberry. The bright color is like the icing on a cake…perfect for a Valentine’s quilt!
The overall effect is definitely sweet and romantic, but the textures of the fabric and quilting add so much extra interest to this quilt!
Make your own Upscale Plaid quilt
I had so much fun coming back to the Upscale Plaid pattern. It’s such an enjoyable make…and it comes together so quickly too! If you haven’t made one yet, you can follow our archived Upscale Plaid quilt-along to get all my best tips while you sew.
At the very least, I suggest brushing up on my tips for sewing long seams and my tutorial on how to cut WOF strips…both of which come in handy with this pattern!
Peep at Ruby Sue who loves making guest appearances at our little photoshoots. 🥰
QUILT KITS
We have a Speckled Quilt Kit if you want to recreate my Valentine-themed Upscale Plaid quilt. We also have five other Upscale Plaid quilt kits in stock:
DESIGN YOUR OWN
If you want to come up with your own colorway, I highly suggest checking out our blog post about choosing colors for Upscale Plaid. It will help you pick fabrics that keep up the illusion of intersecting colors…which is what this pattern is all about!
Then you can mock up Upscale Plaid on PreQuilt or print off our free quilt coloring pages.
I’d love to see your finished Upscale Plaid quilt, so make sure to tag @loandbeholdstitchery and use the hashtag #loandbeholdpatterns. Happy sewing!
