Little Irish and August 2012 FMQ Challenge with Wendy Sheppard

Quilt #100

Little Irish

These are my samples for Wendy Sheppard's Challenge for August 2012 FMQ Challenge at Insights from SewCalGal.

Wendy's challenge was Jester's Hats which looked real simple at first glance but took some practise to “try to” master.

My first sample was the simple Jester's Hats:

Jester's Hats

And here is the cultured Jester's Hats:

Cultured Jester's Hats - front

Cultured Jester's Hats - back

Little Irish was made in miniature after making a bed size Double Irish Chain documented here .

Like a lot of other quilters, I found that filling the space evenly was not easy. I stitched the simpler version and I started in the centre and kept working around but I'm not sure that is the solution as I was getting a sort of echoing look in spots. I will try this pattern again in a larger size with more space between shapes.

detail - front

detail - back

No label but I stitched my name and date through all layers.

signature and date

The borders were all stitched together and then mitered at the corners.

borders and binding

I used a 12 wt Egyptian Cotton thread, Wonderfil Fruitti on the top and something lighter in the bobbin and a cotton batting. I find the look a little overpowering, a thread colour closer in value to the colour of the fabric may have worked better but all in all. am happy with the results.

The back is one of my own hand dyed Egyptian cotton.

Little Irish - back

Great tutorial, thank you, Wendy!

You can also check out my completed UFO, Out on a Limb using the June tutorial from Cindy Needham. 

DOCUMENTATION:

Quilt Name: Little Irish

Description: Small Table Topper

Pattern: Miniature Double Irish Chain

Size: 23¼” x 23¼”

Fabrics: 100% cotton

Predominant colours: red and blue

Construction Techniques: strip-pieced

Back: Hand dyed Egyptian cotton

Batting: cotton

Edge finish: Single fold binding

Quilting: Free motion quilted on Domestic Machine

Quilted by: Terry Whyte

Sleeve: no

Label: signed

Date completed: 2012

Inspiration: quilting inspired by Wendy Sheppard

Maker: Terry Whyte