Have you ever made something and been super proud of it and then made that same project again several years later only to realize you could make it even better?
That’s what happened with the Flight Plan quilt pattern!
I initially designed this one back in 2017 for my sister-in-law. She was celebrating a milestone birthday that year and we wanted to gift her something that would make her feel extra special. Quilts, in my opinion, are one of the ultimate gifts to do just that!
When the pattern was originally released in 2019, it quickly became one of the most popular sfD quilt patterns. So, why the changes? Read on to see how I made an already easy quilt pattern to piece even easier for you!
*This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.
NEW AND IMPROVED FLIGHT PLAN QUILT PATTERN FEATURES
As I was preparing for the original Flight Plan Workshop, I realized that I could make some tweaks to the Flight Plan quilt pattern and make it even easier for you to cut and piece. Streamlining the quilt journey is always a goal of mine so that you can focus on the joy of stitching.
Since there were quite a few changes made, I thought I’d summarize the new pattern features here for you. Especially if you already have the Flight Plan quilt pattern, this will give you a great summary of the changes to expect in the new version you received.
LIFETIME PATTERN UPDATES
In case you didn’t know, all digital quilt patterns purchased in the shop come with lifetime free updates. Meaning, that while I am offering a pattern if any changes get made or new additions are added to the pattern, you automatically get the updated version for free. This is one of the reasons why I love offering you digital patterns. That and saving some trees along the way 😉
Ok, about those pattern changes.
NEW PATTERN LAYOUT DESIGN
First up, I changed my pattern layout design about a year or so ago and the Flight Plan quilt now features this new structure. It’s a cleaner layout that puts the focus on the instructions and the graphics.
CUTTING DIAGRAMS & INSTRUCTIONS
Speaking of cutting, there’s now fabric cutting diagrams for the 3 different quilt sizes so you can visualize how the pattern pieces are cut. This is to help you maximize your fabric yardage. The cutting instructions also specify the number of the width of fabric (WOF) strips to cut and sub-cut so you can make efficient work of your quilt cutting session.
INTERACTIVE DIGITAL QUILT PATTERN
sfD digital patterns have always been interactive, meaning you can click on a hyperlink and it will take you to that blog post or tutorial that I’ve linked to. You now also have a track your progress tick box to help you stay on track of where you’re at in the quilting journey.
As you know, quilts aren’t made in a day, and the tracker is there to remind you what you have and haven’t completed so you can pick up where you left off. Tap the tick box on your smartphone or tablet to add a virtual checkmark or use a pen if you’ve printed it off.
SAME QUILT BLOCK, REDESIGNED
The blocks have been redesigned to feature less cutting and longer pieces of fabric. This results in better use of your yardage and fewer seams. Plus, the longer pieces mean you can feature and preserve larger prints in your quilts.
Since the block piecing was a little different from the original, the updated version walks you through the 7 different blocks featured in the Flight Plan quilt. Each block includes both detailed piecing instructions along with detailed step-by-step graphics so you know exactly what your Flight Plan quilt block should look like. The interactive progress tracker will help you stay on track with which block you’ve made and the different variations of each.
QUILT BLOCK LABELS
With so many moving parts, the new quilt block labels will help you stay organized as you cut your pattern pieces out and start piecing your blocks and rows together.
MAKE IT SCRAPPY
A new ‘Make it Scrappy’ section has been added to help you tame your fabric scraps! Choose from using just FQs or cutting out the individual pieces or a combination of the two. The pattern spells out the pieces you need so you can focus on which option works best with the fabric you have on hand.
ORIGINAL QUILT PATTERN GOODIES
The other fun features such as a colouring page, detailed pressing instructions and additional colourways are still there to inspire you and help you have the best quilting journey possible.
SWEETHEART BABY GIRL FLIGHT PLAN QUILT
WHY MAKE ANOTHER FLIGHT PLAN QUILT?
By now I’ve made several Flight Plan quilts and I never think I’ll top the previous one and then I do!
What I love about this new version is that I had the chance to play with a new AGF Bundle Up. You might remember this beauty that I made featuring the AGF Bundle Up Geometrical edition*. That was my first chance getting to play with these curated bundles and I loved working with them!
The Geometrical edition was very bold and colourful, and I opted to pair that with some equally bold and colourful solids. It’s one of my most loved quilts I’ve made and shared with you!
When my friends at AGF reached out to say they had some new Bundle Up editions for me to play with, I was super excited to see what I would make. Funnily, my initial instinct was to NOT make a Flight Plan quilt. My thought process was “been there, done that!”. But after making one of my Heart Mug Rugs, I still had plenty of fabric leftover and the Flight Plan quilt was calling to me.
FABRIC SELECTION PROCESS
Specifically, I was curious to see how different I could make the Flight Plan quilts look just by switching up my fabric bundle.
The Geometrical edition speaks to my bold design and colour loving self, but I was equally smitten with the soft whimsical, and feminine nature of the Sweetheart edition.
It’s sweet (I know, with a name like Sweetheart, this is not surprising), but not in an overtly girly way.
To keep that sweet feeling, I opted to go with a lovely mid-tone pink* for the background. It harmonizes the colours beautifully while allowing the low-volume prints to have a moment to shine.
I also decided to add some linear details with a gray and white stripe from some Ikea pillow covers I had on hand (they came with some duvet covers I picked up).
While there are already so many prints just from the fat quarter bundle, I feel the stripe adds the perfect balance to the mix. It adds enough of a contrast to break up all the pink and floral details without taking over.
