New Blocks for Mande's Star Quilt

My mom asked me to make a quilt for my sister who lives in Japan.  Although an accomplished and prolific quilter herself, my mom has developed some health issues that do not allow her to quilt much anymore.  Since I don't live close enough to help her out daily or even weekly, I said I would do this for her-- because it's something I can do where I am.

They wanted a little lime green thrown in, too.  So I'm making that the center of the star that will radiate out in oranges and blues ...

Sorry--The oranges in this pic with the lime green are not quite what I see in real life.  Real life colors is more like the orange and blue above... 

Orange and Blue are the main colors.   Although my mom and I both have enough blue in our stashes to make this quilt, neither of us had many oranges.  Good reason to go on a shopping spree collecting orange fat quarter sets.  ;-)

So far, I have 12 blocks made of the required 56.  I wanted to post my progress because it reminds me that I am making progress, and my mom (and Mande) can see how it's coming along, too.  Maybe Ailin will help me to sew some of the strip sets when they are here in August?

Each block is about 12-1/2 inches when cut.  Though I start with 2 18-inch squares of strip sets sewn in opposing color-ways.  Lay them down right sides together, then sew a 1/4 inch seam around the outer edge.  Once that's done, you carefully cut 2 lines corner to corner.  The resulting block is like what you see above.  You can make 4 blocks at a time with this method.  I can't seem to find the instructions at the moment, but I'll add a link to a demo when I locate one. 

This is essentially the same basic block as in Aidin's Corner of the Sky Quilt, only these will be set differently--without cornerstones and strapping in between.  It's a wonderfully versatile block-and essentially a souped up half-square triangle.

This is how I'm planning to lay it out for Mande's Star Quilt  (minus the red squares in the centers) :

At present, I have enough for the star in the middle, but no room to lay it out for you here. 
Only 36 blocks to go! Plus borders.

Bear Paw Barn Quilt

Bear Claws Quilt Canvas Farm Barn by Billy Jacobs

My mom is going to commission a barn quilt for the side of their machine shed in the country.  If they still had the old barn (which is just down the road), you can bet it would hang there on the old homestead ...   I was even thinking about building it and presenting it to her for Christmas, but I wasn't sure how to transport it without a truck ...  I even found some good directions for making your own here.   But she beat me to the punch.  Now we're just planning to chip in to cover the costs for her.   She says she wants it to be a Tree Block, since my dad has a Christmas Tree Farm there on their land.

They don't have to be the 8 x 8 ft size.  If your hanging space is smaller, by all means, you can make a smaller barn quilt.   And these instructions recommend a material that is used for making signs--instead of plywood.  That seems smart--It might stand up to the elements better.    Then I started to think about : If I made my own, what quilt block would I use?  Pin Wheel?  Tea Leaves?  Crossed Canoes?  Bear Paw--That's one of the quilts on my bucket list that I need to make some day.  So I started looking for examples ...  What color schemes?  How did they lay it out?  Square or on point?

That's when I stumbled upon the artwork above.   I bought it on eBay this week--an impulse buy, but not expensive.  ;-)    This way, not only do I have the Bear Paw barn quilt, I have the barn to go with it!  And I can hang it inside and enjoy it myself!    Perfect!

My Quilting friend, Laura R. built a potting shed this summer, and made a Barn Quilt to go with it.  She chose The Lady of the Lake quilt block.  That's the patron saint, shall we say, of the local Oshkosh Quilt Guild, Lakeside Quilters, which she helped to found so many years ago. 

Do you have a Barn Quilt?
Did you make it yourself?
Do you want a Barn Quilt?
What Quilt Block did you choose?  Why?

I might still make a real Bear Paw Barn Quilt some day.  It would be neat for people to look across the park and see it hanging on the side of our house ...   But maybe I should make the quilt first!

In the meantime, here's a whole Library of blocks to whet your appetite for barn quilt possibilities!