How to make a single or double Irish chain
Published 2026-10-15. Updated 2026-10-15.
An Irish chain is two blocks, set so they alternate. In a single chain, one block is a nine-patch with the chain running through the center square, and the other block is a plain square, so the chain is one square wide. In a double chain, one block is a five-patch checkerboard and the other has a large center square with small corner squares, so the chain is two squares wide. Cut size is a choice. Free tutorials opened here use 2.5 inch strips, 3.5 inch strips, and a 6.5 inch center square.
Single chain: the two blocks
Megan Collins names her version a simple single chain. She makes two kinds of blocks. Each block is 3 squares by 3 squares, 9 squares in all. One block carries the chain. The other is filled with squares from the main palette. That is the whole design: chain block, plain-ish block, chain block, and so on.
Joz Makes Quilts writes the same one-square-wide chain as a free bed-size tutorial. The quilt finishes at 81 inches square, 9 blocks wide by 9 blocks tall. The plain block is a 9.5 inch square. The chain block is strip-pieced from 3.5 inch strips, so each small square in the chain is cut 3.5 inches. Three of those across match the 9.5 inch plain square before the seam allowance is sewn off.
Her fabric list for that 81 inch top is 4.25 yards of background, 1.75 yards of the contrast (she notes that is the exact amount, and suggests 2 yards if you want a margin), 5.5 yards of backing, and 0.5 yards of binding. Seams are 1/4 inch. Press toward the darker fabric, or open.
The strip sets are the shortcut. She sews 7 sets of contrast, background, contrast, and 4 sets of background, contrast, background. From each strip set she cuts 12 pieces at 3.5 inches. That yields 84 contrast-background-contrast pieces and 48 background-contrast-background pieces. Each chain block takes 2 of the first and 1 of the second. She makes 41 chain blocks and has a few strip pieces left. The plain squares are cut from 10 strips of 9.5 inch background, subcut into 40 squares.
Rows alternate. Five rows start and end with the chain block. Four rows start and end with the plain square. Press one set of row seams left and the other right so they nest. Then join the nine rows.
The Stitch Saloon uses the same two-block idea at a baby size, about 40 inches square. Strips are cut 2.5 inches. Plain squares are cut 6.5 inches, 24 of them from four width-of-fabric strips. She assumes fabric at least 42 inches wide after the selvage is removed. The shop lists fabric in metres because the tutorial is written in Australia: 1.25 metres of the background and 1/2 metre of the accent, with a note that the accent amount leaves no room for a cutting error. If you buy in yards, use the inch cuts on the page and buy a little extra accent, the same caution Joz gives for her contrast yardage.
Her strip sets are ABA and BAB, two of each, cut into 2.5 inch pieces. The chain block is those pieces sewn back into a nine-patch. The alternate block is the 6.5 inch plain square. That is a single chain at a smaller square.
A nine-patch is the chain block in every single-chain tutorial above. If you have not sewn a nine-patch, make one before you cut a whole quilt.
Double chain: the two blocks
A double chain still uses two blocks. The chain is wider.
Leah Day calls her free pattern a Double Irish Chain and finishes it at 50 inches square. She pieces it as 5-patch blocks and rows, from strip sets, after starching and pressing the fabric so the strips cut true. The download is on her page. This guide did not reopen that file, so the block diagram to follow is hers, not a redraw here.
Mary Johnson states the cuts in one note. The block finishes at 10 inches, which is 10.5 inches with seam allowances. Strips and small squares are cut 2.5 inches. The center square in the alternate block is cut 6.5 inches. She would sew strip sets for the checkerboard block. That is the double-chain pair: a checkerboard of 2.5 inch cuts, and a block whose middle is one 6.5 inch square with small squares at the corners. When those blocks alternate, the small squares line up into a chain two squares wide.
Center Street Quilts points to a free Double Irish Chain from Gigi's Thimble that includes twin and queen sizes and uses strip piecing. Gigi's page says the printable instructions cover the two-color Irish chain in two sizes. Use that printable for the twin and queen math. The notes on this page are enough to tell a single chain from a double chain before you download.
Which cut to choose
| Chain | Chain block | Alternate block | A finished size from a captured page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | nine-patch from 3.5 inch strips | 9.5 inch plain square | 81 inches square |
| Single | nine-patch from 2.5 inch strips | 6.5 inch plain square | about 40 inches square |
| Double | 5-patch, strip-pieced | corner squares around a larger center | 50 inches square |
| Double | checkerboard from 2.5 inch cuts | 6.5 inch center square | 10 inch block |
Do not mix these cuts in one quilt. A 2.5 inch strip and a 3.5 inch strip will not land on the same block size. Pick one row of the table and stay there.
If you want a bed size and you are following Joz, the 81 inch square is the size she publishes. Leah's double chain at 50 inches square is a throw, not a bed. Gigi's printable is the captured source that names twin and queen for a double chain.
Quilting the chain
The chain is a pieced top. Quilting happens after you baste. Joz finished hers with a big wavy stitch on the diagonal, going both ways. Center Street Quilts used a centered Baptist fan. Neither design is required. A diagonal line follows the chain. A fan ignores the seams and still lets the two colors read. Dense custom quilting is a separate choice, and Gigi notes that crosshatching meant the quilter covered the top twice.
A different design, if you want a square quilt without this chain
Our nap square quilt: $8.99, coming soon.
That offer is not an Irish chain. The free tutorials linked above are the patterns for this design.
One limit of this page: Leah's 50 inch double chain and Gigi's twin and queen are downloads this guide did not reopen. The block description for those two comes from the pages that introduce them, not from a second copy of every cutting line. If you sew either, follow the printable you download, not a blend of Joz's 3.5 inch single-chain cuts.
What size squares for an Irish chain quilt?
There is no single required cut. Free tutorials opened here use 2.5 inch strips, 3.5 inch strips, and 6.5 inch center squares. Match the cut to the block size in the tutorial you are following.
Is there a free pattern for an Irish chain quilt?
Yes. Joz Makes Quilts writes a free 81 inch square on the page. The Stitch Saloon writes a free baby size of about 40 inches square. Leah Day offers a free Double Irish Chain that finishes at 50 inches square. Center Street Quilts links a free Double Irish Chain from Gigi's Thimble with twin and queen sizes.
How to do an Irish chain quilt?
Make two blocks and alternate them. A single chain alternates a nine-patch chain block with a plain square. A double chain alternates a five-patch checkerboard with a block that has a large center and small corners.
How to quilt an Irish chain?
Quilt it after the top is basted, the same as any pieced top. One captured finish uses a diagonal wavy stitch in both directions. Another uses centered Baptist fans. Either lets the chain show.
- Joz Makes Quilts: How to make an Irish Chain quilt
- Megan Collins Quilt Design: A Simple Tutorial to Make an Irish Chain Quilt
- The Stitch Saloon: How to sew a baby sized Irish Chain quilt
- Mary Johnson: Double Irish Chain notes
- Leah Day: Double Irish Chain Free Beginner Quilt Pattern
- Center Street Quilts: Double Irish Chain Quilt with Link to Free Pattern
- Gigi's Thimble: Finished Irish Chain Quilt + Printable Instructions