Last summer (a life-time ago??) we threw a high school graduation party for my son. During the party, my Florida based brother-in-law spied a barn quilt that I made long ago. It was based on a Lori Holt Farm Girl quilt tutorial. He didn’t tell me at the time, but my sister let me know that he wanted one of his own.
I loved Lori’s patterns (there were two different styles of barns). Long before this blog was a thing, her on-line tutorials helped me polish my sewing skills. But now I can’t find the patterns any more, as she’s taken them off-line. Then it occurred to me that I have my own barn — a gray barn — for inspiration.
I’ve been working on a paper pieced version of our real barn (version 1 is located below). I’m almost there. I’m not completely happy with the barn roof and when I started testing the pattern, I realized that the whole pattern is backwards (because when you’re creating a paper pieced pattern, you need to think of it like a mirror). Sigh.
Hopefully I’ll be able to rotate all these lines, fix the roof, and finish the pattern soon. If all goes well I’ll have it ready for the BIL when he arrives on the farm for a visit sometime this summer.
Happy May!
What a great idea. Paper piecing is something I tried once, on a very small scale, and did not do so well. Designing a paper piece quilt is definitely out of my skill range. Maybe after I get through some of these projects, I might give paper piecing another try.
Chela — you make amazing art without having to follow the lines. I admire you skill!
Thank you.
Having your own family barn in fabric will be much more meaningful, I’ll bet! What fun. Good luck with the pattern!
Howdy! What a fabulously worthy project. Not only will your BIL enjoy this special project just for him, but I suspect others will enjoy it as well. I love barns – just riding around and enjoying the different varieties. Many times, I see a house in disrepair yet the barn is freshly painted and well-kept. Now I also look for barn quilts as this area was a part of the underground railroad. Good luck – you’ve got this! ~smile~ Roseanne