Minneapolis Institute of Art

Double Irish Chain variation quilt

Date

c. 1940–60

Medium

Cotton, pieced and quilted

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Though its vibrant colors are eye-catching, this quilt is most significant for its design: a variation on the Irish Chain, a pattern popular in the United States since the early 1800s. In a traditional Irish Chain, the squares form a diamond pattern. Here, the pattern has been transformed into a vertical-horizontal grid by rotating the squares a quarter turn (setting them “on point, ” in quilting terminology). This shows how a quilter could improvise and personalize her design while maintaining cherished communal patterns. The name Irish Chain originated in the United States. In Ireland, the pattern was known simply as “patching.” When waves of Irish immigrants arrived in the United States in the early 1800s with their cherished patch quilts, the name “Irish Chain” emerged. Americas

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