One of my best-selling patterns is Pine trip. This pattern has a lot of my favorite things rolled into one:
- Strip piecing (quick and satisfying)
- Two different blocks (keeps it interesting)
- A classic block – Trip Around the World – interpreted in a new way
- And a touch of retro cabin vibe
The inspiration came from 1970s wall hangings you often see in Norwegian cabins with pine interiors. You know the kind – cozy, graphic, a little nostalgic. I love that this very Norwegian starting point has ended up resonating with quilters all over the world.
Even though the pattern is written for six fabrics, I included cutting instructions for single blocks as well. You can even strip piece those single blocks. So ever since Pine trip launched last spring, I’ve had a scrappy version in the back of my mind.
Choosing the quilt color scheme
I really liked the original color scheme with muted red, mustard yellow, and teal, so I wanted to keep that feeling – just in a scrappier way. In the end I decided to remove the red from the quilt top and save it for the backing and binding instead. That left me with teal and yellow/orange fabrics, plus a mix of white-ish low-volumes for the background.
Perfect excuse to dive into my stash.
With only a couple of exceptions (hello, Tilda gingham!), this quilt is almost entirely Ruby Star Society fabrics. And as you can see, I finally found a fun way to use some of my precious out-of-print balloon dogs!
That dice fabric on a soft sage green background is so versatile – it's one of my favourites! That one's from the Tarry town collection.
Tip for organising a scrappy quilt
For this quilt I decided to cut everything first, using the single-block cutting instructions from the pattern. I kept the pieces for each block together in small stacks, secured with clips, and stored them on a tray. That turned out to be a brilliant system – whenever I had a little spare time, I could just grab a stack and sew a block together in no time.
I strip pieced the blocks exactly as described in the pattern. You make mini strip sets that are just 10 ½" long and cut the required units from each set. There’s a little bit of extra length at the end, just to allow for accurate trimming.
Strip piecing really helps with accuracy, and I always include detailed pressing instructions in my patterns so the seams nest nicely on the back. The Pine trip quilt pattern is no exception – although I realized afterwards that I completely forgot to take a photo of those perfectly nested seams. Oops!
The result is a happy and scrappy quilt full of some of my favorite fabrics. There are too many to list them all, but the quilt includes prints from several different Ruby Star lines, some going years back. And fun fact: many of them are still available now in February 2026.
For the backing and binding I chose a red woven gingham. Fun fact: In Norway we call gingham “kjøkkenruter” – kitchen squares – because this fabric was traditionally used for kitchen curtains and aprons. I love the cozy touch it adds, and it sends me right back to home economics class in school, where we'd all wear gingham aprons that we had made ourselves!
For quilting, I went with a diagonal cross hatch that I did on my domestic machine. Quilts that are larger than a throw I prefer to have longarmed to save my shoulders and neck – but a throw size works okay without too much wrestling. And a cross hatch is pretty easy to do, even without marking the lines. I just eyeball it by following the corners on the squares, and if the lines get a little wonky, I don't mind. My quilts are utility items, not showpieces!
I cut the binding strips on the bias, which gives a nice soft finish. If I had remembered in time, I might have done rounded corners on this quilt like I did on the Atlantic Herring quilt – but I didn’t think of it until the binding was already on. Oh well! It’s pretty cute with regular corners too.
If you want to try bias binding and rounded corners yourself, I have a step-by-step tutorial right here.
I made the throw size, which finishes at 70" x 70" (178 x 178 cm). The pattern also includes:
- Baby size: 42" x 42" (107 x 107 cm)
- Queen size: 98" x 98" (249 x 249 cm)
And yes – it’s totally beginner friendly, and the strip piecing technique is explained in the pattern, of course. Find the Pine trip quilt pattern here!
If you’d like to see how my amazing pattern testers interpreted Pine trip, check out this blog post. Their versions are all so different and so fun!
