Originally Posted by Prism99 (Post 6434805)

I would recommend a medium blue so you have enough contrast between the white and the blue. You could certainly use white thread; however, you will need a walking foot in order to keep the lines straight. Also, what size are you making? It could be difficult to get a large quilt under the arm of the machine. If you keep it to a lap size, you should be fine.

For thread color, I recommend getting a blue and white print fabric for the backing. That way you could use blue thread for the straight lines and white thread for the designs inside the white squares. It will make any mistakes in the quilting much less noticeable on top, and both thread colors will blend with the backing.

I would bind with the blue used in the quilt top.

Blue and white Irish chain quilts are so classic. Now you have me thinking about making one for myself!

Originally Posted by tapper (Post 6434231)

Thank you all so much for the suggestions/ideas/tips.
I have decided to do an Irish Chain in light or medium blue with white.
For the actual quilting, most Google images show a design in the white square and diagonal straight-line quilting through the chain blocks. I'm fine with doing that but what color thread should I use? I'd like to use white thread but would that look odd going through the blue squares?
I'm such a newbie!!