As searches for quilting patterns surge and Covid quilt-alongs explode online, newcomers to the hobby are channelling a centuries-old Irish tradition: quilting for human connection.

A quilt can be a family album, each scrap of material in the patchwork pattern commemorating rites of passage and memorable moments. In Irish Chain, Barbara Haworth-Attard’s latest historical YA novel ...

The Irish Chain quilt pattern can become more varied and complex as chains are added to it. It is stopped only when the quilter decides to end it. Fowler’s characters are flesh and blood.