Mari's Free Pieced Chapel

Mari from The Academic Quilter

has created her very first free pieced building

using the process notes in BUILD A BARN.

You can read her post about the block HERE.

Way to go, Mari!!!

Sandra's Newly-Quilted Barns

Sandra was one of my Folk School students earlier this year.

She created three barns during our week together.

This is the first of the three - quilted and bound.

This is the second now-finished quilt.

What really made my heart happy was

not only did she finish all three quilts,

but she shared them so that they were part of 

the recent Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts Show.

This is the third finished quilt - The Psycho Barn.

If you double click each of these

you should be able to see more of her quilting.

She already has places chosen in her house

to hang all three quilts.

CONGRATULATIONS, SANDRA!!

Exciting!

I stopped by our new locally-owned independent book store

and look what I found on their shelf --

How exciting!

Lynne's Latest Barn Building Class

photo will supersize if double-clicked
Photo taken at Quilted Threads, Henniker, NH

Read all about Lynne Tyler's 

recent barn building class 

by clicking HERE.

AQS Des Moines 2017

SSOBB member Julie Post shared this photo

from the recent AQS Des Moines show.

I made The Seasonal Sampler 2.5 years ago

as the example quilt for BUILD A BARN's process notes.

Since the book's publication in early 2016,

 the quilt has been traveling from one AQS event to the next.

I took this photo in "the dome" aka "the Pavilion" 

during last month's Fall Paducah show where

I presented three times in the Author / iQuilt Showcase.

It was good to see the quilt in person again!

* * *

With this year's series of shows at an end,

I suspect the quilt will be returning home soon,

at least for a little while.

Thanks, Julie P. for sharing your photo!

Kaja's Lighthouse Quilt is Finished!

Kaja has finished her hand-quilted free pieced lighthouse quilt

that was inspired by BUILD A BARN.

You can read the finished reveal post

for her ALL AT SEA quilt

by clicking here.

This second link 

will take you to the whole series of posts

she shared during the making of her quilt.

Well worth taking the time 

to read back through her process.

Congratulations, Kaja - ALL AT SEA is fabulous!

Barbara's Barn Photos

Photo by Barbara Stanbro

If you haven't visited Barbara's blog Cat Patches,

I highly recommend checking it out.

She LOVES barns.

Everywhere she and her husband travel,

she takes photographs of barns.

Photo by Barbara Stanbro

Some are drive-by shots.

Others like the one at the beginning of this post are still photos.

No matter - they're all FULL of inspiration.

Photo by Barbara Stanbro

And she and her husband have a long trip planned

during which she'll be sharing lots more barn photos.

So be sure to visit her blog every so often

to get another burst of barn-goodness.

Any Time Now . . .

Be on the lookout for the September issue

of American Quilter magazine.

WHY??

The Secret Society of Barn Builder's

amazingly wonderful gallery barns

from BUILD-A-BARN

are featured in this issue!

Be sure to read pages 80-83.

* * *

SO EXCITING!!

SSOBB Quilts and AQ Magazine - BIG News!

SSOBB quilt tops pinned on my design wall - early 2015

Remember the SSOBB gallery quilts?

THEY WILL BE FEATURED IN

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE 

OF AQ MAGAZINE!

* * *

To celebrate,

please take a fun photo of the page 

with your favorite SSOBB barn

and post it on Instagram using the hashtag

#freepiecedbarnproject

(selfies and on location shots are encouraged)

Lori's Ohio Barn Photos

Photo of Ohio barn taken by Lori D. 

Lori from Humble Quilts

recently spent some time in Ohio.

She shared three blog posts

loaded with photos including LOTS of barns.

Photo of Ohio barn taken by Lori D.

THIS ONE featured the Ashtabula Barn Quilt Trail

with ever so many photos of inspiring barns.

THIS ONE featured more information on the barn quilt trail

including a link to their database of barn quilts.

and THIS ONE featured quilts, buildings, and barns.

Photo of Ohio barn taken by Lori D.

Have YOU built a free pieced barn?

If so, please email me a photo.

We all enjoy seeing work  inspired by BUILD A BARN!

Lynne Begins to Build a Barn

SSOBB Charter Member Lynne Tyler

recently visited her brother in Colorado.

The photo above is his barn.

Lynne has plans to free piece his barn --

her first post about the process is HERE.

And while you are on her blog,

you should scroll back through the last several posts

to see lots more photos from her trip.

And, if you happen to live in New England,

Lynne will be teaching a free pieced barn class

at Quilted Threads in July.

Carol's Recent Farm/Barn Post

Photo by Carol E.

In case you missed it,

CLICK HERE

to read Carol's recent post

about visiting two of her family's farms.

There are some really good barn photos

that just might inspire you.

double click to supersize photo

Carol's free pieced barn quilt was donated to a group
that does cleft palate surgeries.

She recently spotted it in this photo taken in a clinic in Tanzania.

How cool is that?!?!

Marlene's Peach Farm Barn

Marlene was one of my students at The Folk School last April.

Due to outside commitments,

she had to miss two days of class

so she took her partially-constructed second barn

home and worked on it during the evenings.

