How to make: an Irish Chain quilt
As you may have noticed, lately, I can't get enough of simple and traditional quilts- and what's more simple (and beautiful) than the Irish chain? This one uses slightly larger squares to make it an extra speedy finish :-)
NB: If you want to make a small throw/ large crib size Irish chain, you can find the tutorial for that here.
The instructions make an 81" x 81" quilt which is a decent bed sized quilt.
Fabric:
Fabric A (Background- in my example I used the blue) : 4.25 yards
Fabric B (Contrasting- in my example I used the cream): 1.75 yards (NB: This is the exact amount you need so you may want to get 2 yards to be safe)
Backing fabric: 5.5 yards
Binding fabric: 0.5 yards
Cutting Instructions:
Background Fabric:
- (10) 9.5" x Width of Fabric (WOF), subcut into (40) 9.5" x 9.5" squares
- (15) 3.5" x WOF strips
Contrasting Fabric:
- (18) 3.5" x WOF strips
Now it's time to sew!
Take (2) 3.5" contrasting strips and (1) 3.5" background strip and sew together using 1/4" seam:
Repeat to make a total of (7) strip sets that are contrasting-background-contrasting
Now take (2) background strips and (1) contrasting strip and sew together using 1/4" seams
Repeat to make a total of (4) strip sets that are background-contrasting-background
Trim off the uneven edges and then from each strip set cut (12) 3.5" strips:
In total you will have:
(84) pieces that are contrasting-background-contrasting
(48) pieces that are background-contrasting-background
Now it's time to build our blocks! For each block, you will need:
(2) contrasting-background-contrasting pieces
(1) background-contrasting-background pieces
We will make 41 blocks in total.
NB: You will have a few extra strip pieces left at the end
And now it's time to assemble our quilt!
First we will make the rows:
We need five rows that start and end with our small squares block:
And four rows that start and send with the solid block:
Then we can assemble our rows- the final quilt will be 9 blocks wide by 9 block tall:
And your quilt top is done! Baste, quilt and bind as desired.
I used a floral backing and gingham binding for a nice timeless look :-)
I did big wavy stitch on a diagonal (going in both ways) which formed this lovely pattern.
One of my favourite quilts- I hope you enjoy making this and let me know if you have any questions!
