Almost a Quilt Trail...

 

I chose the simple and traditional Ohio Star for the pattern on a barn quilt made in a recent class at quilt guild. And am I ever glad I did because the more complex the pattern, the more taping and the more time it took to complete the project. You'll see why that's so in the process photos that follow. You've likely heard of Quilt Trails- the driving tours of various rural and picturesque areas of the country that feature painted quilt patterns on barns and home. It's quite a tourist draw in many states. The members of Country Road Quilters got a start on our own Quilt Trail in this fun class. Mine will be going up on our horse barn soon.

Our instructor was just the best because she brought most of the materials for us to use in class and we had to pay only a kit fee. The fee included primed boards, foam brushes, X-acto craft knives, house paint, and even Kilz corrective paint for any of our mistakes. Not that we needed it, of course! We brought painter's tape, plastic to cover our work surfaces, rulers, and a hair dryer. Our first step was to follow the selected pattern to lightly mark the design on the board. We then taped outside the first color sections, using a craft knife to trim tape away and achieve sharp angles. Next we painted just inside the taped lines to establish the outline, and then followed that with paint inside all of the sections of that color. A hair dryer (set to air, not heat) helped to speed up the drying time.

In this photo, you can see that the first color is painted and I've taped off and painted the blue sections. It was very satisfying to pull up that tape and see the crisp lines of the design. I had better luck pulling tape in this painting project than I sometimes do when painting a room at home. Somehow, I often manage to pull up paint with the tape. But not this time, thankfully.

And finally, the project is taped and ready to paint the cream color sections and edges to finish the piece. I was surprised at the time it took to complete our barn quilts, but with a couple of coats of paint, drying time, and the need to make corrections with Kilz (yes, I actually did need it- twice!), I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. And the taping... that really was the most time consuming part. I did not envy the classmate who chose the Carpenter Star for her pattern as she was bent over the board most of the day. But her results were looking quite spectacular.

The Cardinal was a popular pattern, as was one titled Folded Glory done in the colors of the US flag. I like how the cardinal is looking in this one. And our instructor had enough paints and small cups to customize colors. Whatever we needed, she whipped up for us. Setting our sewing machines, thread and fabrics aside for a day, turned out to be just the most fun!