It's A Finish! Double Irish Chain

It's a finish!

Double Irish Chain

71 x 91

This was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project I began back in June 2020 to use 1.5 inch width scraps and scraps of brown and cream/beige/taupe. 

I used a free block chart for squares layout.    The chain was always a dark brown and then the chains outside of that were made in the RSC color of the month. 

I finished the top in December 2023.

I quilted it on my sewing machine with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. 

I used lots of scraps of brown for the binding. 

The back is a piece of brown calico. I had to insert a strip to make it long enough. I bought that calico many many many years ago to make a long A-line button-down-the-front dress. A couple of years ago I decided I was never going to make that dress (I'd need a couple more yards and a different sized pattern) so put the yardage in the sewing space to use as a backing. 

And sew on...

***

REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Half of me is Irish. My paternal ancestors were all Irish Catholics.  My grandfather was of the first generation born in the U.S. and my grandmother was of the second generation born in the U.S.  Some ancestors came to the U.S. to escape religious persecution in Ireland and others came during the famine years. Over the years through research and reading of Irish history books, documents and old newspapers I've come to know most of their stories which is the prologue of mine.

Grandparents David William (D.W. or "Willie") Joynt and Elizabeth Genevieve ("Lizzie") McNallly.

Great grandfather Edward McNally. 

Great grandmother Jennie Jane Griffin McNally

Great grandparents Michael Joynt and Bridget Brennan Joynt. 

***

I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day by drinking green beer or wearin' of the green. I'm not a party girl. 

I did feel like digging out my old CD/Tape/Radio player and some CDs to listen to the last few days. Normally it is quiet in my sewing space and I only hear the sounds of the marbles rolling around in my head. Some of the music makes me feel like crying and some makes me feel like doing a jig.

 

It's A Top! Double Irish Chain

It's a top! 

Double Irish Chain

71 x 91

This was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project I started back in June 2020. 

All blocks have cream/tan/taupe backgrounds and dark brown chains. The other chains in the block were made from scraps in the RSC color of the month.  I made these blocks in order to use up a lot of 1.5 inch width scraps. 

When it came time to join the blocks I just could not figure out for the longest time what color(s) to use to finish out all the colored chains. Then it dawned on me to try a multicolored fabric. I happened to have enough of a multicolored piece of woven looking rainbows left over from the backings I used to make quilts for the friends of my deceased granddaughter. 

Now if I can find a backing it might just get quilted in January when the theme in my sewing space is "Blues and Browns". 

And sew on...

***

Health Notes - Hubby

About a week ago I noticed that it appeared hubby's G-tube was starting to come out. I made an appointment with the surgeon's office to have a new one put in on December 26. I had to go pick up the new G-tube from the pharmacy where we get the enteral feeding supplies and take it to the office visit.  Well, of course, the G-tube came out completely at about 4:30 on Christmas Day about 1/2 hour aftter I had hooked him up for his pump feeding. I know the stoma and tract in the stomach would start to close up immediately so we had to get somewhere to get a new one put in because we could not make it until the doc appt. on day after Christmas.   So I called 911 to ask what to do and they sent medics to look. They taped him up and told me to take him and the new G-tube to the ER and they would put it in.  So off we went to the ER. They tried to put new one in but could not. They put a foley cath in temporarily to keep tract open until doc appt. on 26th.   That took 4 hours. Then we went to doc appt. yesterday as planned. What should have been a 15 minute procedure to put in a new G-tube ended up to be a 4 hour wait in the doc office. It turns out the G-tube the pharmacy gave me was the wrong one. And that is why ER staff could not place it. Well, we had to wait to see if the correct type could be located. Then when they did find one we had to wait for doctor to see his other scheduled patients and then to make rounds in the hospital and then come back to the office to insert the correct G-tube. 

The surgeon advised me to watch the procedure and to keep a correct G-tube on hand at home so if this happens again I can actually insert the new one and avoid visits from medics, to ER and to doc appointments. It makes me queasy to look at holes in people or at other people's bodily fluids but I watched the simple procedure and am going to order another one of the correct G-tubes and if the time comes I will psych myself up enough to get it inserted. 

  I have to say I kept thinking of those old cartoons where a character has holes for whatever reason all over their body and then drinks something and the fluids starts spurting out of all the holes. 

What we do in the name of love! 

It's exhausting work. 

Think I'll go (try to) sew!

 

Some Assembly Required

Antique Tiles

9 inch finished.

This has been one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects this year. 

My goal was 63 blocks for a 7 x 9 layout. 

I just finished the last six blocks and now I've met my goal! 

Now this complete block set will go into the "Some Assembly Required" (SAR) box to be assembled at some later date. 

Double Irish Chain

9 inch finished blocks

This has been one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects this year. 

My goal was 63 blocks for a 7 x 9 layout. 

I just finished the last eight blocks and now I've met my goal! 

My original intent was to add scrappy sashing  and dark brown stones to continue the chain but I now think that looks too dark and clunky.

How about colored stones with a brown center to continue the chains? Hmmm, that's better but I'm still not liking it all that much. 

How about extending the sashing and have just one stone? Well, I kind of like it but now the colored chains are broken up between blocks. Maybe I will just not add sashing. I don't really like sashing blocks anyway. I guess I have time to think about it because guess where this complete block set is going. 