IMPROV QUILT BACKING TO MAXIMIZE THE BUNDLE UP FAT QUARTER BUNDLE
After piecing the quilt top and making some additional blocks for demonstration purposes in the Flight Plan quilt workshop, I was still left with quite a bit of fabric. I could have easily popped the remnants in my scrap stash, but it’s starting to get out of hand again – ha! Instead of adding it to the overflowing pile, I decided to challenge myself to use up as much as possible in an improv backing (all part of my sustainable quilting plan too!).
I normally prefer doing improv with solids, but every now and then I get the urge to explore with some prints.
Here’s the thing, I find that I inevitably go through an emotional roller coaster when piecing improvisationally with fabric prints. I start off loving it. Feeling like I’m in a groove and excited about how it’s coming together. At the mid-point, I started feeling like it was just chaos and overwhelming. These feelings might have been compounded by the fact that I was suffering from a mild fever on day 3 of piecing after getting my 4th booster shot the previous day. Working through a piecing challenge while feeling under the weather is not recommended!
But I got it to a point where I was happy and ready to get her basted and quilted.
REVISITING WOOL BATTING
While getting my quilt basted, I realized that I’d made a big dent in my batting scrap stash after making all my quilt coats and so I didn’t have any big enough batting scraps to make this baby Flight Plan quilt. I didn’t really want to cut into my king-size bolt of batting just for a baby quilt, so I decided to revisit wool batting.
The last time I tried using wool batting I broke out in an all-over body itching. It was the pits. The wool batting remnants have been sitting in time out ever since 😉
Since I wasn’t feeling that great but was working under a timeline, I had to get it done. Call it laziness and opting for the path of least resistance or blame it on the mild fever, whatever the reason, I decided to dip into the wool batting. Turns out, it was the perfect size!
You’re probably wondering, did I get the itchies again?
Yup!
But I had suited up and put on long pants and long sleeves and washed my hands immediately after basting. This meant I wasn’t as itchy as last time, but it’s been made clear that wool batting and I are not the best of friends.
It’s a shame really as wool batting gives a glorious loft to your quilts. The squish factor is pretty unbeatable.
QUILTING
What’s a quilting motif you turn to when you’re short on time? You know the one that you can do in your sleep and know you can bust through the session in record time.
For me, that’s straight-line machine quilting with my walking foot.
I love the look it gives, and I enjoy stitching those lines. It’s very repetitive, but you get into a groove and a meditative trance. It’s also great for catching up on your favourite podcasts.
One thing to note about quilting with wool batting is that things are bouncy! The very qualities that make your quilts nice and cuddly when using wool batting also make for a more challenging quilting session. Cotton batting tends to lay flatter and reads more as one when you’re quilting, this isn’t the case with wool. As such, there’s a little more wonk to my lines than usual!
As for thread, I went with my all-time fave pink thread. She just blends seamlessly. Honestly, if there’s one pink thread, I would recommend you have in your stash, it’s this one*.
Here are just a few of the projects I’ve used it in:
- The 100 Day Project Quilt
- Which Way is Up? Quilted Wall Hanging
- Cloud Surfing Improv Quilted Wall Hanging
- Plus Infinity Quilt – the Scrappy One
- Summer Solstice Mini Quilts
- Shattered Star Holiday Quilt
- Shattered Star Baby Quilt – Tilda version
- Shattered Star Lumbar Pillow
BINDING
With so many pillowcases on hand, the binding was a no brainer 😉
Using up pillowcases that would otherwise go unused is just one of the ways I like to incorporate sustainable quilting into my practice. Waste not, want not, right?!
Plus, striped quilt binding is one of my fave looks, so a no-brainer really.
For an extra fun detail, I opted for big stitch hand quilted binding (tutorial on how to do that here) in, you guessed it, that same pink coloured thread, this time in 12 wt*.
FLIGHT PLAN QUILT KITS & INSPIRATION
This modern baby quilt is super easy to stitch up. Piecing triangles can be a little scary, but follow the instructions, take your time, and don’t pull on your fabric and you’ll be rocking triangles in no time flat!
SPROUT WOVENS
Take it from my quilty friend Lisa, who hadn’t pieced triangles before making this gorgeous texture lovers Spout Wovens version, and she loved every minute of it! Saying “I love triangles and they were a breeze with the Wovens!!!!”
You know how much I love working with linen and different fabric substrates in my quilts, but they can tend to stretch and move around on you more than quilting cotton. I had mentioned this to Lisa when she was getting started and turns out she didn’t encounter any wonky issues with the Spout Wovens, didn’t even need starch.
Make a similar version featuring these yummalicious solids available as quilt kits in all 3 quilt sizes!
SCRAP BUSTER
Another fun version is this Fall-inspired scrappy version made by Sanne (@sewbysanne). I love that she used a print for her background fabric. The colours are just a glorious spectrum of all the pretty reds, oranges, yellows, and greens seen in the Fall, with some pops of turquoise. I was instantly smitten when she shared her Flight Plan quilt top with me! A great example of making your stash work!
There are so many fun fabric directions you can go in! This suits the meaning of this quilt perfectly: the importance of following your own path irrespective of what others think. And that applies to fabric pulls too!
I’m a firm believer in the importance of staying true to where your heart wants to go but learning that you sometimes need to take several paths to get there. I remind myself on the daily that life is a journey and I’m trying to appreciate the here and now. Trusting that I’m making the right decisions and staying true to what I want to achieve in life. I know that’s a lot to pack into the meaning of a quilt, but this is what this one represents to me, and I hope that messaging resonates with you too 😊
Get your copy of the new and improved Flight Plan Quilt Pattern in the shop!
Happy quilting!
xo
Shannon
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