How to make: an Irish Chain quilt (baby size edition)

If you’re looking for a timeless, classic and fast baby quilt, you’ve come to the right place. (P.S. I also have a separate Irish Chain tutorial if you want to make a bed sized one which you can find here.

The instructions make an 52" x 52" quilt which is a very decent sized baby quilt (or maybe even a small throw)

Fabric:

Fabric A (Background- in my example I used the yellow) : 2 yards

Fabric B (Contrasting- in my example I used the cream): 1 yard

Backing fabric: If you can find one with a wider WOF, you can get away with 1.5 yards. Otherwise, depending on how many cuts you want to make, 2.5 - 3 yards

Binding fabric: 0.5 yards

Cutting Instructions:

Background Fabric:

- (5) 8" x Width of Fabric (WOF), subcut into (24) 8" x 8" squares

- (8) 3" x WOF strips

Contrasting Fabric:

- (10) 3" x WOF strips

Now it's time to sew!

Take (2) 3" contrasting strips and (1) 3" background strip and sew together using 1/4" seam:

Repeat to make a total of (4) strip sets that are contrasting-background-contrasting

Now take (2) background strips and (1) contrasting strip and sew together using 1/4" seams

Repeat to make a total of (2) strip sets that are background-contrasting-background

Trim off the uneven edges and then from each strip set cut (14) 3" strips:

In total you will have:

(56) pieces that are contrasting-background-contrasting

(28) pieces that are background-contrasting-background

Now it's time to build our blocks! For each block, you will need:

(2) contrasting-background-contrasting pieces

(1) background-contrasting-background pieces

We will make 25 blocks in total.

NB: You will have a few extra strip pieces left at the end

And now it's time to assemble our quilt!

First we will make the rows:

We need four rows that start and end with our small squares block:

And three rows that start and end with the solid block:

Then we can assemble our rows- the final quilt will be 7 blocks wide by 7 block tall:

And your quilt top is done! Baste, quilt and bind as desired.

I used a matching gingham backing and the solid binding for a nice timeless look :-)

I did big wavy stitch on a diagonal (going in both ways) which formed this lovely pattern.

I hope you enjoy making this and let me know if you have any questions!