Hanging a Shingle

bare wood ready to paint
May 2017
Last week, I hung a shingle to proclaim that I love quilts and quilting.

I love barn quilts - the huge, wooden quilt blocks that decorate many barns in the midwest. They are so popular in some communities that the Chambers of Commerce prepare maps for driving tours. It has been my dream for some time to prepare a mini barn quilt to hang on my house.

Sabid, my niece's husband, prepared the bare wood forms, and I brought them home to paint. It is my goal to prepare a barn quilt for each season. Since summer will soon be here, I started by preparing a patriotic block - the Yankee Puzzle.

The paint contains primer, so I decided to jump right in with the design. I used painter's tape to mark the design and began painting. The color bled into the other areas, so I will not use the tape on the next one.

painting supplies and progress
The block looks best from a distance. Up close, my unsteady hand and wavy lines are clearly visible.

a quilter lives here!
The Yankee Puzzle block clearly identifies that a quilter lives on my street. I'm considering a Maple Leaf pattern for the autumn block, a Bear Paw for winter, and possibly a Tulip or Flower Basket for spring.

Do you have a yard decoration that identifies one or more of your hobbies?

Comments

  1. What a great idea! Love it. And, I think the designs you've chosen will work so well for the four seasons. I've seen some barn quilts in the Lancaster County area of PA and they are so pretty. No yard/house decorations at my place, but we do have a number of bird feeders and bird houses and we both enjoy watching birds and listening to them.

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  2. I love this idea! Whenever we travel, I always look for barns with quilts on them. Surprisingly, I saw quite a few on the East Coast while visiting our daughter. I would expect them more in the Midwest and Western states. I don't have anything in the yard that identifies me as a knitter and crocheter. I do have several angel statues, and I collect angels.
    Blessings, Betsy

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  3. Oh what a wonderful idea! I love the way the block looks on your house, and can't wait to see how the others turn out. That is something that would just never, ever, have entered my brain ...

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  4. That is awesome! What a great idea to decorate our house and love the seasonal change.

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  5. I like it!!! Looks terrific...and what a good idea to have seasonal ones.

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  6. Looks great! Mitchell SD (where I live) is beginning a barn quilt project with big and small wooden quilts hung on businesses and homes. The businesses will even use the "official" city logo colors. Should be fun to watch it unfold.

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  7. I love it! There are lots of barn quilts around this area and several "trails" in Ohio.

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  8. Fantastic idea! You did a great job painting it and I think making one for each season is brilliant!

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  9. Well done--like the idea of changing them for the seasons

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  10. I love this idea! We, too, have many barn quilts in our area. Always envied how they looked.... Yours looks great, and I love the seasonal change idea, too. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. I would love one of those. Every now and then I go online and look at sites that sell signs. Then I see the price and cost of shipping to New Zealand and I put the idea on hold. I guess I could paint one just like you.

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  12. I think it looks wonderful! I signed up for a class to paint one, I am looking forward to it! Even if I am not much of a quilter:)

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  13. Your "shingle" looks great. Look at a Lowes or Home Depot to see if they have green painters tape or maybe Frog Tape. At least I think that was the color/name. If I remember correctly it is formulated so the paint won't bleed through the adhesive.

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  14. Your block looks wonderful! Our Quilt Squad group had this as their project last month, but, sadly, I was unable to attend. Still, I hope to make one one day, even if no one can see it as they drive by. Our group is working on a quilt trail for our county.

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