We meet the inspiring ‘Colourblind Quilter’ and visit the creative Cairngorms...
I’m currently prepping for our first ever Supercrafts cruise in February ’23 on board the UK’s newest cruise line, Ambassador. We’ll have a wide variety of workshops on board, plus visits to Cape Verde, Morocco, and the Canaries – all fabulous in February! For your chance to join us, just enter the competition on page 62.
Meet Supercrafter Tom Bathgate
Tom had his first taste of sewing in primary school, when he was introduced to a sewing machine and made a patchwork gym bag out of scraps. It was love at first stitch. In 2009, he made his first quilt using a plank of wood as a ruler. “I didn’t know what I was doing but I loved every minute,” he confides. “I turned out a baby quilt, but realised I needed some help! Cue the Internet and Jenny from Missouri Star Quilting Co, and my first sampler quilt was done two weeks later.”
Over the years, whilst refining his technical skills and abilities, Tom realised that colour was something he hadn’t conquered. He has protan colour vision deficiency, which is red/green colour blindness, and affects how his eyes see wavelengths of colours. As colour is a huge part of quilting, not understanding how to match fabrics or being able to differentiate between colours in patterns was a frustrating experience.
Luckily, Tom’s partner and a graphic designer friend were both very supportive, helping him understand colour theory and palettes. “I realised my situation wasn’t unique to me; many people had similar issues, so I started a YouTube channel to share my story. I wasn’t trying to become an authority on quilting, just to relay my experiences in the hope that they might help someone else. The name that came straight to me was ‘The ColourBlind Quilter’.
Being colour blind gives Tom a distinctive take on colours: his vibrant, bright colour palettes or simpler two-tone choices give his work a very different look. In 2021, he also worked on 21 quilts as a pattern tester, which worked wonders for hi
