Barn Quilt Block

As soon as I moved to the country two years ago, I started wanting a Barn quilt block of my own. I had probably seen some of them before I moved here, but once I was here, I started paying particular attention to them and noticed how many there were. They are quite prolific in this part of the country as well as in rural Tennessee and Ohio - and in other parts of the country as well, I am sure. And they really brighten up the landscape as well as pay tribute to our art and the tradition of quilting.

In many places, the visitors' bureaus, chambers of commerce, or other organizations keep lists of the barn quilt blocks, and will provide brochures and driving routes for persons interested in viewing them. I found out that where I live, the Extension Service will actually, for a fee, make a Barn Quilt block and put it on the barn for an interested citizen of Boyle County. But, after consulting our farm manager and getting his assurance that he would mount the block for me if I made it, I decided to do one myself. Steve and I don't actually own a barn, we just have a house on one acre, but there are plenty of beautiful barns on the family farm, and the quilt block would, at any rate, have to be on a barn where it could be seen from the road, which would not be the case where we live or on the barns which are back here around our house. So the block was always destined for a barn on the part of the farm where Steve grew up and where most of the family live.

It took almost two years, and it was definitely a group effort, I cannot take credit for much more than the idea, but it is finally done and up on our barn:
For those who are local, it is on a barn facing Lexington Road, just east of 3248 Lexington Road - which is on the south side of Lexington Road. It is easiest to see if you are coming towards Danville, in which case it will be on your left and immediately before the 3248 Lexington Road address. In other words, after you pass Sallie and Jim's house and just before you get to the tenant house where Gerald lives.

It looks tiny to me now on that huge barn, but it actually measures 8 by 8 feet, which is the standard measurement for the blocks errected by the Boyle County Extension Service. I designed the block and chose the colors. I wanted a star to commemorate Benjamin, and I have always liked the friendship star. Friendship is very important and it is nice to be friendly. I would have liked to include the color green for the farm, but thought it would be too dark against the black barn and its obvious contrast - red - would make the star look too Christmassy. So yellow and blue it became. Since the friendship star is such a simple pattern, I added the black and white border for some interest.
Participants in Farm Camp 2009, primed the plywood to ready it for painting. Above, Michelle Hiskey is starting out, and below, Joey, Sim, and Grace are putting on the finishing touches.
But after Farm Camp left, I didn't continue and as I wasn't getting anything done, I finally asked my niece, Trish Bredar, an art student and artist, if she could help out and did she ever. She did all the measuring to transfer the pattern to the plywood and all of the painting of the actual quilt block.
But even after Trish finished the painting, the block still sat in my garage for almost a year while I was busy procrastinating application of the finishing layers of sealer. Finally this past summer, my sister-in-law, Sallie Bright and her husband Jim Bredar - Trish's parents - came over on several hot summer evenings and did the work applying sealer to the quilt block.

And, while I was in Denmark in August our super farm manager and jack-of-all-trades, Kenneth Thomas, and his right hand man Gerald fought wind and gravity and put the quilt block up on the barn.

I love having it up there and am so thankful to everybody who has helped make it happen.

Place mats

I made these six place mats for my sister and hand delivered them when I visited in August. They are all six identical; in the picture three of them show one side and three the other side. Since there is so much beautiful fabric available, I thought I might as well feature at least two different prints. I used the heavier home dec type fabric and put a layer of canvas "batting" inside for some stability.

Fugleornitologi for Avancerede

This quilt has a Danish name which translated to English means approximately "Advanced Bird Ornithology." It is in Danish because I made it for my father, who is Danish and a big birder. ("Big" because he is a tall and large man and he is REALLY into birding). I know that "bird ornithology" is duplicative and silly, but my father and his friends have for years referred to themselves as bird ornithologists. They not only like to look at birds, they also like to be silly and play with words.
The main fabrics in this quilt are state bird fabrics which I collected several years ago when they were being sold, shortly after the first set of state flower fabrics. I was never sure that the full set of state bird fabrics were ever produced or that I was ever able to get all of them but eventually I stopped worrying about that and made the quilt with what I had, which turned out to be 21 different fabrics. However, only 20 of the fabrics made the quilt, logistically it worked out better that way, and the cardinal fabric didn't go that well with the rest.

Though, regretfully I failed to acknowledge her significant contribution on the label, I could not have designed the quilt without the help and encouragement from my friend and fellow quilter Debbie Steinmann. It was Debbie who encouraged me to use the many diffferent tree, grass, and leaf fabrics in a strippy sashing which I had 1) worried would be too busy and 2) been reluctant to embark on because other options would have been a lot less time consuming. However, I am so glad I took her sage advice and very happy with the effect and outcome.
The quilt, which is throw sized, was machine quilted to perfection by Regina Carter. I brought it to Denmark in person this August to hand to my father as a belated 78th birthday present, as I am loath to send quilts in the mail from the US to Denmark. I am pleased to say that my father seemed very happy with the quilt.

Blooming Paducah

I bought the fabrics for this quilt quite a few years ago the first time I was in Paducah. On the way back from a visit to Kentucky, while we still lived in Atlanta, Steve and I stopped by Paducah and visited the National Quilt Museum. I also got to visit Hancocck's of Paducah while Steve and Jesse stayed at the hotel and it was then I bought fabrics for this quilt. But they sat around for several years before the opportunity to make the blooming nine-patch finally came around.
I hand and machine pieced the quilt which finished at 80" x 90" starting a couple of months before we moved to Kentucky in 2008, so it ended up being a longer than usual process as it had to be packed away while the actual packing, move, and unpacking took place. After I unpacked it again and finished it, the quilt itself went back to Georgia to be machine quilted by Regina Carter.
But then it happened to be finished just in time to become a perfect wedding present for our friend Jim Jenkins. Jim, a fellow Atlanta criminal defense lawyer, married Ann Roan, a mother of two and training director of the Boulder, CO, public defender office, on June 5, 2010, and we got to go to the wedding. Jim is a wonderful friend and supporter of us and our work, and he is very generously letting Steve use his Atlanta condo so Steve has a place to live whenever he is in Atlanta. So I was especially glad that I had a nice quilt ready which we could give to them for their wedding.
Jim and Ann have told us that they plan on hanging the quilt in their home in Boulder and have enlisted the help on Ann's mother, a master seamstress, to make a sleeve for the quilt.

And voila! About 6 weeks after the wedding, I received the following picture of Ann and her mother posing with the quilt which now has a sleeve and hangs on an invisible hanger!

Eye Candy

I know some people theorize that it is better for babies to look at simple shapes with stark color contrasts - such as the red, black, and red ones in this baby quilt - or perhaps the theory is that these are the only kinds of things that babies can actually see? Obviously I am no expert on either babies or their eyes, but I loved the panel with its silly figures, and in my opinion, a baby quilt, and at least the intricacies of the fabric choices, is probably enjoyed a lot more by the quilter and perhaps the parents of the child, than by the baby to whom it is given.

But "my theory" about baby eyes together with the licorice candy fabric which a friend had given to me, which I put on the back of the quilt, led me to name the quilt: "Eye Candy," and I thought that it would at least be a lively, fun, and colorful quilt for a baby. So, I sent it to California when our friend and former co-worker Kate gave birth to her first-born Leo.

Fortunately for Leo's parents, it does not appear that bright colors, silly shapes, and sharp contrasts will keep him awake. Here's to hoping that he continues to be a good sleeper throughout his time on earth.