You guessed it! The SAR box! 

And speaking of complete block sets...someone sent me 48 eight inch blocks. They are evidently a Missouri Star pattern called River Log Cabin. I'm showing four of them above. That's how I will assemble them someday. They will make a nice donation quilt 48 x 64. 

But for now those blocks are going into the SAR box to be assembled at some later date. 

I also received lots of 12 inch (finished) blocks. Some appear to be designed by Lori Holt (Farm Girl Vintage?)  Not sure who would go to the trouble to make all those blocks and then pass them on to someone who passed them on but they will make a nice donation quilt. I picked out 15 blocks and will set them in 3 columns of 5 with some sashing between columns. 

But for now I've bundled together those 15 blocks and put them in the SAR box. 

I also pulled out twelve 12 inch blocks that looked kind of Star-ish or had several points. I'm thinking I will add a one inch border around the blocks to make them 14 inches and then will set them 3 x 4 for a donation quilt 42 x 56. I may add a little border at top and bottom so I end up at least at 60 inches in length. 

But for now those blocks are bundled together and in the SAR box. 

The rest of the 12 inch blocks I put into the orphan block box (orphanage). 

The SAR box was pretty full to begin with. It's an old Dell desktop computer box I brought home from work years ago. It's nice and heavy and has "handles" on the sides.

Now the box is really full!

So I might as well make it my November One Monthly Goal (OMG) to assemble at least one top from the SAR box. 

I took inventory and the SAR box now contains:

Dove in the Window

Grandmother's Flower Garden 

Sixteen Patch

Single Wedding Ring

Sunny Lanes

Peacock Feathers

Animal Crackers II

Antique Tiles

Double Irish Chain

River Log Cabin

Farm Girl Vintage blocks

"Stars" (12 inch)

 

Postage Stamp Projects

Double Irish Chain has been one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects. My goal is 63 nine inch (finished) blocks. Now I have 55 blocks and hope to get all 63 finished by year end. I've been using light brown or cream for the background and dark brown for the chains.  These will be sashed with cornerstones. 

I took the PSP20 (Postage Stamp Pandemic 2020) blocks out of my RSC projects after I used most every color of solid I had. I've been making these for quite awhile and at various times I have run out of 1.5 inch squares and solids so project gets set aside until I have something to work with. Along the way I won some solids and someone sent me a gallon bag of 1.5 inch squares.  I recently found some purple solids in with my pansy fabrics so will use those to make blocks and decide where to go from there. I now have 89 blocks and am aiming for 121 and a BIG quilt. 

So, these are two projects that won't be in my RSC 2022 list of scrappy blocks. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

A Few Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) Projects

I didn't get my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) orange blocks made last month so I'm working on them this month. This month's RSC color is lime or light green but I used all colors of green scraps back when the RSC color was dark green so don't need to make any green blocks. 

This year I've been mostly working with scrap chunks. I've been cutting off some 3.5 inch width pieces and some 2 inch pieces to make blocks that use both of those size scraps. 

Antique Tiles

9 inch finished blocks

I currently have 56 blocks and my target is 63. I'm going to try to get 7 more blocks made within the next few weeks and think I will use brown scraps to make them. 

These are also made of 3.5 and 2 inch pieces. 

Uneven Nine Patch

Six inch finished blocks.

I currently have 76 blocks and my target is 130. This will continue as an RSC project next year. 

This is another block with 3.5 and 2 inch pieces. I've been making them with scraps in the RSC color of the month and old shirts or dark scraps. 

Buckeye Beauty

Six inch finished blocks.

I have 84 out of a target of 130 so this block will continue into next year. And I have a few shirts I still need to cut up to add to the mix. 

This is yet another block that is made with 3.5 and 2 inch pieces. 

X+

7.5 inch finished blocks.

I have 46 out of a target of 99 so this is another block that will continue into next year.  I'm thinking that I will make the rest of the blocks in the RSC color of the month plus it's color complement. 

These little 3 inch finished Bow Ties are a new RSC project made with 2 inch scraps. 

In August I worked with my orphan blocks and found a little baggie with 40 little Bow Ties. I adopted those orphans and now they are happy to be a new RSC project. 

Double Irish Chain

These are made with 1.5 inch scraps in the RSC color of the month plus a light brown or cream background and a dark brown chain. 

9 inch finished. 

I have 52 out of a target of 63 blocks. I hope to make 11 more blocks by year end. There will be a scrappy cream/lt brown  sashing with cornerstones. 

I played around a little bit with an alternate block. I like the look of a quilt at Quilter's Cache called Soldier's Walk but I don't think I like that idea for this quilt. Instead I'm thinking I have a lot of small patriotic print scraps that would be put to good use in Soldier's Walk.  So I guess those two alternate blocks I made are now orphans. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Double Irish Chain

Double Irish Chain

in shades of blue green and brown.

Nine inch finished.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Blue Bits And Pieces

I used up a few 1.5 inch pieces of blue this week to make some Double Irish Chain blocks. I have been using the RSC color of the month as well as a dark brown for the chain and a light brown or cream for the background. I started these some time last year and I now have 39 out of the desired 63 blocks.

 And then I made a few other odds and ends and the last little blue bits then got cut into 1.5 inch squares and went into my postage stamp pencil box which was almost empty. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday