Free fabric is used in this quilt made out of a tailor's sample book. These books were (and still are) given to tailors by the mills to allow their customers to choose the fabric for a garment. The limited palette of colours gives this quilt a sombre austere appearance which is undiluted by any attempt to cut the rectangles into fancy shapes. It is however immensely enhanced by the bold red stitching of the one spiral that covers the whole quilt. This spirited intuitive stitching is what distinguishes Welsh quilts from all others and makes them so exciting.

A great many Tailors Sample Quilts were made during the 19th and into the 20th century. Many of these were produced in the lofts of the woollen mills, made up of small squares or rectangles of flannel, serge and tweed, taken principally from sample books, sewn together and backed with lengths of woollen cloth. Very often these were straight patchwork with very little lining or stitchwork. 

Red Paisley was exceedingly popular for use in quilt-making especially during the 19th and early 20th century, and the diversity of prints is glorious.