I used the fill pattern "checkerboard" but it's black and white and I want different colours. Is there a means to change the colours? I want multiple checkerboard patterned objects in different combinations of colours.

I'd rather not have to make my own pattern because that completely defeats the object of having premade patterns. I think you should be able to change the colours of patterns like you can change the colours of gradients. I can't figure out where the relevant crap is in the XML editor so I gave up on that approach too.

The least computationally expensive way is to make your own pattern, which is easy to do (make two squares, snap one of their corners together, Ctrl+G, Object > Patterns > Object to Pattern). You can also add your new pattern to the patterns file, or create a template that contains all the patterns you need.

As a workaround that takes some more computational powers, but does not require creating custom patterns, you can apply a filter to your object, to colorize the fill.

For feature requests, such as adding a dialog for changing colors of stock patterns, please visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape.

I've always felt that the default greyscale patterns are coloured that way so that you can easily use them to mask another object. E.g. if you want (say) yellow and blue for your checkerboard, you would do the folllowing:

1) Create one shape, fill it with yellow.
2) Duplicate it (CTRL-D) and fill with blue.
3) Duplicate the blue one and fill it with the Checkerboard White pattern.
4) Select both the blue shape and the filled one (e.g. ALT-click to select the blue, then SHIFT-click to add the top one to the selection). The status bar should show two objects selected.
5) Right-click (context menu), then "Set Mask" (or use Object > Mask > Set).
6) Optionally select both your masked object and the yellow one, and group them together so you can move them more easily.

Once you get the hang of it, it's faster than it sounds.