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Irish Chain


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I have never done an Irish Chain on my longarm, but I did long diagonal lines on my domestic sewing machine on a Burgoyne Surrounded years ago, and the warning about long stitching lines breaking is a good one. Every time we used that quilt, we could hear thread breaking whenever we pulled it up and even when I was making the bed.

When I got my longarm, I loaded that finished quilt up and redid it entirely with circles and other designs, because it was so full of broken threads. A long stitching line across the diagonal is on the quilt's bias, which stretches, and it will break. So it is better, even with stops and starts, to have it made up of a number of separate stitching lines.

Mary Smart

Vermillion SD

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Maxine,

I have quilted three Irish Chains on my machine.

I custome quilted two of them and semi customed the other one.

Two of them I did the diagonal lines through the centers of the squares and then quilted a design like a flower or a hummingbird in the middle of the whole squares.

The third one I quilted leaves into the center section and then I quilted flowers into the borders. It came out really nice.

I stop and start my thread when I advance, I have never heard of anyone who does not. A lot of it is cause you are supposed to start at one side and then go across to the other. Stop and go back to start your next sweep across.

Oh, before I forget, I have a base expander and the straight line rulers that came with it that I use when I am quilting straight lines or the diagonals on the Irish Chains.

If you have anymore questions or need some clarity, post here, email me or I can email you my phone number and you can call.

Blessings and hugs

Tracey

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I too quilt the chains as I advance. A really quick and easy idea that looks great is to do wavy lines in the chains instead of straight lines. Then when you make the second pass, you can intersect with a little loop. I can usually go back and forth once with each roll. making the up and down V-shapes. If you put a rose design in the centers, it resembles a trellis.

Kay

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