Braided Irish Chain

Last year, I had the lucky privilege of winning 3 patterns by Melissa of Happy Quilting as a prize from Q1 of the Finish Along.  One of the patterns I chose was her Braided Irish Chain.

Image by Melissa Corry

Her pattern calls for strip piecing, but I wanted to use up scraps, specifically I Spy scraps, so I didn't strip piece but used 2 1/2" squares instead.  The baby size is a single super-size blocks, made up of several different smaller components.  When I finished the super sized block, I felt like it needed a little more.

super-sized block, as written in pattern

I decided to extend the pattern out one more row, so I did the math to figure out how big to cut the background pieces.

I used Kona Cabbage as the background and I really like how bright it is.  Normally, I care about the I Spy fabrics facing the same direction, but that was something I had to let go of in this quilt.  I did the piecing using I Spy scraps that had been cut down to 2 1/2" squares and used this as a leader/ender project.  I quilted it in a big spiral.

spiral quilting

Look at all that I Spy goodness!

This was a fun pattern and it's likely that I will do it again.  I really like it as a scrap quilt!  Thanks, Melissa, for a fabulous prize!

This was #16 on my list of Q1 goals for the globally hosted Finish Along.  I will also be linking up with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap!  And Scraptastic Tuesday, co-hosted by She Can Quilt and Mrs. Sew and Sow.  (For some reason, I can never get that button to work--my apologies!)