Last Finish of 2021: Jack's Chain

It's a finish!

Jack's Chain

82 x 86

I started this back in 2014.  

I used the instructions at Quilter's Cache to make the blocks.

Most of the little 3 inch (finished) Nine Patches were from swaps.  I used ones with dark corners. 

I used muslin for the connecting triangles and a variety of neutrals for the hexagons. 

I finished the top in March of this year. 

It is big stitch hand quilted with perle ecru #12. 

 I think I bought this yardage deeply discounted back in 2016 when Hancock's went out of business.  There was just enough for a pieced backing so I guess it was meant to be. 

This is my second Jack's Chain quilt and it looks very different from the first. I finished my first one back in 2016. It is a little smaller and also was hand quilted. It has been in the hope chest since it was finished - a future wedding gift quilt for grandson who is now only 12. I like to plan ahead!!! 

 

What's In The Hoop?

What's in the hoop?

Jack's Chain

I'm big stitch hand quilting with off white perle #12. 

It's a big 82 x 87 so this will probably take me into the new year. 

I started making this quilt back in October 2014.

I worked on it off and on over the years until it became a flimsy in March of this year. 

I have a big pile of tops that I want to hand quilt. I decided to work on this one after I finished the Majestic Mountains in my previous post  because I had been working with Nine Patches in November so it only seemed right to pick this one for hand quilting. 

I'm really enjoying my time quilting this. Most of those little nine patches came from swaps over the years. Now I can enjoy the catalog of fabrics while I stitch. 

 

Jack's Chain

Jack's Chain

It's a top!

It measures about 82 x 87

I need to even up the sides but I'm satisfied with this size. 

It looks like I started this back in October 2014,

I used the pattern at Quilter's Cache. 

I used a variety of neutrals as well as some dark cornered 3 inch (finished) nine patches. Most of the nine patches came from years of swapping the little cuties. 

It will be hand quilted at some later date. 

I rarely make the same pattern twice but this is my second Jack's Chain quilt. The other one was smaller and more colorful with a navy blue background. I finished it in 2016 and here's a link to that blog post in case you are interested in a different version of Jack's Chain. And I'm thinking someday there may be a third Jack's Chain. 

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's' Quilts and More

 

Midweek Chain Report

 It's a flimsy!

Interlocking Chains

70 x 84

   The Interlocking Chain pattern can be found at Quilter's Cache. 

 I started making these blocks in 2016 as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. Yellow, brown, orange...

 ...red and blue.   

I made it my goal to try to get some UFOs with chains in them to flimsy stage in April. I had to make 12 more blocks this month to add to the previously made 18. And now it's a flimsy. Wooohooo! 

 In other chain news I did make a few more Carolina Chain blocks.  I have only about 1/3 of the dark and light chains necessary to start top assembly. Since I only started this last year to use 2 inch scraps left after making my Fractured Rainbow quilt I'm going to set it aside for this month until I get the older chain quilts to flimsy stage. 

 I've moved forward some on Jack's Chain. I have another "row" to add to this section and then I'll add it to the bigger section and take a measurement. I'm aiming for a large quilt but not sure how many more block and connector rows I need before I can call this a flimsy.  With all the Y seams this is very slow going and I want to get one other chain quilt to flimsy stage so I can totally devote time to getting Jack's Chain to flimsy stage. I'm hoping that happens this month. Time will tell. 

I've joined 5 of 15 rows of Trail Mix. Hopefully this will be a flimsy next week although I have been spending a lot of time in the garden and not so much time sewing lately. A few rainy days are in the forecast this week so we shall see what happens.  I think this trail/chain will look like a patch through the woods in autumn. 

Mid Week Chain Report

 Saturday I decided to work on five different UFOs in April that involve CHAINS. Since then I've worked on all of them and am going to report on them every Wednesday in order to hold myself accountable. 

Jack's Chain

I cut a lot of neutral hexagons and made five blocks. I've been using swapped nine patches with dark corners to make these. 

 I also made a long connector row. 

 Trail Mix

I made the 24 Double Nine Patch blocks required and cut pieces for the next set of 48 blocks. Can't remember the next block but it will be the last of the five sets to make and then I can start quilt top assembly. 

 Interlocking Chains

I made two more blocks and found fabric pairs for the rest of the blocks.  I think I have eight left to make. 

 Gallimaufry

These little four inch blocks are inspired by a vintage quilt. If there is a name for this block I don't know. I just figured out how to make the block by looking at pictures. 

Carolina Chains

7 with dark chains and 6 with light chains. 

And so it goes...

Chains

 I think my April theme to move UFOs forward will be CHAINS. 

The idea came to me a couple of days ago when I was working on these blocks I call Gallimaufry which are inspired by a vintage quilt. There are fourteen pieces in each four inch block. I cut the little 1.5 inch HSTs and bagged them up as I was cutting QST pieces for another quilt.  I cut the other half of the HST from white or muslin scraps.  I wanted white so the chains that form can be seen more clearly.  The 1.5 inch squares and 2.5 inch squares come from the respective scrap bins.   I made some in green since green is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.    If I remember correctly I need around 400 blocks and I have about a third of those made.   

