Quiltingboard Forums - Batik (single) Irish Chain

Here are pics of the queen-sized quilt I made and gave to a nephew and wife as a wedding gift. They were married three years ago, so this was a second gift. I made a dust ruffle to match it. It is a single Irish Chain pattern. I named the quilt Irish Wedding Chain. They chose the colors from an assortment I showed them. I used wool batting which I love. It gives nice loft and "breathes" unlike polyester. It is lighter than using cotton.

Someone on the wife's Facebook wrote the following regarding the quilt:
A quilt this size with quilting (longarm) is probably in the 60-70 hour range to make. Just a little tidbit of information, most traditional Irish chain quilts are green squares on a white or off-white background.

I would say the 70 hour estimate is quite low. I know I did spend about 35 hours to quilt it on my stationary mid-arm machine (Nolting Queen Bee) which takes longer than a long-arm machine on a frame. I set a goal of 40 blocks per day at about 5 hours time for quilting. There are 304 blocks here ... 19 blocks long by 16 blocks wide ... to fit a bed with a deeper mattress which sets on a higher frame.

It was fun to make. Anyone who quilts needs a lot of patience with planning, cutting, piecing the blocks, layout, sewing the blocks together, pinning the three layers together, planning the quilting design, quilting by machine (with threads breaking, getting off track, and removing bad stitching), and putting on binding, handstitching, and making a label.

In spite of the time it takes to make a quilt, it is a labor of love which I would only do for those I love. It would take big bucks to make one for someone I didn't know. The last queen-sized quilt I made for us to use on our bed was appraised at $1,725!