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!

Thank you, thank you for all the advice and suggestions. I live in a semi rural area, I have neighbors but not in a tract home area, and yes, it is a great idea to check with the neighbors. I hadn't really thought of that. My plan at this time is to make it 4' x 4'. I found a great site with suggestions on how to prep the boards etc. I have made a very few quilts so I don't consider myself an accomplished quilter. This is the pattern I would like to make but I don't know how. It doesn't look like hsts. Any more advice? Oops, I had no idea this link was so long. I hope the picture comes up. If not, I'll try again. Thanks again for your help. https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...g&action=click I didn't realize all the images would show up. The one I'm interested in is the red and white elongated star.

That will look great! You have got me thinking about this too. I live far enough in the country that no neighbors would need to be consulted, though I do't have a barn. My husband has suggested I paint our garage doors as quilt blocks, or even as whole quilts. He also has suggested barn quilts on his workshop and on the storage building. I am not sure I want to do THAT much work. :) But you have got me thinking...

Dina

Joan Staats....owner of Joan's Own Patterns used to live in Calgary, Alberta Canada. When I went to her house many years ago she had her front door painted to look like a quilt. It was soooooo cool. She lived on a cultsack (sp) and everyone that could see it loved it. Was not difficult to find which one was her house.

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*** I know of no rules. Just go for it. They are really nice.
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Here's a how to. http://www.wikihow.com/Paint-a-Barn-Quilt I want to paint a square on the side of my RV.

These are the directions I found. Now I need to figure out how to make the LeMoyne star pattern where each point of the star is two colors like the one I linked to.

Here is the quilt block my bf's daughter made for her house. I love it.[ATTACH=CONFIG]552542[/ATTACH]

I say go for it. I have thought about doing that myself.

Oh my gosh Cam's gram, that is beautiful! It blends in beautifully with her door and the bricks. Now I really want one!

If you can't put a barn quilt on the outside of a building, you might be able to make one and hand it inside a big window or even on a fence.

My bf's daughter used colors to match the house and I thought she did a excellent job!

my husband did two for me but not large ones, about 20"x20". One hangs on the wall of a small porch on the front of our home and the other was on the second floor on the side of our house. He did have a few wooden embellishments on that one and the summer sun took care of that!!!!!!!!! That one has seen it's hanging days.......but the remaining one is (and the other one was) great additions to our exterior decorating.

If I were going to do one, I'd prefer it's one that can be taken down when the colors fade or the popularity of these wanes. Not long ago everyone had a star on their house. Not so much nowadays. Some of the barn quilts are quite nice but others kinda glare at a person.

I lived near a small town in NC and even the local shops had barn painted on their walls. It made for a lovely display.

The barn quilts do not have to go on barns, or even on a farm. My SIL was just gifted one by her kids for her birthday and she's going to hang it over their garage door, where I think it will look great.

I have been wanting to hang one on the peak of our garage. I haven't made up my mind yet on what design I want. We have someone coming to our quilt guild next July to have a class on making them. I hope to have one before then. I have seen them on houses around here.

Question about the barn quilts:
Do different blocks have different meanings?
The reason I ask:
I bought a Pennsylvania Dutch painted plaque to hang on my back porch, years ago. BC, as we call it, Before Children.
It hung there, looked so perfect, and before we knew it, we had 3 kids under the age of 3, no multiple births involved.
No one told me, and I didn't think to investigate it, that this particular Pennsylvania Dutch sign was the sign of FERTILITY!!!!!

I say go for it! :)

Would it not be exceedingly awkward to go about asking one's neighbors for input on your proposed barn quilt addition? I can only imagine the conversations in which you have to explain to them what a barn quilt is, describe your colour schema and proposed design, etc. What will you do if some are for, some against? I say, do a tidy and professional job of it. Some will like it, some may not. So long as you do not reside in a restrictive home owner's association, it's really only a matter of your taste and preference.

I have mentioned several times on this board that I donate most of my quilts to a Bible Camp annual quilt auction fundraiser. The event is their biggest fundraising event of the year, so they have a good reputation concerning quilts. The camp has "barn quilts" on several of their buildings, and I really like it. It feels to me like a tribute to the quilters and to the bidders. They look great!

Too funny RugosaB. I am part Dutch and I definitely DO NOT want the sign of FERTILITY anywhere near my house!!!