I created my scrappy Irish chain quilt using the Red Pepper Quilts tutorial. The tutorial was easy to follow, and I’m quite pleased with the result. I made mine with twenty blocks rather than twenty-five, resulting in a finished quilt 56″ by 70″. Each block is 7 by 7 squares (49 squares total) and each square is 2×2 inches.
Fabric
The main motif was made using three four fabrics:
Grid Bits in Gold from Carkai by Carolyn Friedlander
Dentals in Pepper from Carkai by Carolyn Friedlander
Breeze in Sky from Doe by Carolyn Friedlander
Essex in White by Robert Kaufmann
The rest of the quilt was done using scraps left over from previous projects. I didn’t purchase any new fabric for the 55 to 60% of the quilt that wasn’t part of the main motif. It was definitely good to thin down my scrap storage a bit, though I still have plenty left.
The binding was done with Essex in Ivory by Robert Kaufmann.
The back was done with some extra Friedlander and Lotta Jansdottir fabric, as well as a large piece of green and white fabric I don’t know the origin of.
Batting
Once again I used my favorite batting, 100% wool from Quilter’s Dream. As always, it’s a bit harder to work with, but I love how light and warm the resulting quilt is. I had it draped over me as I was sewing the binding, and it felt lovely.
Thread
Piecing and hand-sewing the binding was done with Aurifil Mako 50 Wt in White (2024). Quilting was done with Aurifil Mako 40 Wt in Natural White (2021). I also used 2021 to sew the binding to the front of the quilt.
Quilting
I straight-line quilted the whole thing in a 4-inch grid, just like the last quilt I did. A four inch grid should be plenty to make it sturdy and robust to heavy use, but it’s light enough quilting to keep the quilt nice and soft.
Binding
As usual, I did a double fold binding and hand-sewed it to the back. I also did my usual hand-appliqued label on the back as well.
The quilt is intended for my uncle who is fighting a recurrence of Stage 4 colon cancer. The chemo makes him so sensitive to the cold, he has to use gloves to get things out of the freezer. I’m hoping a wooly quilt will be useful even though the weather is warming.