I’ve always wanted to make an Irish Chain quilt, so I finally did. I just love their simplicity. Earlier this year I purchased fabric for a Christmas tree mini quilt pattern, Wee Three Trees, and since it didn’t require a lot of fabric, I luckily had enough left for an entire quilt, scrappy binding included!
I definitely prefer traditional red and green Christmas colors and this fabric was a perfect choice as it offered peppermints, poinsettias, old-fashioned toy tops and letters to Santa for some old-style fun.
I started piecing this in May and finished in August which seems like it took me a long time, but I made a couple of other quilts in between, and overall, it went together relatively quick. I used precut 2 ½” strips so I was able to strip piece and chain piece the nine patch blocks.
The background fabric is Kona Cotton Snow, which blended nicely with the light colors in the printed fabric. For quilting, I went with my ever-so-popular (and quite possibly ‘overdone’) crosshatch. I made my marks using a hera marker and as usual, it took a lot of time from start to finish.
I thought the crosshatch would give the plain blocks some texture and I quilted my lines 1 ½” apart. I’m pretty happy with the results! It’s also a generous size, finishing at 64 ½” x 76 ½”.
It’s hard to discern, but the backing is white with a faint gray/silver snowflake print. And for some reason that fabric is so soft!
Well, now I’ve got my traditional Irish Chain quilt that I can finally enjoy this holiday season.
Merry Christmas!
Monday Morning Designs 
Beautiful work! 👍
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Thank you for the lovely comment!
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I love this, it’s beautiful! Do you have a pattern available for purchase.
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Thank you so much Jennifer! No, sorry, I don’t have a pattern available. I made my quilt based on a tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co. (adapted to the size I wanted). If you google their tutorials (Irish Chain Quilt) you’ll easily find it.
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Love this quilt! I, too, love Irish chain quilts. I haven’t made one in years. Maybe it’s time again
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Thank you. Irish Chain quilts are timeless, they never go out of style!
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Hi Deb, this quilt so pretty and the cross hatch quilting is prefect. What fabric line did you use?
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Thank you for such nice comments Carmen! I used Greetings by Kaye England for Wilmington Prints along with Kona Cotton Snow for the background.
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Deb, Thank you for the info!
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Really good pictures so I can pick out how to put blocks together quickly. Beautiful work!
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Thank you Donna. I’m glad the photos helped out. It’s a fun and easy quilt to make!
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I was looking for a Christmas quilt to st a rtf for next year and came across y our quilt!! I have always wanted to do an Irish Chain quilt & this is perfect since I was wanting to start a Christmas quilt. It is beautiful!! Thank for the great directions!!
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I’m glad you found my Irish Chain quilt post useful. It was really fun to see it come together; relatively quick too! I think you’ll enjoy making one. Thank you for stopping by my website and for the lovely comments.
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Lovely! What size blocks did you use for the solid Kona blocks /next to the nine patch blocks. Thanks!
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Thank you Laurie. The solid blocks would be 6 1/2″ square, same as the 9 patch.
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where can i get the instructions for the irish Christmas quilt
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Missouri Star Quilt Co. has a tutorial.
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Its gorgeous. Want to make one too and I love the fabric.
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Thank you for the compliments Mary. I hope you get the change to make one!
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I love e your quilt. It is just what I was looking to make for Christmas. How much of the white fabric did it require?
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Hi Sarah,
Thank you for the compliment on my quilt! Sorry, but since I didn’t follow a pattern, I am not sure how much background fabric I used…my best guess is somewhere around five yards.
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Thank you. That will give me a place to start. I am thinking of making bigger.
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Sure, Sarah. I am making another Irish Chain quilt (on point) for my bed so I too will be figuring out background fabric yardage! Thanks for stopping by my website.
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