Project Quilting 15.6 - Irish Chain Postcard

The last Project Quilting challenge of the season looked so easy on the surface:  create a quilt using or inspired by an Irish Chain pattern.  The buck-basic chain pattern is nothing more than 9-patch squares.  So I dug through my square scraps, looked at my project list, and decided to tackle a sweatshirt jacket I've been wanting to do.  All the jacket examples on Pinterest were overwhelming, so this seemed as good a choice as any other.  

I calculated yardage, cut apart a sweatshirt and figured my basic layout. It was a somewhat ambitious project to finish in a week.  I focused on making the blocks first so if I was running out of time I could switch to making a baby quilt.  Excellent.  No problem.

Right.  I'd like to point out that the title of this blog post contains neither the word "jacket" nor "baby".

Problem 1:  my first set of blocks were delayed as I tinkered with a new quarter inch quilting presser foot (which I love now that I got it to sit correctly).  

Problem 2:  now that I had a few blocks put together I could better visualize what the sweatshirt would look like... and there was going to be difficulties getting things to line up nicely.  This was going to take more tinkering time than I had.

Problem 3:  I wasn't too keen on the overall color scheme.  Therefore I was unwilling to pursue the baby quilt.

It's Tuesday night and I'm doing a hard stop and change of direction knowing I have very little time this weekend to finish the project.  Nothing else on my to-do list goes well with this and since this seems to be my year for postcards, I decided to stick with that.  So instead of making 36 scrappy 7½-inch finished blocks, I moved to 24 two-color ¾-inch blocks.  I measured, recalculated, considered paper piecing, then started cutting strips to make these tiny 9-patch blocks.  I dug through my batiks, hoping the tight weave and thin fabric would give me a fighting chance of staying square and true.  I would have liked a bright green - but this was the closest batik I had with enough yardage (inches?) to complete the quilt.

It shrunk a little after quilting, so it's not quite six inches tall.  And yeah, my 9-patches aren't perfectly aligned.  But I gave that new presser foot a workout and am giving it a thumbs-up.  I was inspired to bind the card with a ⅞-inch strip of black batik selvedge - which gave it a thin, clean edge on the back side to glue down and stitch in place.  I'll have to remember that for future postcards. 

Sharing with:
Persimon Dreams - Project Quilting 15.6
My Quilt Infatuation - Needle & Thread Thursday
A Quiltery - Put Your Foot Down Thursday
Alycia Quilts - Finished or Not Friday
Creations by Nina-Marie - Off the Wall Friday