When she returned for our final half-day session,

she was unhappy about the way her barn's upper story

didn't line up correctly necessitating the chopping-off of her 

marvelous (small!) pieced haymow sign block.

I kept thinking about her dilemma as we drove home,

completely understanding her disappointment with the finished block.

Except - was it really finished?

The next day I called her and suggested that she unstitch a few seams

so she could remove the chopped off segment

and replace it with something else before re-assembling the block.

Just recently she sent me this late-at-night photo

of her newly updated barn block.

Well done, Marlene!

I love your bold winter barn under that fabulous night sky.

* * *

Note to all free piecers:

You are  never really done until you are happy with the results.

You can ALWAYS take it apart and make changes

so that you are happy with your work.

Be brave - take it out and do it over!

See Rock City Visits New Hampshire

Photo by Lynne Tyler

SEE ROCK CITY is currently on display 

at Quilted Threads in Henniker, New Hampshire.

Lynne Tyler teaches there on a regular basis.

Yesterday she taught a free pieced barn class.

She also took SEE ROCK CITY outdoors

to get some on-location beauty shots.

She took some fabulous photos!

CLICK HERE to see for yourself!

Wendy's Wonderful Barn

Wendy's haymow sign began like this.

A week or so after class,

she showed me her additional progress on the sky.

We also talked about options to finish out her block.

The next week, she shared this!

Be sure to double click so you can appreciate the details

like her flower farm sign on the barn

(ready to be hand appliquéd in place)

and the flower cart on the path through the fields of blooms.

This was Wendy's first ever free pieced barn.

I think it is splendid!!

Cherie's Illinois Barn

SSOBB Member Cherie Moore

shared this Illinois pole barn

during the SSOBB blog hop last year.

CLICK HERE to read her post about its construction.

When I taught at The Folk School earlier this year,

Cherie sent me her pole barn block

so I could share it with my students.

Of course, I took a few detail photos

while it was in my studio.

Cherie is known for her wonderful use of thrifted shirtings

and this barn is a terrific example of her work.

I especially like the way she added the top on her silo.

If you ever wonder whether small details make a difference,

just look at the impact of that narrow inserted strip above her barn door

and the very narrow inserted strip along the barn's roof lines.

The answer is YES - little details DO make a big difference.

Kathryn's Beautiful Barn

You will definitely want to double click on this photo

to supersize it so you can enjoy the details.

Kathryn was one of the students in 

my recent local barn building class.

Like many quilters, she was concerned

about the liberated nature of free piecing

since she prefers points that match

and blocks that are symmetrical.

Happily she discovered that free pieced barns

can be liberated and symmetrical at the same time.

I think her barn is gorgeous.

Congratulations, Kathryn!

Lynne's Red Barn Block

This is the second barn block that Lynne loaned

to me for use in two recent classes.

The red Weare barn block measures 25" tall x 31" wide.

If you double click the photo, it will supersize.

I love how she pieced the floodlight.

Just look at the tiny details she pieced into the barn doors and windows.

Fabric choices really do matter.

Thank you Lynne for sharing your barns with my students!

Lynne's Green Barn Block

Approx. 32" tall x 36" wide

This is Lynne's green Town Line barn block

hanging on my design wall - double clicking will supersize the photo.

That large leafy print in the background

does such a good job of setting the barn

into its heavily wooded surroundings.

Before I sent it home,

I took a couple of detail photos

to show you how each small decision

impacts the overall free pieced result.

Look at the window above the blue barn door.

See how she used two fabrics to indicate broken window panes?

And look at the framing for the small window

in the barn's peak.

She used three fabrics to create the light pole,

each adding texture and dimension.

Subtle but oh so effective.

Lots to Share!

Check out this post 

on the AQS On Point Blog to see lots of 

newly-constructed free pieced barns!

Debbie's Harvest Barn

double click to supersize photo

Last year during the SSOBB Blog Hop,

Debbie shared her Harvest Barn in this post.

We all know it is one thing to see a quilt through photos

and another, very different, thing to see the quilt in person.

Debbie kindly shared her Harvest Barn 

with my class at The Folk School last month.

Of course while the barn was there I just HAD to take these photos.

Enjoy!

Thank you, Debbie for sharing your barn quilt with my students.

* * *

Have YOU built a barn?

If so, I'll be happy to share your work here.

( email address is my profile in the sidebar)

On the Road Again

Nancy from Blogging Near Philadelphia shared this photo

of BUILD A BARN's Seasonal Sampler

at the recent AQS Lancaster show.

Thank you, Nancy!

Wendy from The Constant Quilter

also shared photos of The Seasonal Sampler

from the Lancaster show in a recent blog post.

Here is Wendy's photo of the name tag

that travels with the quilt.

Thank you, Wendy!

* * *

Two of this year's AQS shows have come and gone

but there are still four more shows on the 2017 calendar:

Apr. 26 – 29 will be Spring Paducah, KY

Aug. 16 – 19 will be the show at Grand Rapids, MI

Sep. 13 – 16 will be Fall Paducah, KY

and

Oct. 4 – 7 will be Des Moines, IA

If you go to any of these shows and see 

The Seasonal Sampler in the Authors' Exhibit,

please take a photo (serious or silly) and email it to me.

Thanks!