I started this quilt early last year. 

 Working on those Gallimaufry blocks somehow motivated me to work on my Carolina Chain blocks with light chains...

...and with dark chains. 

I also started these blocks some time last year. After I made my Fractured Rainbow quilt that used 2 inch scraps I cut from scrap chunks I was left with a lot of 2 inch scraps so I started some Carolina Chain blocks as well as a couple of others that use 2 inch scraps.

While in chain mode I dug into my Trail Mix project box (started September 2014) to see what needed to be done to move it forward.  I have three of the five different sets of blocks made so I cut pieces for the rest of the blocks. I've been using Autumn fabrics and my trail (or chain) is in yellows.  I'm hoping it will remind me of a nice hike in the woods in Autumn. 

Then I thought about my Interlocking Chains which I started in 2016 - fourteen inch blocks I made from 2.5 inch scraps.  I need to dig it out to see how many more blocks I need to move it to flimsy stage.  I'm thinking I have around 20 blocks. 

And then there's my Jack's Chain #2.

Looks like I started it September 2014.   

I don't think I've worked on it since April 2017 so it's about time I move it forward. 

I'm looking forward to working on these old friends in April.  How many will be flimsies at the end of April?  Time will tell!! 

39Ps

I have lots of little 3 inch 9 patches. Some are ironed...

...some are not. 

I usually make the when I get to the end of a piece of fabric and have at least 3 - 1.5 inch strips. But sometimes I just throw that end piece into the 4.5 inch scrap pile.  

I've turned the little nine patches into 5 inch Sister's Choice blocks and made the above quilt. 

I've added a few navy hexies and bright solid triangles to the bright little nine patches and made a Jack's Chain quilt 

I'm working on Jack's Chain #2 which is bigger and uses darker little nine patches, neutral hexies and muslin triangles. 

I also have a couple of other ideas (only in my head for now) for these little cuties. 

I'd like to swap some 3 inch 9 patches. 

See the tab at the top of my blog for further info. 

Help Wanted! 39P Swap.

Due May 15

I've already received some from 2 swappers but haven't peeked into the packages yet. 

Use those scraps!

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

Jack's Chain #2

I've been slowly, slowly working on my Jack's Chain quilt.  This is my second one and in a completely different colorway from the first which was brights on navy background.  That one a wedding quilt for my grandson and is in the hope chest . It won't be needed for awhile. He's only 9. This one is a little bigger too.   

This is the width I want but it is only about half as long as I want it. 

As you can see...this takes lots and lots and lots and oodles  and oodles of little 3 inch nine patches. 

I've been using little nine patches that are on the darker side as values may go. 

I'm getting low on little nine patches now and would be willing to swap with anyone who is interested.  I'm trying to avoid a lot of duplicate patches in my quilt.  I do swap three times a year with an online group but use the little darlings almost as soon as I get them.  

If you are interested in swapping see the tab I just added to the header of this blog -

HELP WANTED! (39P swap)


Lots of scraps going into this quilt!
Other scrap projects: Scraptastic Tuesday

New linky party:
Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share

Jack's Chain #2

I worked a little more on my Jack's Chain in neutrals with dark 3 inch 9 patches. 

There's a lot of Y seams in this so I work on it a little at a time. 

I'm using the pattern from Quilter's Cache. 

This is Jack's Chain quilt #2 and will be a little bigger than the first one I made which was 66 x 80 and is in the hope chest for my grandson's wedding gift.  (He's only 8 right now so it will be in the hope chest for a good long while). 

I want this one to fit on my queen-sized bed. 

Anyone want to swap 3 inch 9 patches?  I need a bunch more! 

In case you want to know what a completed Jack's Chain looks like...

Jack's Chain #1

This one used up a lot of my bright 3 inch 9 patches! 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hand Quilted: Jack's Chain

Jack's Chain

66 x 80

Hobbs Heirloom Cotton Batting

Hand quilted

Instructions and templates from Quilter's Cache

Finished in March 2016

A Wedding Quilt for the hope chest for my grandson. He's only 7 so it will be in the hope chest for awhile.  I like to plan ahead!

This was two years in the making.  A lot of the little 3 inch 9 patches were swapped. 

The background (hexagon shapes) is Kona Navy. 

For the hand quilting I used a lot of different colored threads and LOTs of size 10 quilting betweens.  In the nine patches I quilted an X and I quilted 1/4 inch inside the connecting triangles in navy thread. 

In the hexagons I used a stencil of four connecting hearts and stitched in different colors of thread. 

I'm no expert at hand quilting...in fact this is one of the few quilts that I have hand quilted and not done big stitch quilting in perle #8...but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  If I had to make one change it would have been to stitch in the ditch around the connecting triangles instead of 1/4 inch inside.   I actually have another Jack's Chain ufo in neutrals and browns so will remember that for next time. 

Another thing I didn't think I could do was the scalloped binding. But it did happen much to my surprise! 

And now we have come to the backing and the end of my blog post. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2016 at Amy's Creative Side

I've entered this into the Hand Quilted Category at Blogger's Quilt Festival.