Double Irish chain quilt

By Spotlight

A great quilt for the beginner, especially when learning rotary cutting & one that can easily be adapted for interesting variations.

The traditional Double Irish Chain quilt is made from two basic pieced 5-patch blocks using 3 different fabrics or values of fabric - fabric A or dark fabric, fabric B or medium fabric and one background or light fabric. Block 1 is made using 25 squares of light, medium and dark fabrics or fabric A, fabric B and a background fabric and Block 2 is a large centre square surrounded by strips with square cornerstones. When the blocks are alternated, the chain pattern emerges. You will also see the Double Irish Chain made using only two colours, most often red and white, blue and white or pink and white.

Final Result

Materials

• 1.2m dark fabric (includes inner border) - green
• 90cm light fabric - lilac floral
• 1m medium fabric - lilac homespun
• 1.1m outer border fabric - lilac toile
• 150cm x 150cm backing fabric
• 150cm x150cm batting
• matching Gütermann cotton thread
• rotary cutter, mat and quilters rulers
• quilting pins, tape measure
• scissors, seam ripper
• hand needle
• sewing machine with ¼” foot and walking foot

Quilt measures
55” x 55” (140cm x 140cm)

Step 1

We used the strip piecing method to construct the two blocks.

Cutting
All strips are cut across the width of fabric unless otherwise stated.
• From the dark fabric cut 7 x 2½” strips.
• From the light fabric cut 6 x 2½” strips.
• From the medium fabric cut 4 x 6½” strips, crosscut 3 of these into 8 x 10½” rectangles.

Step 2

Quilt top
Block 1 - Sew a 2½” light strip to each side of the 6½” medium fabric strip (diagram 1). Press and crosscut into 16 x 2½” strips. Sew these strips to each side of the 10½” x 6½” rectangles (diagram 2).

Step 3

Block 2
Sew the remaining 2½” strips as shown in diagrams 3, 4 and 5. Press and crosscut into 2½” strips - A, B and C. After cutting, sew the strips together A-B-C-B-A as shown in diagram 6.

Sew the blocks together to create the following rows.

Row 1: block 1, block 2, block 1, block 2. Make 2 of row 2.

Row 2: block 2, block 1, block 2, block 1. Make 2 of row 1.

Sew the rows together alternating row 1 and row 2.

Step 4

Borders
For the inner border cut 8 x 3” strips of dark fabric; sew strips together in pairs to make four long strips. Matching centres, attach inner borders to all four sides.

Cut 8 x 5½” strips of the outer border fabric and sew together in pairs to make four long strips. Again match centres and attach to all four sides.

Step 5

Finishing
Layer backing, batting and quilt top, baste together. Quilt and bind using the dark fabric. Sign and date your quilt or attach a label.

Handy Hint

Select three different fabrics - fabric A, fabric B & one background fabric or three different values of fabric - dark, medium & light.

Note

All fabrics should be 100% cotton, washed & pressed. ¼” seam allowance used throughout unless otherwise indicated. Read all instructions carefully before commencing the quilt.