SUNFLOWERS

I just finished this 1' x 1' barn quilt that is called "Sunflowers". I'm not really impressed with the colors I used for the flower but will probably make it again using yellow and brown for the bloom. I'll try and make it look more like a sunflower than what this does.

This is one of those designs that you have the option of hanging horizontally or on the point.

Thanks for looking.

ILLINOIS

This is a barn quilt that I just finished called "Illinois". It's made on 1/2" MDO plywood and is 2' square. Can you see a pattern developing here? I plan to pop the top on some different colored paint for the next one. I'm starting to see John Deere green and yellow in my sleep.

Thanks for looking.

READY FOR HARVEST

Here, where I live in West Central Illinois county of Scott, our cash crops are corn and beans.

This barn quilt I painted in the Corn and Bean pattern was supposedly designed by a Ladies Art Council around 1895 and was their 100th pattern. I think it came out well and would really look nice on a farmers barn or at an agriculture oriented business in our area. A farmer that has John Deere equipment should really like it.

This barn quilt is now ready for harvest! Thanks for looking.

GETTIN' THERE

I got the green unmasked Sunday afternoon. Dave Snow's tip on using the Sharpie cap tip to seal the masking tape really paid off. Thanks Dave! I could only find two minor places that will need touched up. I love it.

Look at how sharp those edges are!

Ready to apply the black.

First coat of black.

Hopefully, next post will show you the final result. Thanks for looking.

MASKING AND MORE MASKING

This morning I took the tape off from around the yellow. This is how it came out. I tried the 3M brand blue tape this time instead of the other, cheaper stuff I used before. Still was not happy about how it came off.

But, I had just enough time to mask off for the green paint this morning before I left for work and I'm trying a trick that I read about on another barn quilt builders blog. He uses the end of the cap off a Sharpie pen to press down on the edge of the tape to seal it. I tried that with this latest masking and we'll see how it turns out once I have the green paint applied. It was pretty simple to do so, being simple minded, I think I did it correctly. Time will tell. I sure hate having to go back and do a bunch of touch up.

Waitin' on the green.

CORN AND BEANS

I’m not going to make a habit of posting the start to finish process of each barn quilt I make, but this one I knew when I started laying out the pencil lines that I’d like working on it. So, I’ll probably go ahead and make an exception and post the development of this one for now. Whoever came up with this design did a great job. Even masking off the lines was fun.

I used Eleanor Burns book “Quilt Block on American Barns” as a guide. I have found a number of color variations of Corn and Beans but I liked the one shown on the barn on the left page the best. Plus, I already had all the paint colors I needed to do it without buying anything else. It only took me about an hour, maybe, to lay out the pencil pattern.

Here I show the first two coats of yellow and it only takes about 20 minutes per coat to apply. I’ll add at least two more then proceed to the green color. This will also be the first barn quilt that I will add a border around.

So, far this one has turned into a really fun project. It will be great if they can all be that way. As I was laying out the pattern, masking it off and applying the first coats of yellow, I was thinking about how it’s not always about the satisfaction we receive with the end product or destination, but how gratifying and challenging the journey is in getting there.

On the other hand, as Christians, we have the hope of Heaven someday, and seeing our Savior face to face. I long to hear His words, “Well done thy good and faithful servant”. But, as we journey thru our lives, we are to be doing His will and telling others of the Gospel. We’ve been commissioned to do that. We are to be striving for perfection in Christ and doing things according to His Word.

While working on barn quilts, or anything for that matter, even though I know I’ll make mistakes and mess up once in a while, I try and strive for perfection. We should try and always remember what Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”.

Thanks again for following along and may God bless your day.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

Thought I’d show everyone my wood shop/man cave. Our house is about 150+ years old and we started doing some major remodeling last spring. One thing led to another, and another, and so on. Since we don’t have a carriage house or barn, and there was a small, unused space on the back part of the house, we decided to add on a work/storage area. It’s only about 16’ x 12’ but we felt it would be a cheap and much needed area, at the least, for storage.

