I can't believe it's the last week of our Quilt-Along!

It's been so fun seeing everyone's Irish Chain Quilts.  I love the adaptability of 

this pattern.  Whether you did two-colors or scrappy, strip piecing or good ol' traditional piecing, 

this pattern is classic and I hope you will love your quilt for many years to come.

This week's assignment is to finally sew all the blocks together and piece the back.

TWIN:

7 X 9 block layout

QUEEN:

9 X 9 block layout

Quilt Top Assembly:

For the twin quilt - sew together 5 rows made up of  4 Checkerboard Blocks and 3 Alternate Blocks each, starting and ending with the Checkerboard Blocks.  Then sew together 4 rows made up of  4 Alternate Blocks and 3 Checkerboard Blocks each, starting and ending with the Alternate Blocks.  Press all the seam allowances toward the Alternate Blocks.  Sew all the rows together (alternating) according to the twin quilt image above.  Press the seam allowances open.

For the queen quilt - sew together 5 rows made up of  5 Checkerboard Blocks and 4 Alternate Blocks each, starting and ending with the Checkerboard Blocks.  Then sew together 4 rows made up of  5 Alternate Blocks and 4 Checkerboard Blocks each, starting and ending with the Alternate Blocks.  Press all the seam allowances toward the Alternate Blocks.  Sew all the rows together (alternating) according to the queen quilt image above.  Press the seam allowances open. 

Note: Make sure the large rectangles in the Alternate Blocks are all going horizontal.

And voila!  Your Irish Chain quilt top is done!!!  

Pat yourself on the back and do a little happy dance!

These aren't great pictures, but here's mine! 

Now that your quilt top is done may I recommend pre-washing your backing fabric?  

We don't want any bleeding so consider washing and pressing it before piecing the back.

I am using this Cotton + Steel Rifle Paper Company Wildwood Peonies in Navy.  I hit up 3 fabric stores with no luck but the moment I walked into the fourth store and saw this, I knew it was the one.

Piece the Back:

For the Twin quilt - 

Cut 5 1/2 yards in half to create 2 pieces that measure approximately 40" x 99" each.

Trim the selvages.  With RST, sew the pieces together along the long edges.  

Press the seam allowances in one direction.  

For the Queen quilt - 

Cut 8 1/4 yards into 3 pieces that measure approximately 40" x 99" each.

Trim the selvages.  With RST, sew the pieces together along the long edges.  

Press the seam allowances in one direction.  

The back of the quilt needs to be 3-4" bigger than your quilt top on each side if you're 

going to have it professionally long-arm quilted.

Now it's time to start thinking about how you're going to quilt it!  Mine is being quilted 

right now.  I asked my quilter to do horizontal straight lines 1" apart and then I'm going to 

look at it (and see how much that cost) before deciding if I want her to do more straight 

lines the other direction to create a crosshatch.  I love crosshatching but my quilter 

was a little concerned about getting all the lines completely perpendicular and I'm concerned 

about the cost since that is basically like quilting it TWICE!  So we shall see!

How are you going to quilt yours?

Once your quilt is quilted, bind it.  For the twin quilt, you will need 9 strips, 2 1/2" x 40" each 

and for the queen quilt, you will need 10 strips, 2 1/2" x 40" each.  I have a tutorial saved in my "highlights" on Instagram with all the details on how I do my bindings.  I need to update my tutorial here on the blog so look for that soon!

Well, this is basically the end of our Quilt-Along.  

I will be back soon with pictures of my finished quilt soon though.  

Please let me know if you have any questions and please, please share your finished quilt with me on Instagram using the hashtag #irishchainqal and tag me @gigis_thimble.  I can't wait to see yours!

Thank you so much for all your kind messages throughout the QAL.  I'm so glad you were along for the ride!

Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along: Week 7

Hello hello!

It's week 7 of the Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along!

Can you believe there's only one week left after this?  It's gone by so fast!

I hope you're staying on schedule because soon you will have a beautiful quilt top!

This week's assignment is quite simple.

Just sew two A sections that you made last week onto opposite sides 

of the 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" color 2 rectangles to create the Alternate Blocks.

TWIN:

Make 31

QUEEN:

Make 40

Directions:

1. Sew an A section to the top of the 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" rectangle.  Repeat with the 

rest of the 6 1/2" x  10 1/2" rectangles for your chosen quilt size.

2. Sew the remaining A sections to the opposite side of the 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" rectangles.

