How to Make an Irish Chain Quilt in a Day
Squares arranged to form diagonal lines form the basis for Irish chain quilts. Any color combination is acceptable for Irish chain quilts, but traditional green and white or cream add an Irish flair. Quilt in a Day notes, "It has been suggested that the Irish Chain pattern may have been inspired by a similar Irish weaving pattern." Quilters first made the Irish chain pattern around the time of the American Revolutionary War.
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Things You'll Need
- Cutting mat
- 2 1/4 yd. cream muslin
- 1 yd. green muslin
- Quilter's ruler
- Rotary cutter
- 1 roll of batting
- Sewing machine
- Scissors
- 1 spool cream sewing thread
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Pen
- Scrap paper
- Pins
- Sewing needle
- Tapestry needle
- Green yarn
Instructions
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Cut the Pieces
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1
Put the cutting mat on a flat surface, such as a counter or table.
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2
Fold the cream muslin and green muslin fabric in half lengthwise.
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3
Lay the folded cream muslin on the cutting mat. Measure with a quilter's ruler and cut 10 8-inch squares and one 30-inch by 38-inch rectangle with the rotary cutter.
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4
Lay the folded green muslin on top of the cream muslin. Line up the edges of the four layers of muslin.
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5
Measure and cut 3-inch wide vertical strips, starting from the left side of the folded fabrics. Press down firmly on the quilter's ruler and rotary cutter. Cut all of the fabric you have left.
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6
Roll out the batting on the cutting mat and fold the batting lengthwise. Measure the batting with the quilter's ruler, and cut one 30-inch by 38-inch piece of batting using the rotary cutter.
Sew the Quilt -- Part One
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7
Put a stack of green strips and a stack of cream strips vertically by your sewing machine.
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8
Fold a fabric strip from the left stack onto the right stack. Match up the edges. Sew a one-quarter inch seam along the left side of the strips with the sewing machine and straight stitch. As soon as you reach the end of the seam, feed another two strips into the sewing machine. Seam the strips end to end until you have used half of the strips.
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9
Cut the threads attaching the strips together with scissors.
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10
Sew a green strip onto the right side of the cream strip for half of the two-strip combos. Sew a cream strip onto the left side of the green strip for the other half of the two-strip combos.
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11
Iron the seams in the groups of two green strips to the outside edges on an ironing board. Iron the seams in the groups of two cream strips to the middle.
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12
Stack two layers of three strips on the cutting mat, seams horizontal. Line up the edges. Measure 3 inches from the left side of the pieced strips with the quilter's ruler. Cut 3-inch columns with the rotary cutter until the end of the two strips. Continue to layer and cut the three sewn strips in this manner until all of the strips are cut into 3-inch columns.
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13
Stack the columns vertically and left to right by your sewing machine. Put a stack of 10 columns with two green squares, a stack of 10 columns with two cream squares, and a stack of 10 columns with two green squares.
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14
Sew the columns together the same way you sewed the strips of fabric. Sew the left and middle columns together. Then sew the right column onto the middle column. You have 10 pieced blocks.
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15
Iron the blocks' seams in either direction.
Sew the Quilt -- Part Two
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16
Lay out the first row of the quilt on a flat surface. Alternate one cream 8-inch square, one pieced block, another cream 8-inch square and finally a pieced block.
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17
Lay out four more rows, one underneath the next. Alternate the blocks in each row, starting with a pieced block in the second row, a cream square in the third row, a pieced block in the fourth row and a cream square in the fifth row.
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18
Write the numbers "1" through "5" on five pieces of scrap paper with a pen. Pin the papers onto the first block in each row, corresponding to the number of the row.
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19
Fold the first and third blocks in each row onto the block to the right, right sides together.
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20
Sew one-quarter inch away from the left edges of each group of two blocks with the sewing machine and a straight stitch. Feed the blocks into the sewing machine one after another. After the last two blocks are sewn together, cut the seam thread connecting the blocks.
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21
Open the blocks and lay the blocks back on the flat surface, in the exact color layout the blocks were in originally.
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22
Fold the two sewn blocks on the left side over onto the two sewn blocks on the right side in each row.
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23
Sew the groups of four blocks together the same way you sewed the groups of two blocks together. You now have the five quilt rows.
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24
Iron the first, third and fifth row seams to the right. Iron the second and fourth row seams to the left.
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25
Sew each row to the row below it, the same way you have been sewing the quilt together. Use the papers you pinned to the first blocks to tell you which row is which. Iron the finished quilt top.
Finish the Quilt
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26
Lay the 30-inch by 38-inch piece of batting on a flat surface. Put the 30-inch by 38-inch cream backing fabric on top of the batting, right side up. Place the pieced quilt (front side down) on top of the backing fabric. Line up the edges and pin the three layers together.
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27
Start at the bottom of the quilt and sew one-quarter inch away from the quilt edges with the sewing machine and a straight stitch. Stop sewing 5 inches from where you started at the bottom of the quilt.
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28
Turn the quilt inside out through the hole at the bottom seam. Pull out the corners of the quilt with a pin.
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29
Fold the raw edges of the hole in the bottom of the quilt under one-quarter inch. Pin the edges together.
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30
Hand sew the hole together with a ladder stitch, using a sewing needle and the same thread you sewed the quilt with. Remove the pins. Remove the five pieces of scrap paper and pins.
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1
Tips & Warnings
The directions in the steps make a 29 1/2-inch by 37 1/2-inch quilt.
Use a tapestry needle and green yarn to take one stitch in the middle of each large cream square. Cut the yarn leaving 2-inch yarn tails. Tie the two yarn tails in a double knot to keep the quilt layers together.
Be careful when using your iron so you do not burn yourself or the fabric.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