My dad helped with doing the framing and electrical work. My son-in-laws brother and their dad did the siding (they sided the rest of the house as well). The interior only measures about 14’ wide by 11-1/2’ deep. I had just enough room to add a loft across the span that is about 4’ deep for storage. I know it will fill up fast!

I just got the lighting finished and the loft boards planed and installed this past weekend. The lumber is Ash boards cut from my dad’s timber and on his band mill. They turned out well. I planned on painting the underside white to help with lighting but am tempted to leave them unfinished because of how pretty they turned out. We’ll see.

The back wall will be covered with more planed Ash boards, but vertical, like barn siding. The side walls will be covered with drywall on the lower half and white peg board on top. I’ll have two different work benches under the barn lights, one about 8’ long and one 10’ long 90 degrees of each other. They will be built at two different height levels. There will also be a small closet added along the back wall in the corner.

There’s still a lot to get done finishing the shop out and I actually enjoy working on it, even though things are progressing slowly. Money and time has a lot to do with that. But, on these hot summer days, it’s quite nice to open up the doors and windows, sit back in a lawn chair with the fan oscillating on high, and slowly sip a large glass of tea. Fine times for a weary body, for sure. One bonus is that I can also drag my BBQ grill in there when cooking out and it decides to rain.

It’s a tight fit in there right now but it’s a good space for working on 4’ x 4’ barn quilt blocks. My hope is that I can make an 8’ x 8’ one in there as well. It will REALLY be tight then! I may have to work on half of it at a time. I try and get out in the shop by 5:30 each morning and work for about an hour before I head to my job. It’s cooler then but I can’t use a lot of loud power tools to wake my family or the neighbors. Not that I CAN’T, but, it’s probably not the smartest thing to do.

The 4’ x 4’ board in the picture will be painted in the “Corn and Beans” design and, hopefully, be sold at a local business. This is the last piece of hardwood birch I have and will start using MDO boards in the future. I’ll show you the finished product soon.

To add a little variety to my blog, I’ll post things, like this shop construction, that are not always about barn quilts. I plan to visit local farms and post something about their history and their barns. I think my previous post about the Logsdon farm will be a good example of this even though it’s situated two counties away. A barn quilt’s worth seeing and knowing about where ever it’s at, right?

A future plan is to try and enlist help to eventually establish a Barn Quilt Trail in my county of Scott. This will take a lot of work but I know it will be beneficial to our area in many ways. That will be a good winter time project. More on that later.

Thanks for looking and may God richly bless your day.

Mark

LOGSDON BARN QUILTS

I had the opportunity to visit the farm of Jim and Judy Logsdon not long ago. They are located just south of Ripley, IL.

They bought the house and 5 acres in 1995 from the Stout Family. The farm has been owned by the Stout’s since back in the 1860’s and the barn was built by them. It is a gambrel roof design that was used at one time as a milking parlor. It is still used for hay storage and a place for beef cattle.

Judy says the four 4’ x 4’ barn quilts are of a Four Seasons pattern and were made by Connie Markley. Jim hung the signs and put a nice wooden frame around them. I think they look fantastic!

Judy also has a quilt shop that is very nice. You can see from the pictures she does a fantastic job and she showed me a wonderful baby quilt she had just finished. If you ever get in their area, the barn quilts and quilt shop are worth a look see.

Thanks Jim and Judy!

BARN RAISING

One of the things I want to do on this blog is to highlight some local barn quilts with their names, who owns them and any stories that might be attached to them. I've already showed you pictures of the two reversible blocks that I made for my parents for Christmas in 2008.

Here is a picture of the first barn quilt that mom made as dad was working on raising his barn. Mom says it's from a Log Cabin series of designs and called "Barn Raising". I know there are some pictures of it being attached to the barn and I'll post them once I find them. It's on a 4' x 4' board. You can click on the images to enlarge.