Here we are on Friday the 27th, heralding the final weekend of March. Will you have some time to sew/quilt? Will you be working on your “Churn Dash” blocks for the “Sisters” BOM QAL? (If you are new to the blog, click on the “SISTERS BOM QAL” tab to see the first three blocks in our 2020 quilt along. All the participants attest that the blocks are not too difficult, so you can easily catch up and quilt along with us.)
I’m happy to report that my UFO, “Irish Chain,” is finished. Since I intend to gift it to a senior at the VA Hospital or a local nursing home, I thought about quilting a meandering motif all over. This would be a simple and quick design. But then I took a closer look at the floral and vine print in the “Nine Patches” and thought of free- handing heart-shaped leaves and loops. I really do enjoy quilting this design; I can quilt it at an even speed and don’t even engage the stitch regulator feature for my longarm! I used a medium dark gray thread which blends nicely in the darker fabrics and adds a bit of texture to the light gray background squares.
I bound the quilt with the same red print as the setting triangles (an older VIP Cranston print transferred from my mother-in-law’s stash to mine; thanks, Cynthia!). Tip: If you apply both steps of binding by machine as I did on this quilt, make sure the bobbin thread matches the color of the border on the front of the quilt. For example, my border triangles are dark red, so I used dark red thread in the bobbin as I applied the binding first to the back of the quilt. By doing this, the machine stitches of Step #1 won’t show glaringly if I fail to completely cover them when I fold over the binding to the front of the quilt for Step #2 stitching.
While sewing this quilt, I found myself humming and singing a favorite hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” We surely can rely on His help during this COVID-19 pandemic. How comforting to know He has the whole world in His hands! Click here to listen to this hymn via You Tube.
It’s stunning! Love Irish Chain.
Thanks, Andrea! Now that I have finished this quilt, I wonder how the design would look with multi colored squares and white background.
So beautiful! The fabrics and quilting are complimentary and this will be a priceless gift to some blessed veteran or recipient. Your artist’s eye even photographs in an amazing way. The diamonds of the chain link imitate the quilt. ❤️
Thank you, PAM! I hope you and your family are healthy and safe!
Beautiful!
Thank you, Nina! Is Irish Chain in your quilt bucket list?
It is now after seeing yours!
Hi Aby, How are you holding up? That”s a good tip about thread color matching. Hang in there. Charlie
Pretty , looks difficult to me.
Thanks, Darla. It is a fairly easy…Nine Patches and alternate squares.
I love your quiltJust beautiful!
Thank you, Gretchen. What are you sewing on these days?
Beautiful quilt Aby!! I love the color and the quilting!
Thanks, Liz. What are you working on these days?
Love how the quilt turned out. Bet you are glad to have yet another quilt done. I’m looking forward to the next block in the Sisters quilt along.