Irish Chain

Working on this quilt brought me so much joy! Cheri brought this quilt into the studio, asking for advice.  It belongs to a widower friend from her home town.  His wife did not complete this quilt before she passed away, and he wanted to see if it could be finished. When Cheri received the quilt, it was basted together with a thin batting, and a wide binding attached to the front. Neither of us had ever encountered a binding being attached before quilting. After Cheri and I looked at it for a while, we realized that the binding was a little too small for the top, causing it to not lie flat.  Cheri agreed to remove the binding and basting and ready a new back.  We added some modern batting, I just got to play and do the quilting!

Cheri and I discussed some design ideas, but she mostly left it up to me.  The hardest part was to figure out what to quilt in the braid border! 

I chose straight lines for the blue chain squares, and continues curves in the peach squares.  Molar feather and curl wreaths in the open spaces, a wavy line in the inner border, and a curl and feather in all the braid sections.

The maker was an interior designer by trade and I love how she used the various shades of blue in the chains.  I definitely adds interest to the finished product.

Cheri and I chose a solid beige for the backing fabric and I love how the quilting shows up.  I believe the owner intends to hang it on the wall so it really won't be seen, but I enjoyed looking at it!

I never know exactly what is going to come through the door of my studio, by I am thankful Cheri brought this one to me to help finish so that it didn't languish in a drawer any longer.