Behind the Seams: Liberty Fabrics Irish Chain Quilt

Background

I was asked by Aurifil if I would be interested in making something with Liberty fabrics and threads from Aurifil's corresponding thread collection. I had never sewn with Liberty fabrics before, but I was curious to understand the hype surrounding them. Liberty fabric is a very different aesthetic than what I usually work with, but I think it's good to step outside our creative norms, try new things, and see where the challenge takes us. So I said yes.

I initially planned on doing a pretty simple pillow project, but classic me, I had an idea and it quickly grew into more than an easy weekend sewing project.

I view Liberty fabric designs as being very classic and traditional, and so what better than to make a quilt using my favourite traditional quilting block - the Irish Chain. 

It didn't take me long before the top and back were pieced and ready - and friends, this was the stage in the creative process where I really seconded guess myself. I was worried that this was going to look too drab and uninspiring. I had to remind myself to never doubt the power of quilting to transform a lifeless quilt top into something vibrant!

Pattern credit: I used an Irish Chain pattern from Denyse Schmidt's "Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration" book as a guide for making this quilt. 

Quilt Design

When I have no idea how to quilt something, I find it helpful to outline my quilting criteria for the project. This was mine for this quilt:

1. (required) It had to be edge-to-edge quilting, I wasn't up for burying threads.
2. (required) The lines couldn't be straight. Irish Chains are very geometric, and I wanted to bring a softness to the quilt that complimented the soft colour palette. 
3. (optional) Bring a little extra something to the table, a little pizzazz if you will.

After a couple of doodles, this is what I came up with - a wiggly line. Exciting!
Buuuut, when I started drawing out what the quilting lines would look like, I really liked how the curves became so tight that they eventually became sharp points. The pattern creates movement and invites your eye to roam around the quilt - which was the little pizzazz that I was looking for. 

A couple of evenings of quilting later - this was the final result:

I think the quilting brings the whole project together. It's subtle enough that it doesn't distract from the Irish Chain, but it adds a dash of whimsy to the geometric rigidity.

But wait - it's double sided!
I had a lot of leftover Liberty fabric, so I thought why not make the backing a more modern version of the front. I increased the size of the squares, used a dark background fabric, and used 8 different coloured threads in my bobbin to create an opalescent effect.

How to adapt this quilting motif

Play around with the amplitude and frequency of your wave, and see how that changes the pattern and effect. I recommend keeping your quilting lines between 0.5-1" apart to get the maximum effect.

Tip: I used the Irish chain crossovers to mark where the crests and troughs (low and high points of the wave) of my initial wave would fall. Look for features on your blocks that could be used as reference points.

Let me know if you end up trying something similar!