- 1). Cut your chain fabric into strips that measure 2 1/2 inches wide.
Irish Chain quilts consist of chains on background fabric. Most quilts have one color of background fabric with chains of one color or many colors. If you have decided on multicolored chains, cut one strip from each fabric that you have. For one-colored chains, cut multiple strips from the same fabric.
The number of final strips will depend on the size of your desired quilt. - 2). Cut strips from your background fabric that measure 2 1/2 inches wide. Cut the same number of background strips as the total of chain strips that you cut.
- 3). Lay one chain strip on the table with the right side--the brighter colored side--facing up. Place one background strip on top of the chain strip, with the right side down and touching the chain strip. Pin along one long raw edge.
- 4). Stitch together the two strips along the pinned edge, using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Remove the stitched fabric from the sewing machine and open up the seamed piece. Lay it on the table with the right side up.
- 5). Place another chain strip on top of the background strip, with the right sides facing. Pin the raw edges together, and stitch the edges using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Place the finished piece on the table.
You now have a piece of striped fabric consisting of two chain fabrics and one background fabric. Make more sets like this as needed for your quilt size. - 6). Create another set of striped fabrics by stitching two background pieces to the outside edges of one chain piece. Create an equal number of these sets, which are the opposite of the ones you first created.
- 7). Place a striped set on the cutting mat with the stripes running horizontally and the left edge lined up with one of the cutting lines. Use the ruler and rotary cutter to slice the strip into 2 1/2 inch pieces.
Cut all of the strips into pieces of this same size. - 8). Lay out one piece of fabric--with chain pieces on the ends--and top it with one piece that has background pieces at the ends. Pin the long edges together and sew this edge.
Lay another piece--with chain end pieces--on the other side of the background-ended piece, and pin and stitch this seam. You now have a block of nine squares in a tic-tac-toe design, with the chain fabric at the corners and in the center.
Continue sewing all of the pieces into blocks in this manner. - 9). Cut background fabric into 6 1/2 inch strips and then cut the strips into 6 1/2 inch squares. Lay one pieced block on the table--right side up--and lay one background square on top of it with the right sides together. Pin one edge, and sew it together. Open up the seamed fabrics, and add another pieced block to the other side of the background block. Add another background block after the pieced block.
Keep adding pieces--alternating pieced and background blocks--until you have the desired width of your quilt. Make sure that you use an even number of blocks. - 10
Make another row of blocks, this time beginning with a background block and finishing the row with a pieced block. Make alternating rows in this manner until you have the amount of rows to finish your desired quilt length. - 11
Piece together your quilt block strips, alternating one strip that begins with the pieced block with another strip that begins with the background block. Sew all the strips together to finish your Irish Chain quilt top.
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