Wooden Quilt Square (And A Winner)!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

For a long time I've loved the thought of having a Barn Quilt.  (Of course I love the thought of having a barn too, but since we're building a house first the barn may have to wait a year or more!)  We live where there are a lot of barns with quilt squares painted on them.  I never tire of looking at them.

The above pictures are not my pictures - they can be found on numerous barn quilt sites, pinterest, and other places on the world wide web.

  Somehow, I thought it was a new thing - this trend of painting quilts on barns.  I did some research and found out a very interesting bit of information.  The history of the barn quilts can be traced back almost 300 years!!  It is believed that it began in Pennsylvania by European immigrants.  The story goes that it was a great way for travellers to find families or cross roads, as townspeople would tell them what quilt pattern to look for! 
 
The above pictures are not my pictures - they can be found on numerous barn quilt sites, pinterest, and other places on the world wide web.
 
So... the point of this post is that one day recently I was standing in our living room and looking way up to where my husband was working on the scaffolding and I was thinking about the 22 foot high bare wall and thought to myself, "Wow, a quilt would sure look good hanging there" and before I could even follow that train of thought - it came to me: "BARN QUILT"! 
 
 
Doesn't that look like the perfect wall for a Barn Quilt?  (Even though I don't know of anyone that hangs barn quilts in their house!)  So, I mulled it around awhile, did some reading and looking at patterns and enlisted the help of my quilter friend at The Scrappy Appleyard.  She came, we sat and drew my pattern choice and I was off and running.  I started small thinking that if it came out great and I loved it, I would make a bigger one.
 
 
I bought a gorgeous piece of 4 x 4 oak plywood (the most common barn quilt size is 8 x 8), sanded, primed, drew my pattern and started painting.  And hated it.  So, I started over with a new pattern, new colors, smaller size and thought, "this looks like something my daughter would like"!
 
 
When I got it finished, I set it where I could really get a long distance visual of it and I had to admit that as much as I liked it, I didn't love it.  It wasn't the look I was going for.  (I still don't know what that look is but I think it will come to me!)  A few days later my daughter was talking about their recent living room redo and she said, "I need something for that bare wall".  Long story short... my Barn Quilt now has a home in her living room
 
 
I still love the idea and someday I will have a barn quilt on that big wall in our living room.  But for now, its just an idea in my head as I'm sanding, staining, and waxing oak vineer that my husband is installing on the huge beam and column in our living room.  The latest on the house is that the pine planking is all up and we love it! 
 
 
And FINALLY we have a winner on the "pick the day the calf will be born" contest!  "Paddy" was born on the 17th and since I had numerous people pick that day I did a random drawing out of those contestants and the winner is Kathy - she's been notified and I'm excited to make her a wooden sign.  And you can be sure I will never do another contest that relies on a calf being born!
 
I hope you'll share your favorite Barn Quilt pattern with me...  it just may be the one I've been looking for! 
 

7 comments:

  1. I am so excited to win!!! I never win anything! I have been having the end of winter blues, and winning this means a lot to me!!!! I was thinking a real quilt would look nice on your wall...and just think how much there is to choose from!!! Good luck and thanks again!!!!

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  2. Hey Dori. I saw your quilt over at Andrea's blog the other day and loved it. It looks perfect on her wall.

    I so love the idea of you putting one in that spot in your home. I think it will be perfect and can't wait to see what you come up with.

    I also love seeing the quilt patterns on the barns. I had never heard the story of where that originated. So cool.

    Hope you got a lot of work done today on the house.

    Blessings to you friend.

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  3. I paint barn quilts and sell them on my website, http://www.barnquiltstore.com.
    I agree with you, seeing barn quilts on barns, sheds & houses are unexpected surprises!!
    ♥'s
    Sherry

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  4. This must not be something the farmers here in the Midwest do...I don't remember ever seeing one and I've seen a million barns! I love the idea and I don't think you should give up trying to make a quilt square for your wall. You can do it...I know you can. I saw the one you gave Andrea on her blog last week. Love it!

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  5. Oh how I would love to be in the same room with you and John aLee having a cup-o-coffee. Miss seeing you both. Give each other a big hug from me!!!! Love the Barn Quilt idea!!! Now I'm anxious to browse the web and look at designs.

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  6. I just found your site and I'm having so much fun checking out your past posts. But, I love the idea of a barn quilt on that wall - it would be beautiful. I'm sure you'll come up with the perfect pattern, can't wait to see it!

    Enjoy!

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