It's pronounced like "crack" but with a whole other meaning.  The general Irish meaning is that "craic" means fun or a good time, especially among a group of friends.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!  And Happy Friday!

This is Luck of the Irish - one of the new Colors of Moda 12-Pack quilts.  Of course I had to include a St. Patrick's Day kind of quilt! The pattern is included in this bundle of 12 Bella Fat Quarters.  (The only extras needed are a background, binding and backing.)

Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?  Are you celebrating by sewing something green?  Or maybe making an Irish Chain quilt?

I've made a few in my "quilting life", including one that was supposed to be a Double-Irish Chain and wound up as a Compressed Triple Irish Chain.  I was a newbie and I was on my way to establishing what would clearly become a life-long aversion to following instructions.

But I digress... courtesy of two lovely ladies, I now have a few more Irish Chain quilts on my "to do" list.

Do you know Melissa Corry?  She's a wonderful quilter, author and altogether lovely person.  This is one of her books -

Irish Chain Quilts.  Published in 2015, it is still a collection of wonderful quilts that will appeal to traditional and modern quilters - the scrappy kind and the "just four fabrics, please" kind.

Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson is the "just four-hundred-and-forty-four fabrics, please" kind of quilter.  Scrappy. But with a plan.

This is a super-pumped-up Irish Chain Variation - and it's gorgeous.  The blue version was made a year or so ago using blues from Laurie's many, many Moda collections.  The Red and Green version is new.

It's made with fabrics from Snowfall - the coming in May Christmas collection from Polly and Laurie.  Except the red circles on white... that's not Snowfall, it might be Hello Darling.

Yes, Laurie is hand-quilting this with her beautiful big-stitch quilting.  I think we need to get Laurie to show us how this is done, don't you?

If you're not sure you want and Christmas-themed Irish Chain, I have an idea that might be equally wonderful.

Shhhh... sneak peek coming.  Whispering here... what about this?  Ivory, shades of Blue, Red and Yellow.  This is Polly and Laurie's new collection, Ann's Arbor.

Isn't it gorgeous?  It's showing to shops now and will ship late this summer, in August.

You didn't hear about this from me...

Where was I... weekend sewing!  In addition to the Blockheads Block of the Week, I am sewing along with the Fat Quarter Shop's Patchwork QuiltAlong benefitting the Make A Wish foundation.

Though some might say I'm being "inspired by" the QuiltAlong as I seem to have gone a little off-the-rails when it comes to following the pattern.  Though I will say that I love the block patterns and as always, I love that this benefits a great charity.  Even if you don't sew along, it's a great quilt and the instructions are terrific.  (Just because I don't actually follow them completely doesn't mean I don't read them!)

My fabrics are a mix of Bonnie & Camille collections - Vintage Picnic, Basics, Handmade, Little Ruby and I'm sure something else will make it's way into the blocks.  Pssst... like this, The Good Life... coming in August. 

And no, MaryAnn, I still haven't gotten a new cutting mat.

So that's it for today.  I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend.

And in the spirit of the day...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!