How To Make An Irish Chain Quilt
Welcome to the August Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and you too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! This month, I chose to make an Irish Chain Quilt. My inspiration came from this pin from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. They have great tutorial videos!
Irish Chain Quilt
This quilt is made for my soon to be sister-in-law. Her house is decorated in white and gray so I thought this would be perfect. However, I was a little disappointed in the final product.
It began with the size of the strips I purchased. The precut fabric (called jelly rolls) are supposed to be 2 ½” wide. The gray I purchased was JoAnn brand and it was slightly less wide than it should have been. I thought it would be ok but after looking at the finished quilt top I can tell it caused some gaps. 😥 The second issue I had was the white color. The white I purchased for the small squares is a little bit whiter than the fabric I purchased for the larger squares. Overall it turned out ok but I am just a little disappointed. So enough complaining – here’s how I made it:
Materials:
jelly rolls of gray fabric (I used 2 for this quilt)
jelly roll of white fabric (I used 1 for this quilt)
1.5- 2 yards of white fabric for larger squares
Backing fabric color of choice
Directions:
Sew rows of dark and white strips together. Grab 2 dark strips and 1 white strip and sew those together dark\white\dark using a ¼” seam. Then grab 2 white strips and 1 dark strip. Sew those together white\dark\white. You will need twice as many with 2 dark pieces. After you have your rows of 3 sewn together, cut those into 2 ½” strips as shown in the middle picture below. Finally you will sew those sections together as shown in the last picture below (the ones with 2 dark sections go on the outside, 2 white sections go inside). The blocks that are formed will be 7″.
Cut 7″ blocks from the white yardage fabric (make sure it matches your other white haha!). The blocks when sewn together will be 6″ squares. Decide how large you would like your quilt and that will determine how many of each type of block you need. A full mattress measures about 54″ x 75″ so that would be 9 blocks by 13 blocks for a total of 117. That will just cover the top so if you want it to drop on the sides you would have to add more.
Sew all the blocks together with a ¼” seam. Add a border if desired. The final steps are to add a backing and batting, quilt it then put a binding on. Then celebrate because it’s finished!
Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!
My Pinterventures • Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Sew Crafty Crochet • Eye Love Knots • My Sweet Things
Across the Boulevard • Suzerspace • Purple Hues and Me
My Family Thyme • Mom Home Guide • Love My Little Cottage
Our Unschooling Journey • Intelligent Domestications
Our Crafty Mom • Life Beyond the Kitchen • K’s Olympic Nest
Sum of their Stories • Farm Girl Reformed • DIY Adulation
Stone Cottage Adventures • This Autoimmune Life
Our Good Life • Domestic Deadline • Blogghetti
To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ September Pinterest Challenge
Now, let’s see what the other hosts have created ⇓⇓
Matching fabric can be hard, but sometimes we are just to hard on ourselves. I know your sister in law will love it. I think it looks amazing!
I think the quilt looks great! Your sister-in-law will love it and appreciate that it was handmade with love. Handmade gifts are the best! And I admire quilters. I always get intimidated by quilting. Great job!
I love the pattern and color combination! WOW! Quilts are a lot of work. This one is beautiful. I bet your sister-in-law will be thrilled to receive it! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
I think that turned out beautiful! I know it can be so hard to be so critical of what we make (especially when they don’t turn out the way we planned). Pinned.
Wow, it’s beautiful. It looks so complicated and it’s only when I saw your seperate blocks that I realise just how simple the design is. Honestly those larger white squares just look a little like a pale yellow or cream and like part of the design. I love it!
Thanks for being so kind Julie!
What a beautiful quilt! A treasure for years to enjoy for sure.
Thanks so much Lisa!
I think it looks great, and I think your new sister-in-law will love it! I love quilts!
I think the quilt turned out great. I’ve always loved handmade quilts. My grandmother used to make crazy quilts, so I don’t mind any flaws 🙂
Nothing beats a handmade quilt made with love. Your sister in law will love this and cherish it forever. Excellent Job!
That looks like a lot of work. I’m sorry there were a few things about it that you didn’t like. The flaws are probably not as noticeable as you think.
What a beautiful quilt! You are so talented! I have always wanted to learn how to quilt and your directions make it look like something I could try. Thank you for this inspiration!
I’m impressed! I have “make a quilt” on my to-do list… it’s been on there for years and I still haven’t made one. But I did recently buy the fabric to make one to go in our master bedroom. Now I just have to actually make it. Thanks for the inspiration. Pinning!