Something Old, Something New - A Modern Irish!

 

Hi, all!

When I was planning out these tutorials, I thought I remembered stashing away all the pieces for a second quilt like this one...

...but lo and behold, my memory was faulty and the pieces I had stashed away were for a different red and white quilt!  But by then I had already committed mentally, so I decided to make it again, but in a different color.  This is a great sixteen-patch quilt that is so much easier than it looks!

Sixteen-patch blocks are so very versatile - lots of ways to arrange the fabrics to achieve a different look.  This quilt gives off a kind of updated "Irish chain" vibe that I love! (And yes, that is our old house in the background.  It's fun to see pictures of it crop up from time to time!)

This quilt is made using two different color variations of the same block, using various red and beige fabrics to give it some depth.

Isn't that pretty?  I love all the different shades of red!

I decided to do this year's version in a very different colorway....

Isn't that orange just luscious?  I pulled a bunch of white-on-white prints out of my stash - it felt so good to use up those little bits and bobs of fabric - and it paired so nicely with the orange prints.  And I got so excited about this one, I apparently forgot to take process shots with the new colors - so I'll be using the old instructions and pictures for this tutorial.  Here goes!

My version of this quilt has 49 blocks set into a 7 x 7 grid, with a 2" border on each side to yield a 60" square quilt.  There are 25 red blocks and 24 white blocks.  I used fat quarters cut into 2.5" x 22" strips to make the strata sets (four strips sewn side by side).  I cut my strips from sixteen different reds and sixteen different whites to get a wide variety of shades in my quilt, although you could do it with fewer colors.  You can get 6-7 strips from each fat quarter.  In total, you will need 56 red strips and 50 white strips, 2.5" x 22", to make this quilt.

In the directions below, R stands for red and W stands for white.

For the white blocks, you will need 6 sets of strata assembled WRWW, and 6 sets of strata assembled WWWR.

For the red blocks, you will need 7 sets of strata assembled RWRR and 7 sets of strata assembled RRRW.

Once your strata is assembled and pressed (I pressed my seams open to make it easier to assemble the blocks), crosscut each strata into eight pieces, 2.5" wide.

For each white block, you will need two pieces of WWWR, and two pieces of WRWW.  Arrange them as shown below.  For each red block, you will need two pieces of RRRW, and two pieces of RWRR, arranged in the same way.

Once your blocks are assembled, arrange them alternating red and white blocks.  Arrange the diagonals of the red blocks from upper left to lower right, and the diagonals of the white blocks from upper right to lower left.  I added a red border to finish off my quilt, although you don't necessarily need it.  My finished quilt measures about 60" square.

 And just because it's pretty, here's one last shot of this year's version! 

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Definitely a blast from the past, but so pretty it was worth checking out again, yes? I could also see this quilt made with assorted batiks or even Kaffe Fassett prints, using a solid for the diagonals.  So it might make a great scrap buster, or a way to use a fat quarter bundle or jelly roll or two that have been gathering dust in your stash. The possibilities are endless!  And now that you know a quick and easy way to make the blocks, what are you waiting for?

Hugs!

Sarah