Project Quilting 15.6: Irish Chain

It's hard to believe, but this is the last week of the 15th season of Project Quilting. Thanks so much to Kim and Trish for another fun season of challenges. The final challenge for the year is to make something inspired by the traditional Irish Chain quilt design.

The first quilt I ever made was an Irish Chain quilt that my sister Karen and I did together as a wedding gift for our brother and his wife in 1995. I've also made other Irish Chain quilts through the years and always enjoy returning to this classic pattern.

Double Irish Chain quilt top, 1995

I've continued the theme from my earlier Project Quilting pieces this year by making an Irish Chain placemat. I thought about using greens to go along with the theme, but ended up pulling out some favorite blue and yellow fabrics instead.

The diagonal quilting lines show up much better on the back.

I thought it would be fun to get a look at all the placemats I've made for the different Project Quilting challenges this year. It's fun to see the wide variety of fabrics and styles.

Left column top to bottom--15.1: Bird's Nest, 15.2: Sky Color, 15.3: Inside Out (x 2)

Right column top to bottom--15.4: Hourglass, 15.5 Wearables (x 2), 15.6 Irish Chain 

All of these placemats will be donated to Meals on Wheels by our quilt guild. I will continue making placemats throughout the year, even without the continuing Project Quilting challenges.

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 15.6 at Persimon Dreams

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Project Quilting 14.1 "The First One"

It's time to begin season #14 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken. The first challenge was announced on January 1st, and our deadline is noon CST on Sunday, January 8th.

The theme for the first challenge is "The First One." All entries should be the creator's interpretation of that theme. My immediate thought on reading the challenge was to make an Irish Chain because that was the first quilt I ever made. My sister Karen and I made an Irish Chain quilt together in 1995 as a wedding gift for our brother. She had been quilting for several years prior to that, and I was hooked right from the start!

Irish Chain quilt top, 1995

While debating what to make for the Project Quilting entry, I also realized that I had taught the Irish Chain design in a beginning quilting class in 2001. It turned out to be a poor choice for beginners because of the precision needed for the two different blocks to fit together. I still have one of the quilts I made as a class sample.

Irish Chain quilt, 2001

43" x 63"

I discovered that I also had scraps of the same fabrics used in that quilt. They came together quickly into an Irish Chain placemat, with the very old Cranston Print Works plaid for the back.

Irish Chain placemat, 14" x 18"

That's my entry for the first round of Project Quilting, Season 14! It is also my first new project and first finished project for 2023. Lots of firsts, all in one little placemat!

The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted at noon CST on Sunday, January 15th. Come join the fun!

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Quilting Throwback Thursday

This post was first published in late July of 2015, but I am linking it up now (8/4/2016) to Throwback Thursday at A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

 

It's time for the quilting version of Throwback Thursday over at Krista Quilts. Last Thursday Krista showed photos of one of her early quilt projects, and I suggested she host a linky party each week for Throwback Thursday. I'm so glad she decided to go ahead with the idea. I am looking forward to sharing photos and stories of early quilt projects.

It seemed like the place to start should be my first quilt. In 1994 I made a patchwork Christmas tree skirt for my mother. I had no prior quilting experience and made up my own pattern for the tree skirt. It's far from perfect, but I enjoyed the experience. 

After that, my sister Karen (who had been quilting for several years) suggested that we make a quilt together for our brother's wedding. One weekend in April, 1995, I met her at her house where she had picked out a few possible patterns. We decided to go with the Double Irish Chain, using Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day book as our guide. That same day we shopped for fabric, washed and dried it, then started cutting and piecing. Here is our first block.

How about those 90's fabrics? Actually, I still love the light background print. We kept working the rest of that Saturday and all day Sunday. By the end of Sunday we had the entire center of the quilt together. To tell the truth, I can't remember if we got the borders pieced and stitched on that weekend or not. It's possible that we got together another weekend to finish up.

We pieced the border of squares on point seminole style. It didn't turn out quite the right size, so we just trimmed it off at the length needed.

This was my first quilt experience, and I was immediately hooked! It has been a wonderful 20-year journey, and I am looking forward to sharing early, pre-blog projects on upcoming Thursdays.

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at Krista Quilts. Even better, add your own Throwback Thursday quilting post to the link-up.

Julie in GA

Stash Report Sunday 5/12/13

I fell off the no-fabric-buying wagon in a big way this week. When I took my Turning Leaves quilt to my friend Jan for longarm quilting, she pointed out a bin of fabric that she was selling for a friend who had given up quilting. They were all very nice quilt shop fabrics priced at $2 per yard, $3 for batiks. How could I resist those prices?!! Most of what I got were large pieces that will be good for backing (the medium blue on the left) or backgrounds (the white with tiny red stars and the yellow.) The rest are smaller (1/2 - 3/4 yard) pieces.

I was going through a box of quilt tops recently, most of which were made in the late 1990's up to about 2003 when I went on the road.  One was this Irish Chain that I made as a beginning quilting class sample.  I discovered that this pattern was not a good choice for beginners--a very accurate 1/4" seam is necessary for these blocks to fit together.  That was too difficult for new quilters and led to lots of frustration.

This is not a quilt I feel the need to finish for myself, but it is the perfect size for a Quilt of Valor.  I think that the medium blue fabric I just bought will be perfect for the back.  I just needed to add another fabric to get a little more length to make it big enough.

I have a question for others who participate in the weekly Stash Reports.  Would you count the fabric in the Irish Chain quilt top as yardage used?  The fabric in that top hasn't been "yardage" for a long time, but it has been taking up space in my sewing room all those years.  

Used this week:   4.75 yard  (back for Irish Chain quilt)
Used year to date:  29 yards    

Added this week:   15.75 yards   

Added year to date: 20 yards

Net year to date:  9 yards used 

Check out more stash reports at Patchwork Times.

Julie