Bucket List :: Barn Quilt ✔

For years I've thought about making a barn quilt and now I have finally checked that off my bucket list!  Sometimes you have to wait for the stars to align before things happen!

STAR THISTLE BARN QUILT
24" X 24"

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!  The entire process was a lesson in patience and literally watching paint dry.

The hardest part was picking a block and the colors.  I'm going to admit that ego may have played a part in my block choice.  After all its a block I designed in 2016 called Star Thistle.  I figured if I was going to do this I wanted my block to have special meaning if I was going to look at it day in and day out!  

Credit goes to Sarah @cedarforksarah for getting me on my way with this project.  Sarah has a link in instagram 'Barn Quilt 101' that goes through each step, gives great tips and was very helpful to me.  

It's hard to see, but after painting primer on my board I drew the lines of my block using a pencil and a light touch.  

I grabbed my painters tape and a razor blade to begin the tedious process of laying it straight and slicing perfect points where needed.  

Nothing about painting a Barn Quilt is fast!  I'm not the best at being patient, but by the end of this process I learned to be.   

I used acrylic craft paint from my local craft store for all of my paint colors.  I decided to paint two sections using coral and yellow to begin with.  They don't touch and it seemed like a logical choice.

Here's the watching paint dry part!  I put down three coats of paint in order to get good coverage.  After the last coat I forced myself to wait an entire day before peeling the tape off.  The last thing I wanted was the paint coming off with the tape!  Plus, it needs to be very dry because I was going to put tape on the paint in order to paint the next section.

Peeling the tape was exciting and fun, but scary!  Every line was perfect in the end...whew!  Round one completed!

Round two was taped over the previous paint and sealed with primer in order to get good crisp lines.  This round I was also able to paint two colors at once.  Time saver!  

The center pink color of round two was three coats, but the spiky sections of violet didn't go as well as I would have liked.  I must have painted six coats!  In the photos of the violet you can see it looks splotchy and it is, but not quite as glaring in person.  

Another issue I had was when I removed the tape even being super careful there were places I'd have to touch up.  I kind of expected that would happen so I wasn't too bummed out about it. 

The final round was the center square and border in a dark pavement gray.  Same process, tape, seal, paint, dry, paint, dry, paint, dry...peel tape!

I am planning on putting a clear sealer on the edges, front and back.  The plan is to hang in on the side of my house in the backyard.  It'll be under the eave and for the most part rain protected.  Although I might hang it in the screen porch...decisions!   

I love how it turned out!  The colors are me and the block is mine!  I made something that is still quilting related but I didn't have to use my machine or machine quilt it.  That's a win!

It feels good to finish a 'bucket list' project after so many years!  Have you ever painted a Barn Quilt before?  I'd love to hear what block it was and if you had any tips to share!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY