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!!

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!

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.

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)

More Student Barns from The Folk School

This is Brenda's second barn and her very first silo.

Be sure to double-click these photos

so you can enjoy the details.

This is Sandra's second barn adorned with

hay bales and pumpkins, a dog and a tractor,

and a haymow sign for Farm Fresh Eggs.

This is Sandra's third barn

which ended up being nicknamed

 "The Psychedelic Barn"

The fabrics themselves inspired this one 

and we all enjoyed watching it come to life.

Instead of using the candy-colored stripe in its original form,

it was cut into 4.5" squares and sewed back together 

rail fence style before it was used to light up the sky.

* * *

We had so much fun during our week together!

First Barns

There were three new-to-free piecing students in my Folk School class -

Brenda and Sandra and Marlene.

This is the first barn that Brenda built.

She plans to machine appliqué the chickens, trees,

weathervane, and tractor scene.

This is the first barn that Marlene built.

She's planning to hand appliqué the chickens and tractor.

double click to supersize photo

This is the first barn that Sandra built.

When she laid out her ground fabrics 

she kept saying "they're too straight . . . "

so she successfully added some gentle curved piecing. 

The horse and his window are free pieced.

She brought several barn quilt blocks

she had prepared using Printed Treasures -

this one was framed and then machine appliquéd in place.

The sheep will be machine appliquéd.

* * *

Over the course of the week

a total of seven barns were created.

I'll share three more in a few days.

The seventh barn is undergoing modifications

so we'll wait to share "before" and "after" photos.

The Folk School Experience

I taught a 5-day BUILD A BARN class last week

at The Folk School in North Carolina.

It was a most excellent experience

and I hope to teach at The Folk School again.

Over the next week or so

I'll be sharing photos here of the barns 

that my eager-and-willing-to-go-for-it students created.

So why are there photos of yours truly

and her new felted wool hat

from The Folk School's Craft Shop?

When we arrived on Sunday,

it was sunny and 80+ degrees.

By Wednesday afternoon,

temperatures were in the 40s with cold rain.

Thursday was even chillier with more rain and clouds.

Friday dawned clear and sunny with gusty winds

that made standing in the shade quite chilly.

Hence the hat to keep my head warm.

* * *

People kept telling me the hat needed a flower.

I knew I had this beautiful wool flower at home

that was purchased last fall from a local artist

at the Davies Manor quilt show.

The purple wool hat and the warm red flower

were clearly meant to be together.

So to those who suggested a flower, you were right.

* * *

All of this to say that spending time at The Folk School

as a student or as an instructor is just plain fun.

Join Me at The Folk School

Join me for BUILD A BARN

at the John C. Campbell Folk School

in Brasstown, North Carolina

April 2-7, 2017

Read the class listing here.

I hope you can join us!