Quilt with Purple? Yes, you can!

I’m just going to say it up front. I don’t like purple. I’m not sure why – probably because it clashes terribly with my red hair.

When my 10 year old requested I sew him a purple quilt, I wondered could I sew a quilt with purple? Could I spend weeks frolicking amongst the purple or would it just be too much for me? (I tried to talk him into a quilt with his second fave colour, orange, but he wasn’t having a word of it.)

I’m happy to report that I was indeed able to quilt with purple. I even like the final quilt!

Diamonds in the Deep QAL

I made my purple quilt as part of the Diamonds in the Deep Quilt Along I hosted, which provided the encouragement I needed.

You can find the Diamonds in the Deep PDF pattern here in my shop.

The Quilt Along began back in July and just wrapped up, and I’d love to show what some of the participants (including me) have produced.

My Diamonds in the Deep quilt is twin size, and I made it with Kona Snow* and a purple fabric called Icon Elements in Titan Violet* by Art Gallery Fabrics.

The Icon Elements* range comes in a few different colours – they are great for the Diamonds in the Deep pattern as they have a small scale pattern that adds some subtle interest to the quilt. The AGF Decostitch range is also very pretty (and would have been my preference except they didn’t have a purple) – the low volume fabrics* are especially lovely.

The log cabin blocks for the Diamonds in the Deep pattern are very easy to sew. I recommend sewing with a scant quarter inch seam so that the blocks are a tad oversized when finished. Then you can trim them back to get very accurately sized blocks.

When you quilt with purple, what colour thread do you quilt with?

This is such a common question. I’ve made a quilt with X colour fabric – what colour thread should I use to quilt it?

The answer is almost always: dove grey.

It doesn’t matter what colour your fabrics are, dove grey (a light, flat, matt grey) is going the blend in beautifully with it. It’s especially good when you have lots of different coloured fabrics in your quilt. Or when you have a pattern like Diamonds in the Deep, which relies on contrast between the two fabrics, guaranteeing that either colour would be stand out too much on the other fabric.

The dove grey is just right – you still get all the lovely texture of the quilting (on both white and colour fabrics) but it doesn’t try and steal the show. It’s definitely become my go-to quilting thread colour (second favourite is a similar flat, matt, beigey-tan, for when I use more brown tinted neutrals).

As for the quilting pattern – I went with swirly spirals. I’m very fond of the way curves look against the angles of the log cabin blocks, which is why I chose this pattern (many thanks to Lyn of Lyn’s Quilt Cottage for the lovely long-arming).

If you struggle with choosing a binding fabric, you’ll love the Diamonds in the Deep pattern as it’s an easy one to bind. Just choose the same fabric that you use for the outer edges of your log cabin blocks and it will blend in beautifully.

I used my zigzag binding tutorial to machine bind this quilt. As is often the case, I couldn’t find a thread that matched the purple fabric exactly. One thread was a shade darker while another was a shade lighter. In these cases I tend to choose the lighter thread. To me it doesn’t stand out as much and blends in better (just my opinion).

For my backing fabric I searched for something with a touch of the purple in it. That way I knew it would match the purple binding (and thread). This wideback fabric was just the ticket. It’s called Lava Lamp and the purple matched nicely (it’s a very useful wideback – it would match many different quilt tops).

Alright, enough purple already. Time to see some more gorgeous Diamonds in the Deep quilts in other colours.

Your beautiful quilts!

Leigh also made a twin sized quilt using a mix of 8 Tula Pink fabrics that were heavy on the orange with a touch of pink. I think you’ll agree they blend beautifully to create a very orderly, scrappy effect.

Pat sewed up a lovely teal and low volume version of the pattern. I love the wee pattern in the low volume – very delicate.

Julia made a classic navy and white, with the additon of a navy border.

Leanne went for a beautifully vibrant red and white version:

Kathy also went striking red and white with a grunge style fabric:

Cheryl also made a purple quilt, teaming it with a lovely grey and multi-coloured centre squares. It’s so eye catching.

Gloria paired two tone-on-tone fabrics to give a lovely textured feel to her quilt:

I do so enjoy seeing all the different colour combinations people come up with for this quilt pattern. You’re all so clever and I thank you so much for sharing your work with me (well, with us all). Don’t stop sewing, and keep sending in those photos (or tag me on Instagram and Facebook).

If you’d like to make a Diamonds in the Deep quilt of your own, you can find the pattern here in the shop.

Happy sewing!

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