Another Mariner's Compass!!

It would be interesting to see how many variation's of the Mariner's Compass I can make!  This is another version of this pattern, for my sister in law Tina.  The main difference in this one, compared to the other's that I've made may not be noticable.  What I did with this one is to stretch the first compass star (the yellow) to the corner's of the board.  It created a very interest image of this pattern.

Photo's courtesy of Wayne Menard

Tina, pretty much left the color choice's up to me.  However, she did want to include the color, Hunter Green, into the color selections because the shutter's on her house is hunter green.  So, it was decided to make hunter green the background color.  By using this color as the background, it made the color's in the Mariner's Compass stand out!!  I also took artistic license and painted the border a tan color rather than black, to make the hunter green stand out even more. 

My latest Mariner's Compass has finally arrived at the home of Gail Links in Coffeen, IL.  It certainly looks much nicer on her house than mine!!  I just finished another Mariner's Compass for my sister in law and it was just hung on their house today.  She took a photo and will be sending it to me shortly.  I will be showing it here.  I will also begin on two 1' x 1' door quilts this for two co-worker's.  It's nice to be busy!

Photo's courtesy of Gail Links

When I first started making barn quilts, I was confortable with the fact that my client's would tell me what colors they wanted for their barn quilts.  I would just purchase the color(s), if I didn't already have it and proceed with painting.  However, on several occasions, the client would tell me which pattern they wanted and then proceed to tell me to surprise them with the color choice.  I became somewhat uncomfortable with that, as I wanted to make sure that they were satisfied with the results.  In addition, what I may like as a selection of colors, the client may not like it.

That was the situation with the next barn quilt that I made.  I was contacted by Gail Links from Coffeen, Illinois who is good friends with Linda from Hillsboro, Illinois, who has two barn quilts from me and asked if I would make a barn quilt for her.  All she said was that she liked the Mariner's Compass, was going to hang it 'on point', and that it was going to hang on a tan garden shed with dark brown trim.  She would leave the color selection up to me!!!!!

So, I went on the Internet and looked at quite a few Mariner's Compass barn quilts to get some color idea's.  I was getting bored with the same blue, green and red combinations that I've used in the past.  I wanted something that would stand out from a distance.  I also was getting a bit tired of using white as the background color.   This is the result of my search for a unique Mariner's Compass.

As you can see I used a combination of yellows and oranges on a light blue background.  The original design was going to have a solid color on the points.  However, after going to the Machine Quilter's Exposition in Providence, RI with my wife last weekend, I saw quilts where the corners mirrored the main image.  I played around with some pencil sketches and came up with this.



I painted the background Royal Blue and then added the compass points in the same colors as the Mariner's Compass.  Then I used an old shower sponge to dab on the white and light blue colors to the Royal Blue.  It sort of gives it a celestial look. 
Gail from Illinois was thrilled with the looks of her barn quilt, which made me very happy.  It's a good feeling to know that you've made someone happy and they will proudly hang what you've created!
I'm just finishing my next barn quilt for my sister in law, Tina.  Can you guess what is going to be?
Another Mariner's Compass!!!!!!!!  This one will be unique also and you will see it shortly on my next blog!  Stay tuned...............

So far 2012 has been a very productive year with barn quilt making for me.  To date I have completed four and they are now hanging proudly at their new homes.  I just finished my fifth and the best one that I have done to date, in my humble opinion.



The pattern is called 'Carolina Lily' and it is a pattern that I have been looking at for awhile.  This one was made for a good friend of mine named Kathi.  She looked over several barn quilts that I had done in the past, but was unable to select one that she liked, as she liked them all.  She told me to surprise her.  So, here was my chance to do 'Carolina Lily'.  Fitting this pattern on a 12" square board was a bit time consuming.  However, patience persevered and the result is what you see in the photo.  I had taken this door quilt to work with me to show off and was commissioned to make one just like it.  Now, one of my rules is that I will not make two barn quilts exactly alike.  I may rearrange the color pattern, add new colors and change the shading of the same colors.  I do this so that the owner will have a one-of-a-kind barn quilt!
As I said, 2012 is becoming a busy year.  I now have 5 orders for barn quilts in the works.  A 'Carolina Lily' and four Mariner's Compass!!  Of course, I will showcase all of them here on my blog.