Thursday, October 24, 2019

Tutorial Throwback Thursday - Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain!!!

It's Thursday and that means another Tutorial Throwback feature.  As I mentioned on Monday, I spent last weekend sharing my Irish Chain Quilts and when I shared this Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain quilt as part of my trunk show I just knew it would be perfect for today's throwback!!! 


I absolutely love how happy and scrappy this quilt is!!! I love collecting 2 1/2" squares and I keep them divided by color.  I find that is a great way to store them as it makes starting rainbow quilts super fast and fun!!!   And of course, the Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain tutorial goes over just how many of each color you need ;)  I also love that I used up all of the bits and pieces of my solid neutral yardage in this quilt!!  You know, all of those 1/4 and  1/3 of a yard cuts that you have leftover from making a big quilt.   They worked perfect for the background of this quilt and I love how it adds that low volume flair!!!  


I actually made most of the blocks for this Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain quilt while making the quilts from my Irish Chain Quilts book.  These were my Leaders and Enders project at that time, which if you haven't tried before I highly recommend checking out this tutorial!!    It's like making a free quilt while working on other projects.   And this Leader and Ender project started out as 4 patches, but then I had so much Irish Chain Quilts on the brain, it morphed into this Single Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt.  And I just love it!!!  I finished this Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain quilt quilt just in time for the big release of my Irish Chain Quilts book so ya, between it's finish time and piecing progress, it always has had special place in my heart. 


So as I said, I had the blocks made up , but then they sat and waited.   Sometimes that just happens in the craziness.  Finally, when I realized I really wanted this to be finished before  Irish Chain Quilts was released, I got going on piecing the blocks into the quilt top and then quilting and binding it.    And when it came time to quilt it, I had some serious color fun!!!  I figured it waited so long, it needed something special!!!  I quilted all of the background in swirls in my favorite 402 So Fine, and then for the blocks, I changed out colors of Fantastico Thread  which is an awesome variegated thread.  I had a spool for each of the 6 basic colors that are variegated in hues of that color, so fun!!!    I love how it just made the colored blocks pop all the more!!!! 


And what yummy texture!!!  This quilt is still a treasure today and has a special place on the quilt racks outside my little sewing room.   In fact, that rack is my "Classic Irish Chain Rack" as it has this Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain, my Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain, my Splendid Sampler Irish Chain, and my Double Irish Chain, which is the first quilt my mother made, and she made it for my wedding.  So Irish Chains were mine (and my mother's) introduction to quilting which is why they are so special to me!!!   


I hope you have enjoyed today's Tutorial Throwback Thursday!!!    To make your own Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain quilt  just click on any of the quilt name links for the free step by step tutorial.  It finishes at 86" x 86" so it is a nice big quilt.    And when you are done, I would love to see your quilt!!  You can email me a picture at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com, post it to social media with #happyquiltingwithmc.    I can't wait to see your Super Scrappy Single Irish Chain quilts!!!


Thanks for popping in today and have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!
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6 comments:

  1. It is a beauty! Someday I am going to finally make an Irish Chain quilt!

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  2. So beautiful --- I'm working on a 2 1/2" square scrap -- making hearts out of the dark colors -- I have 14 of the 25 blocks done

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  3. I love this pattern. It is perfect for scraps, and I have a lot of them. I could probably make 25 irish chain quilts and sew them together and make a house cozy

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  4. I can only echo the other Rosemary B's comments. Your Irish Chain book is on of my favorites ... I love scraps and this one is perfect. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. You can never go wrong with an Irish Chain quilt, and since scraps make my heart sing, I especially like this one. A Double Irish Chain was my first quilt, too, back in the early 80's. Thanks for the throwback!

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  6. I love this quilt, Melissa! Loved it when you first made it and still do now. Guess I need to start making color piles of 2.5 in squares!!!!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa