Two-Color Irish Chain Quilt-Along: Week 8

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!