3. Press the seam allowances toward the A sections.

4. Now sit back and enjoy the fact that all your blocks are D-O-N-E!

Yay!!!

That's it for this week!

Have a great day!

Amber

Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along: Week 6

Welcome to week 6 of the Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along!

Did you finish making your Checkerboard Blocks and are you getting excited now?

We are in the home stretch of finishing our Irish Chain quilts!

The assignment for this week is pretty simple - make the A sections for the Alternate Blocks!

Section A (Alternate Block)

Size: 2-1/2" x 10- 1/2" unfinished

TWIN:

Make 62

QUEEN:
Make 80

To make the A sections for the Alternate Block:

1. Sew a color 1 strip, 2-1/2" x 40" to a color 2 strip, 6-1/2" x 40" right sides together (RST). 
Do this 4 times for the Twin quilt or 5 times for the Queen quilt using the chain piecing method.

2. Sew a second color 1 strip onto the opposite side of the color 2 strips RST.

3. Carefully press the seam allowances toward the color 1 strips.

4. Square off the ends of the strip sets.

5. Cut 2-1/2" increments until you have 62 A sections for the Twin quilt 

or 80 A sections for the Queen quilt.

And that's it!

Where are you at with things?  Are you staying caught up, moving ahead or falling behind?

I'd love to hear how it's going.  Leave a comment below.

Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along: Week 5

Welcome to week 5 of the Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along!

We are cruising right along and I think you're going to LOVE this week's assignment because it's time to sew sections A and B together to complete the Checkerboard Blocks!

Checkerboard Blocks:
Twin: make 32
Queen: make 41

1. Sew together one A section and one B section, right sides together (be sure to "nest" opposing seams as you go).  Repeat (using the chain-piecing method) to make 64 checkerboard units for the twin quilt and 82 checkerboard units for the queen quilt.

2. Sew together 2 checkerboard units.  For the twin quilt, make 32 large checkerboard units and for the queen quilt, make 41 large checkerboard units.

3. Sew the remaining A sections onto the B section 

of the large checkerboard units to complete the Checkerboard Blocks.

For the twin quilt, make 32 blocks and for the queen quilt, make 41 blocks.

4. Press the seam allowances toward the center of the blocks.

And that's it!  Aren't they fun blocks!?!

If you'd like to post a photo of your blocks on Instagram, please tag me @gigis_thimble
and use the hashtag #irishchainqal.  I'd love to see them!

Perfectly Pretty Patchwork Book Tour

I am so thrilled to be a part of the Perfectly Pretty Patchwork Book Tour.  

I have admired the author, Kristyne Czepuryk for many years.  

In fact, I even asked Kristyne to guest post on my blog back in 2012 where  

she shared her lovely sewing space in a series I called Sew Inspiring Rooms.  You can 

check it out HERE.  Kristyne is a wife, mother, fabric designer for Moda, 

two-time author, the designer of numerous other patterns for quilts, pouches, 

bags, stockings, etc., and has been featured in several magazines!  Kristyne you amaze me 

and this book is another wonderful accomplishment!

For the book tour, I chose to make a rather small, but sweet item from Kristyne's book.  

It's something I've wanted for a long time so this was just the push I needed!  I made the 3" Needlebook and it was such a fun project!  In fact, I made TWO!  One for me and one for a friend.

 Quilters...we're in the business of making pretty things.  

So why shouldn't our Needlebooks be cute too?!?

I love Kristyne's pattern because it was very customizable.  She had great ideas for 

adding lots of fun details but I kept mine somewhat simple and I still think it's adorable!

I really enjoyed getting outside of my comfort zone and trying something different.

In fact, I was able to learn something new with this project!

Have you ever tried a single-fold binding?  I hadn't!  But it's the perfect kind

of binding for a tiny project like this.  It was easy and it felt good learning something new. 

I finished both of these needlebooks in one afternoon and now I'm excited to give one 

to my quilty friend for her birthday!  I might throw in some of my favorite needles, 

thread and possibly a handmade pouch or bag!

  

Perfectly Pretty Patchwork has 16 projects in it - 8 quilts and 8 smaller projects such as a 

pillow, a pouch, and a pincushion (just to name a few!)

It is such a beautiful, inspirational book Kristyne!  

Thank you for asking me to be a part of your book tour! 

I sure hope the rest of you will check out the other makers on this tour 

and try to get your hands on this lovely book!