Irish Chain Top - Complete!

I made a pact with myself this past weekend.

I would sew as much as I wanted, and in exchange, I would feel no guilt over not vacuuming my carpets and only doing 1 load of laundry. A win-win for me! ;)

I really wanted to finish piecing my king-size Irish Chain top....

...and I did!

I sewed during a great afternoon Florida thunderstorm with my favorite fluffy companions.

I actually laid all the blocks out first on my bed. I figured a king-size bed was a convenient place to lay out blocks for a king-size quilt. I had a great layout that I loved, so I collected and numbered the rows, and set them aside to take a Project Runway break.

And then as I was sitting there I had an epiphany. Typical quilt layouts have the shorter side as the width, and the length is the longer side. But king-size beds are wider than they are long. So my original layout of 6x7 would not work. I know, I know, most of you are thinking "oh, but you could just turn it sideways and be golden."

But folks, I had one directional print. ONE. Darn you adorable Sarah Jane anchors! So I laid the quilt out again, and had juuuuust enough space in my living room.

The overwhelming majority of the square corners line up beautifully, and I only got one block turned around when sewing. I haven't decided if I wanted to unpick that bit and flip the block or if I'll leave it as a reminder that I created this quilt in all its imperfections.

I needed some help taking pictures of this monstrosity. Each block finishes at 17", so it's no small feat to get it laid out flat and looking pretty.

I hope to have this quilt on my bed by October, so I have a whole month to get it quilted and bound! Fingers crossed!

**Linked with Fabric Tuesday and WIP Wednesday!