Smooth this caulking in with your finger so that it isn’t lumpy. In addition, coating the end grain on the 2”x 4”s and the plywood edges with caulking will help seal them against the weather, adding life to your square. You want your barn square to last water is the biggest enemy against this. It is also good to caulk the seams between the 2”x 4”s and the plywood and the seams between the 2”x 4”s so that water cannot get between them. Fill the holes with wood putty, sand smooth, and flush with the surface once the putty dries. Attach the plywood to the frame with 1-5/8” drywall screws, being sure to drill and countersink the holes in the plywood so that the screw heads will be below flush. Wipe off any excess caulking that squeezes out of the seam. Don’t caulk it from the outside, but run a bead of caulk down the edge of the plywood, between the pieces, as you put them together. When connecting the two halves, it is a good idea to caulk the seam between them so that no water can enter into this seam. As you can see in the drawing below, the frame overlaps the joint, holding the two halves together. These will need to be connected by the frame, usually made out of 2”x 4” dimensional lumber. You’ll need two full sheets of plywood to make a traditional, full-sized barn quilt. You don’t want to go thicker than that, especially with the larger barn quilts, as they can become extremely heavy. One-half-inch thick material is usually considered to be ideal. Paint it with a couple of coats of sealer before painting the design to keep the paint from soaking in. If you can’t get a signboard, a sanded softwood plywood or MDF (medium-density fiberboard) will work almost as well. Just about any type of plywood can be used to make a barn quilt, but you will get the best results from working with smooth-surfaced plywood, like a signboard. Unsupported plywood can bow and twist somewhat, and plywood fresh from the lumberyard will often be cupped somewhat, a leftover from the way it is manufactured, stacked, and shipped. Even so, it’s a good idea to make a frame for that square to maintain its structural integrity and flatness. It is nothing more than a plywood square. The physical construction of a barn quilt is simplicity itself. Regardless of their size, however, one of the basic concepts of quilting is that all quilts are made with geometric precision, which is part of their inherent beauty. Depending on the quilt design and maker, the squares on the quilts that these designs are taken from can range from about four to 12 inches square. These smaller quilts are usually two feet square.Ī typical barn quilt doesn’t show a whole quilt but rather merely one square of a quilt. But many people make smaller barn quilts for decorating inside and outside their homes. Typically, they are painted on two standard sheets of plywood, creating an eight foot square. The old custom of a Sunday afternoon drive can be made more enjoyable by following one of these trails and seeing what others have crafted.īarn quilts that are going on in real barns need to be quite large. They are popular enough that people create barn quilt “trails” mapped out, showing where barn quilts are located and can be viewed. The first modern barn quilt was hung on Donna’s barn in Adams County, Ohio.īarn quilts are now showing up in over 40 states and across Canada. They fell largely by the wayside until 2001 when the resurgence began.ĭonna Sue Groves started the modern version of the barn quilt out of her desire to honor her mother and her Appalachian heritage. For those early settlers, barn quilts were a way of holding on to their heritage. They came to the United States with the colonists and have continued as part of the tradition of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Originating hundreds of years ago, barn quilts were originally intended as a simple decoration on utilitarian buildings (barns) that weren’t normally painted. The simple craft of making barn quilts has had a resurgence since the turn of the century after a long hiatus. How to Cut a Groove or Channel on Wood Without a Router.Drying Wood in the Oven: The Ultimate How-To Guide.How to Remove and Replace Your Load Bearing Wall.How to Fix a Sagging Couch with Plywood.The Ultimate Guide to Building a Portable Generator Enclosure.The Ultimate Guide to Building a Bat House.Aquarium Cabinetry: A DIY Guide to Custom Aquarium Stands.The Ultimate Guide to DIY Birdhouse Design.The Uses of and Challenges in Cutting Formica.Exterior Walls Construction: The Start-to-Finish Guide.Install a Combination Boiler/Water Heater.The Ultimate Guide to Sealing Laminate Floors.
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