I’m in love with the Irish ever since we toured the country with a bus load of quilters on a trip that included meeting two quilt guilds, what fun we had! I wrote a book called “Tour of Ireland” and of course had to include an Irish chain quilt.
This is my quilt done with a ‘triple’ Irish chain and the border was inspired by one I’d seen on an antique quilt. I really think the border makes the quilt!
I got curious about the Irish chain quilt when designing mine. What was a stand color way, number of ‘chains’? What do antique Irish chain quilts look like?
This is a classic two-color version. Lots of space for quilting designs and I love the unique border.
This quilt is circa 1860-1880 International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, IQSC Object Number: 1997.007.0884
Another two-color version with a simple border… and it’s big at 102″ x 102″. Many of the Amish versions used a background color.
This quilt is circa 1800 from the International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, IQSC Object Number: 2003.003.0289
I think lots of quilters today think of the Irish chain with 30’s fabrics. This is a super example of a scrappy version. This is officially on my LONG list of quilts to make!
This quilt is Dated 1939 from the International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, IQSC Object Number: 1997.007.0447
Have you made an Irish chain… yet?
~Pat Sloan
DianeP
Yes, I made an Irish Chain quilt several years ago. The chains are green and white – I fused some red hearts together in the big white spaces to form shamrocks. This way, I can use the red hearts to celebrate Valentine’s Day and the green Irish chain for St. Patrick’s day.
trillium
No, haven’t made one yet. The greens in your first one are beautiful together.