Irish Chain Quilts…The Great Debate and The Methods

There is really nothing much lovelier than an Irish Chain Quilt.

The simple design with printed or solid-colored fabric squares paired with a light background draws the eyes across the quilt top.  Add the fact that this particular Irish Chain is made from nine-patches, and you have simplicity at its finest. 

I’ve always wanted to make an Irish Chain Quilt because 1).  I think they’re lovely 2).  The Single Irish Chain is simple and easy and 3).  I have some ancestors who came from Ireland.  Nothing like getting your quilting DNA entangled in your actual DNA for the perfect quilt, right?

Well…it would be amazing if the Irish Chain actually came from Ireland. 

Yeah, there’s some kind of debate about that. 

The first link in my Irish Chain ancestry is John Perry who was born on May 22, 1754, in Northern Ireland.  By 1774, at 20 years-old, he’s in Maryland and a new Patriot was born.  After serving in the Revolutionary War, he traverses through Virginia and West Virginia, before settling down with Elizabeth McClung and producing quite a few children.  He died in 1813 and is buried in Monroe, Virgina.

As far as the Irish Chain Quilt … well, its ancestry is a bit murkier. The first literary reference for the quilt is found in T.S. Arthur’s 1849 story The Quilting Party.  This block:

the single Irish Chain was “officially” named by Nancy Cabot, the quilt columnist for The Chicago Tribune, in 1933 (it was one of the first, if not the first time, it was referred to by this name in print).  It’s worth noting this was probably not the first time this name was given to this particular Nine-Patch variation, either.  As a matter of fact, this one of the few quilts I’ve come across which didn’t have other names.  Some quilts/quilt blocks either had or still have a half a dozen or more names.  However, it’s important to remember that the single Irish Chain is a Nine-Patch variation.  So while most of the time we tend to think of it looking like this:

It can also look like this: 

And still be an Irish Chain.

If you’re thinking about all of these Irish Chains and Nine-Patches, you may be wondering what’s the difference between a Nine-Patch and an Irish Chain?  Well, a Nine-Patch can be an Irish Chain, but it can also be just a Nine-Patch.  It all depends on consistent color placement.  Let’s look at a Nine-Patch which can only be a Nine-Patch. Take a look at this quilt:

The blocks don’t work together to create an over-all linked pattern which looks like a chain.  The centers and the corner squares are all different colors.  This is a great quilt, it’s just not an Irish Chain.  However take the same Nine-Patch block, and use the same fabric in the center square and the four corners like this:

Now put them in a quilt:

And you have an Irish Chain.  It’s the consistent shading in the Nine-Patch’s center square and four corner squares which will make it an Irish Chain. 

You can up the game of a single Irish Chain by adding an alternate block.  For instance, let’s take the Nine Patch and throw in some pieced corner squares, keeping the fabrics consistent:

And add this block, with the same consistent corner fabric…

Then lay them out in alternating rows…

And you get a Double Irish Chain.  The pieced block has 25-squares in it.  The alternating squares can offer a great opportunity to show off your (or someone else’s) quilting skills.   Or, if you like to applique, that block is a great place to showcase some of your applique skills.

Not to be stopped with only a Double Irish Chain, quilters also developed the Triple Irish Chain.  For this quilt, you begin with a pieced block of 49 squares:

And add this alternating block, which also offers ample opportunities for quilting or applique.  Or both.

The construction of these quilts really hasn’t changed a great deal since the eighteenth century.  Single Irish Chains burst upon the quilt landscape then.  Triple and Double Irish Chains appeared around 1840-ish.  This is a quilt pattern which would be completely appropriate for reproduction fabrics, as well as modern day ones.  If you want your Irish Chain to reflect a certain time period, simply research the colors and use those accordingly.  The color palette for most Chains is limited, so coordinating your fabrics shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Okay, back to what I said in the beginning of this blog.  While my Irish ancestry was fairly easy to pin down (thank you Ancestry.com), the Irish Quilt’s past is just a tad murky.  As a matter of fact, there’s a good chance it isn’t even Irish.  Stay with me here.  I may just blow another quilty gasket.

According to Barbara Brackman, the earliest recorded Irish Chain Quilt Pattern dates to 1814 and it was published in America.  If the fact this information comes from the Dean of all Things Quilty Barbara Brackman herself is enough to make you accept the whole “Irish Chains Originated in America” idea, you may find a photo in a book called West Virginia Quilts and Quilt Makers an interesting rebuttal. 

There is a photo in this book of a quilt which look remarkably like an Irish Chain, but it was made in Ireland around 1805 and it’s pieced with Irish thread and the fabric and quilting design is definitely Irish.  It was pieced and quilted by Margaret Kee Boggs of County Claire, Ireland. However, this quilt isn’t called an Irish Chain, it’s called American Chain.

Oy-vey.

Let’s recap.  The Irish Chain is one of those wonderful quilts which is beautiful in its simplicity.  It elevates a Nine-Patch variation to great heights and can show off a two-color quilt like nobody’s business.  The pattern morphed into a Double and Triple Irish Chain and all three of these patterns have remained popular from the mid-eighteenth century through today.  Because this quilt has not changed, it lends itself to reproduction fabrics as well as any modern-day prints.  It’s easy enough for a beginner and challenging enough for an experienced quilter.  It doesn’t have a vast color palette, so any fears one may have about fabric choices should be eased.  The Double and Triple chains have more than ample opportunity to show off quilting and/or applique skills.

All-in-all, the Irish Chain could just be the perfect quilt pattern.

A Few Tips from My Studio

• The pieced squares in the single, double, and triple chain look as if you could spend hours cutting out small squares and then just as many hours sewing them together.  If this is causing any hesitation on your part about the quilt’s construction, remember that this type of quilt lends itself to strip piecing.  Most directions now tell you how to join your strips of fabric along the length and then sub cut those into two or four patches.
• Most nine-patch blocks in the single chain work best if they’re 6 ½-inches unfinished.
• Curvy quilting will help soften the vertical and horizontal lines.
• You may find spray starch or starch substitute a helpful tool to have on hand to stabilize the strips just a bit.
• See this?

This is the original Irish Chain.  Quilters have long been known to name blocks after familiar objects.  This Irish Chain is a surveying tool.  Each chain was divided into 100 links and each link was 10.08 inches  The entire chain measured 1,000 feet.

Then just for fun, I’ve set the Irish Chains on point. 

Until next week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix