IRISH CHAIN LAP QUILT FREE PATTERN FOR MOTHERS DAY

Mother's Day is celebrated in the UK and Ireland on the 4th Sunday in  Lent - which in 2010 is Sunday 14th March.  In most of the rest of the world Mother's Day is celebrated on the 2nd Sunday in May - which in 2010 is Sunday 9th May.

Why there should be different days I have no idea, but the idea is still the same - pamper your mother!

So wherever you live in the world, you have time to make a Mother's Day quilt to remind your mother how special she is.

The quilt design I chose for a Mother's Day quilt has the Irish Chain quilt block on the front for luck and a small heart quilt block on the back for love.







To make this Mother's Day quilt you will need:
Dark blue:  3/4 yard
Light blue:  1/4 yard
Yellow:  1/4 yard
Backing: 1 yard
Wadding: 36" square
Binding:  136" of 2.1/2" wide strip

The Irish Chain Blocks

The simplest way to cut the fabric is to cut strips 2.1/2" wide across the width of the fabric.  You will need 3 strips each of dark blue and light blue for the strip piecing and a further strip of light blue and 5 strips of dark blue for the extra squares, the heart and the border. 


Sew a light blue, dark blue and light blue strip together along the length.  Press with seam allowance facing towards the dark fabric.  Cut into 2.1/2" strips as shown.  This will give you sixteen 2.1/2" strips.
Sew a dark blue, light blue and dark blue strip together and cut in the same way. 


You will need 26 of the dark, light, dark strips and 13 of the light, dark, light strips.  This means that you will need to make up a further 10 of the dark, light, dark strips by cutting and sewing the squares individually. 





Pile up the 2.1/2" strips and then take from each pile to create the irish chain quilt block as shown:  dark blue, light blue, dark blue strip on top and bottom and light blue, dark blue, light blue strip in the middle.
You will need 13 of these blocks for your mothers day quilt.




To sew the rows of each block together, flip the top row on to the middle row so that right sides are together.  Line up the seams from one row with the seams from the other row.




Turn the seam allowances in opposite directions from each other to minimise the bulk at the seam.  The photo above right shows the 2 rows side on with seam allowances turned in opposite directions.  Sew using a 1/4" seam.  Attach the bottom row to the top 2 in the same way.




From the yellow fabric, cut two 6.1/2" wide strips along the width of the fabric and cut these into 6.1/2" squares.  You will need 12 squares.
Lay out all the blocks in the pattern for the quilt and sew together across each row. (That's 3 blue, 2 yellow alternating in row 1, 2 blue and 3 yellow alternating in row 2, then 3 blue, 2 yellow row 3, 2 blue, 3 yellow row 4 and 3 blue, 2 yellow in row 5).


Then sew the rows of the mother's day quilt top together in the same way as you sewed the rows of each block together. 
Take care that the seam allowances face opposite directions, but this time you also have to check that the seam allowance is not twisted from the way it faced at the other end of the seam.



Mother's Day Quilt Top Border

For the border I used the same dark blue 2.1/2" strip that I had used for the blocks.  Cut 2 strips for top and bottom and 2 more strips for each side and sew to the quilt top.  My measurements were 30" for the top and bottom strips and 34.1/2" for the 2 sides, but check the measurements on your quilt.


Mother's Day Quilt Backing

You will need four 2.1/2" squares each of the dark blue and the light blue fabric.  You should have this left from the quilt top.
Place a dark blue and light blue square with right sides together and mark a line along the diagonal.  Stitch 1/4" away from the line on each side of the line.






Cut along the diagonal between the lines of stitching.  This will give you squares formed from 2 triangles.  Repeat for the other 3 squares.





Cut two 2.1/4" squares from the light blue fabric and 1 rectangle 2.1/4" by 4.1/2" in dark blue.
Lay the pieces out as shown to make the heart block, sew together across each row and then sew the rows together.




Add a strip of backing fabric 5.1/4" by 14.1/2" to each side of the heart block and then a rectangle 36" by 16" above and below the heart strip.




Finishing the Mother's Day Quilt 

Press the quilt top and backing carefully.  Lay the backing right side down, then the wadding, then the quilt top with right side up, baste, quilt and bind.  Full instructions for these steps are given in the baby quilt pattern.

Of course, this doesn't have to be for your mother - it's a bright and cheerful good luck quilt that you can give to anyone special!



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rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk

 

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