Scrappy Double Irish Chain Quilt

I really wasn't planning on working on the binding of the Scrappy Double Irish Chain quilt tonight, but I had a bit of time available while dinner was in the oven.  After a long day, just sitting in the chair for a bit was appealing.  I picked up the quilt, needle and thread and got started.  After dinner, and a swim for Cooper, I picked up the quilt again.  I looked ahead and realized that I was almost at the corner.  And I knew that it was my last corner.  I was almost done!

I finished the binding and was so happy to take the finished picture!  You can see the top and bottom border here.  I repeated the dark and medium design, but not the white. 

It makes for an interesting border.  Not borderless, but not distinctive either. 

The Scrappy Double Irish Chain is a generous queen size quilt.  I don't have any idea what I will do with it.  Time will tell.  Here is a close up of the quilting.

On a smaller note, I do know what I am doing with this quilt!  This is going to a special not-yet-born little girl! 

I quilted it Sunday.  Oh my gosh!  That is so fun to say!  I quilted it all in ONE DAY!  The quilt is about 50" square.  I can quilt that size on my regular machine in a day, but it would take ALL DAY, especially if I was doing something nice.  With the long arm, I can do something nice and only spend a few hours!

I really like this design.  It is Chevron Feather.  I was going to do either the daises or hearts, but when I brought the quilt downstairs, this panto was out and spoke to me.  I love the little curly queue in it.  I guess I'll have to try the hearts on another one.

Another Border Option

Not totally happy with any of the pieced borders that I've tried, I went back to a plain border.  All of my blues are either very dark or very gray.  I needed something more of a Royal Blue. 

Last week, a new Quilt Store opened a couple of miles from my house in Middletown, Ohio.  I stopped in today and spent some time talking to the owner and purchasing a potential border for the quilt - in Royal Blue. 

I think the blue needs to be a bit wider that what is show here.  I do think the hue mimics the overall color of blue that is in the quilt. 

Border Options

I think I've made enough borders to make an entire quilt! 

I started with blue strings...

I sewed them to phone book foundations

And trimmed them.  Don't they look so nice and neat all trimmed?

Layed them out

And tried them on the quilt.  It was okay, but not quite what I wanted.

I guess I could use them to make a quilt

 Next, I tried a checkerboard border.  It was okay, but I still wasn't sure.

I tried piano keys

And then a braided border. So far, it's between the braided border and the checkerboard border.

Then I tried a different braided border.  This one adds a light square down the center and matches the left and right sides. 

Here's a recap of the checkerboard, piano keys and French Braid

And the two French Braids in dim lighting

And a slightly brighter one.

I'm still not sure.  Should I just pick one and get busy making it?  Should I try a few other options?

The Scrappy Double Irish Chain is Quilted

It is quilted and I'm almost done with the binding!

Cooper just can't resist getting in the picture!  He loves the comfy floor too.

Close up of the quilting

 

        

The panto is Daisies Galore from Willow Leaf Studios 

This picture doesn't show the border, it's folded under.  You can sort of see it in the first photo.  I'll try to remember to get a decent picture of it once the binding is on!