How To Make a Barn Quilt

Those of you that have followed me for awhile know I’ve been into all kinds of needlework way before I started painting furniture and I’ve been a quilter for almost 30 years. So why did it take me so long to discover Barn Quilts!? Read on and learn how I made a Barn Quilt for my house.

While cruising around the internet somewhere I stumbled across Barn Quilts, my paint meets needlework dream come true. I must have been under a rock, I’ve never seen one before!

So I had to make a Barn Quilt and I wanted it hung right on the front of our barn (garage designed to look like a barn).

There was no agonizing at all when it came to designing this project, I wanted bold black and white. I chose the Farmer’s Daughter block which I love and we made the board from all the cedar shiplap scraps we saved when we built our house.

My husband Rick made the board in a couple of hours and though it was already primed I gave it a coat of white chalk based paint.  I took a risk by using a chalk paint but since I wanted a heavily weathered look I was willing to take it.  It paid off, after a few years out in the elements my Barn Quilt still looks beautiful!

After the coat of white chalk based paint the next step was to draft the Farmer’s Daughter block design, I worked from a diagram that I sketched and heavily relied on my quilting ruler and a t-square.

After it was all marked out I began taping the shapes that would be painted in the black chalk based paint, I used Frog Tape which in my humble opinion is the best.

See those little pieces of tape through out the design? Those are there to remind me that those shapes are not painted and stay white.

After the painting was done I let it dry overnight and gave it a good going over with a sanding block to get the distressed look I was after.

I let the Barn Quilt cure for about a week before we hung it outside.  There is no topcoat.

With the help of a few ladders Rick hung the piece exactly where I wanted it.

That’s it for now, I hope you’re all staying healthy and happy!

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Jayne