Barn Quilts
 

I would love to live on a farm - but I don't. I would love to have a barn- but I don't. That being said, we are having our house painted right now and I would love to have the painter attach a barn quilt to my tall garage. I think it would look great but now I'm wondering if there are any rules. Is this just for fun or do they have to be in a rural area? Is there a certain size that is suggested or whatever fits? Any help would be appreciated. btw, my friend on a neighboring street said she would do one also when their house gets painted next year, I just think it would be fun. Thanks for any insight.

Go for it. There is no rule that it has to be on a barn. EB had one painted on her building located in an industrial area where her quilt shop is located.

There may be rules in your community. Also check with your neighbors to see if they would object. Even if they have no legal standing, it's better to get along. I love barn quilts, but I know they would be out of place on the houses in my area because of the architecture.

Ditto on what dunster said. If you belong to an HOA, there are usually Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CCR's). If you live in a subdivision, there may be restrictions set up by the developer. And villages may have rules about what you can have on the outside of your house if you live within the city limits.
Plus, if it's something that is visible from the street, it might impact the value of your neighbor's house (either positively or negatively, depending on the area) so if you don't want to start a neighborhood feud, you might mention it to the neighbor & see what they think of it. If it's something that can be easily taken down, it's probably not a big deal. If you plan to make it a permanent attachment to your house, in certain areas that could cause problems. In rural areas, the homes are far enough apart that what you paint/affix on the side of your house/barn is not even visible from the nearest neighbor's property.

We do not have an HOA and I am hoping to make one for the shop building, one for the shed, and one for the studio which is in the same building as the shop but the entrance is around the side. We will see ..... I love the looks of them a lot. mom2boyz, I vote Yes .... go for it and when it's done I hope you can show it on the board.

http://americanquilttrail.blogspot.com
This site tells a lot. I want one on our barn. From what i understand, if you want to be included in the tour there are specific guidelines and a registration fee. They are usually 8x8 and are painted on a board that is then hung up.

So far, there are no rules. Have fun!

have u ever checked out the site redrainbootshandmade? if you do a search for her on google, she designs and sells the barn quilts and they are beautiful. if you are on instagram, you can do a search for barnquilts and there is much inspiration.

google Franklin County, KS barn quilts. they started a "trend" that is growing in KS and give lots of advice on how to make one. Size is up to you--I'm making a 2x2' one for the side of the shop and we have the makings(except for paint) for an 8x8' for the side of the barn (we do live in country). But several of my quilt buddies are also making them for their in-town houses at a workshop in our guild. One thing you might want to do if your HOA has a restriction on adding permanent decoration to your house is to make a 2x2' one and attach to a sign standard (like realtors use)--saw this done at a LQS while hopping and just so cute! You could put along sidewalk, etc. Seems most suburban neighborhoods allow houses to have those similar signs in the yard bragging about what activities their HS kids are involved in! Couple tips I learned in another workshop is to seal the edges of your plywood (and use outdoor quality ply) from moisture (with flashing, etc) and to NOT put polyurethane over the paint as when it comes time for touch up, it creates problems requiring sanding.

I want one to hang up over my garage. I don't have a barn either!