Monday, January 5, 2015

Ban Quilt Update

So the Barn Quilt project is officially underway. Yesterday Big Ag cut four 4'x4' squares out of MDF board for me, and I sketched the pattern on the first one right after that.  Did I tell you I had decided to create four quilts, arranged together to make one large quilt? 

Yes, I have decided to have one quilt for each season of the growing year, with the following patterns:


And here is the first one with the gridlines and pattern sketched on it. Tomorrow I am buying paint for it:



It's going to be a huge project, between sketching, painting and mounting them, and so I may do one each season, starting with winter, appropriately.  Or maybe I will find myself super motivated to finish the project and do them all at once.  

But I'd rather do each one carefully, without any encroaching "project burn-out" to potentially screw things up, so we will see how it goes. I find I often make my worst craft mistakes when I am feeling tired of a project and just want to finish quickly, and I don't want to be making mistakes here if they can be avoided.  So slow and steady we go as we head into this project, I say. If it takes six months or even a year, that is OK.  It's a large undertaking that requires a high level of attention to detail.

But once it's done I think my seasonal year in quilts is going to be a magnificent addition to the back wall of the shop/barn, which faces our vegetable garden.  

4 comments:

  1. I love all the color! Can't wait to see it. Project burnout is inevitable sometimes so I think you're wise to account for it at the beginning of the project! I do think it would be enjoyable painting each quilt in the season they represent. When you're most in love with all those colors!

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    1. Thanks! Some of the colors on the templates are not totally accurate, because I only had a set of 12 markers to choose from, so for spring, for example, my purples and pinks (representing blossoms) will actually be brighter, and some of the greens will be more leaf-like. Maybe I will go in with the blossoms and match them at the time! Exterior latex paint colors will give me more options, for sure. But I am excited to get started!

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  2. Your post is so timely! I'm making my first quilt ever. I can sew, but I've never quilted. A friend of mine got a lap quilt for Christmas with a doggie theme (I train and show dogs), so I asked if she could make one for me. She encouraged me to try to make one of my own and referred me to a simple pattern.

    I am having foot surgery in a few weeks, so this will give me something to do while I recuperate. We have harsh winters here, so I will be able to have something pleasant to focus on besides a sore foot and snow.

    I look forward to following your progress. Have you quilted before?

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    1. I have not quilted, but a barn quilt is painted on large pieces of wood, not sewn, so I should be OK. There will be four of these on the back of our barn when I am done. I hope your foot surgery goes OK, that sounds very painful and I hope the quilt-making is a good distraction!

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