In a previous post, Barn Quilts Across America, I talked about creating a barn quilt to hang at my orchard.  Well, the process has begun and I plan to keep you all ‘in the know’ on how it’s progressed and have some basic instructions if you ever feel the urge to make one yourself!

Step One:  My husband went to Menard’s and purchased two pieces of 4’ x 8’ treated plywood – top grade.  He then put the boards together (with our 2 year old Capri’s help – turns out she’s  a good carpenter) and framed the back out with treated 2×6’s (specs say 2×4’s but we happened to have 2×6’s laying around).

Step Two:  Coat the ENTIRE piece (sides too) with high quality exterior primer – I used latex.  I also put on four coats to seal it real well.

Step Three.  Using a ruler and a level, I drew on the quilt design for my barn quilt.

I am going to be painting a slightly tweaked ‘Constellation’ quilt block for the orchard.  I know I could have used an more apple-y pattern since it’s going on an apple orchard but I just really liked this block and the rest of the family agreed.

Step Four.  This is the last step I’ll talk about in this post.  Using painter’s tape I taped off the design of the first color (it will be orange) of the quilt block.  I had to use a straight edge and razor blade to get the points in the middle really nice.

Tune in next week to see how my barn quilt has progressed!