My planned project - and some questions

[Tobus]

Tobus:
Just curious if you worked-up the courage to try the old electric Singer yet?

Not yet, but one of these days perhaps. For the moment, I'm going to put my labour into the treadle machine. I'm pretty sure it (the treadle Singer) just needs a good cleaning, oiling, and some minor adjustments once I get the new belt on. The electric Singer, on the other hand, is going to need wiring work - some of it is covered with black electrical tape - and some rubber parts replaced. Apparently replacement parts are fairly easily found, and even the motor can be completely rebuilt if needed. But that's more of a project than I want to get into right now, if I can make-do with the treadle machine.

I did a crude mock-up of how this blanket should look with my intended layout. This is using photos of the actual tartans I'll be using, although I may play around with their arrangement/layout a bit. Despite the mock-up visual, my tartan scraps won't all display the same portions of the sett. Each piece will be unique and likely not centred in the tartan pattern to minimize waste. Also, of the various pieces that I have, many of them are different size setts which will make it more visually interesting. I'm tempted to put some of them on the bias (diagonal), but I'm not sure I want to stray too far into artsy territory. I'm a professional engineer; I like squares and straight lines.

The tartan patches are:
Black Watch (modern)
Black Watch (ancient)
Black Watch (Wilson's colours)
MacKenzie/Seaforth
Gordon
Sutherland
USMC