I've been making barn quilts now for about two and half years, and in all that time the patterns used have been common patterns used in quilting.  The Lemoyne Star, Mariner's Compass, Christmas Star and Double Aster come to mind.  A co-worker of mine saw some of my barn quilts and wanted me to make a 1' x 1' barn quilt for her son for his birthday.  He is half Puerto Rican and half Irish!  She wanted something that would reflect his two nationalities.  What to come up with?  At first I thought that I would have a shamrock as the background, with the Puerto Rican flag set inside it.  I rejected that idea.  Then I thought that the flag covering the entire board and placing the shamrock inside the flag might work out.  I didn't like the idea of distorting the flag to fit the board.

I then came up with the idea of painting the flag, with the board hanging 'on point' and replacing the star from the flag with the shamrock.  This is the result of that.

She loved it!!  The process of placing the star with the shamrock was simple.  Before I applying the blue to the flag, I placed my painter's tape over that spot, while it was covered with the primer/sealer.  I then printed out a line drawing of a shamrock from my computer, cut it out and placed the shamrock over the tape.  With an exacto knife I traced around the shamrock, removed the cut out edges of the tape and what was left was the image of the shamrock.  I proceed to apply the blue paint over the area.  I then removed that tape and the image of the shamrock was left.  I then, free-hand painted the shamrock in two shades of green.
I think I've created a theme.  Another co-worker of mine, who also is Puerto Rican, has a son who half British!!!!!!!  I'm working on an idea for that at the moment.  I'll keep you posted!!

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.   

My barn quilts have now safely arrived at their new home in Hillsboro, IL.  Now they are Linda's barn quilts and have been hung on her garden shed and the front entrance to her home.  It's a strange feeling to see something that you've created being displayed, in all it's glory, for all to see.  Both barn quilts look fantastic with the red background.  If you would like to drive by and see them, they are located at 733 S Oak St, Hillsboro, Illinois.

Spring has arrived!

Spring has arrived in Southern New England.  The temperature has been in the high 70's for the past several days and may reach above 80 by Thursday!  The buds are swelling on the trees and shrubs and the birds are beginning to build their nests.  With perfect weather like this it's hard to stay indoors and not enjoy it.  However, the sacrifice must be made, as there are new barn quilts to create. 

In my last blog I showed you a picture of the Double Star barn quilt that I made for Linda in Illinois.  She also wanted a 1' x 1' Mariner's Compass to be displayed at the front entrance to her home. 

The Mariner's Compass pattern is one of my favorites.  I have made three so far.  One is hanging on the side of my garage and the other, as you can see from the photo, is an old sign plaque that I repainted and made a smaller version of the one hanging on the house.

I am now making anything Mariner's Compass barn quilt for a lady at work.  It will be similar to the one above, except that the red points will be solid red and not the two-toned shown above.
I also have several more orders in the works from several people to make barn quilts for them. 

It looks like it will be a very productive and busy Spring in the basement!  However, I have to make sure that I spend some quality time outdoors and enjoy the Spring weather!