Barn Quilt

 

I can tell that my husband gets me and humors me, and that I've possibly corrupted him with my quilty obsession when he suggested that we make a barn quilt to hang up on the house we just bought.  *biggest grin ever*   So after perusing Pinterest quite obsessivly for a while, I stumbled onto this Acadia National Park quilt block and knew it was the perfect fit.  You see, my husband and I had honeymooned in Acadia National Park and just loved the place.  Someday, I hope we get to go back.  I loved the idea of doing a barn quilt of a quilt block that represented the park and in colors that reminded me of being there. 

 One evening my husband was good enough to take the kids while I ran over the the hardware store where I got all the supplies I needed - plywood, paint, brushes, tape, clear coat sealer, etc. Thankfully, I'm not afraid of some quilty math and the block that I picked out to do could be broken down into a grid pattern so it was easy enough to draw it onto the board.  Armed with some painters tape, I taped off each color one at a time and started painting. 

 It took about a week to do since each color needed 2-3 coats and needed to dry overnight before I could move onto the next color.  But the end result was so well worth the time it took. 

 We haven't decided yet where to hang it up on the outside of the house, but hopefully soon. 

Buzz Buzz - May

Have I mentioned that I've been having so much fun being a part of the #thebeehivequilts online quilting bee?  Well, I love it and I look forward to each new month to see what block the Queen Bee for that month has picked out and what direction she has as far as colors, etc. for us that month.  And it's been so fun to get to know each of these lovely ladies a little bit better every month.
For the month of May, Melanie of Southern Charm Quilts was the Queen Bee.  She picked the double star block, and she gave some great direction for color choices.  Here is the block that I sewed together for her.

I also sent along a few goodies with Melanie's block.  After a bit of sleuthing, I found out she collects milk glass - how cute is that little tea pot teabag holder?  Just prior to sending out her block, Melanie had mentioned that she had just finished putting together a quilt top that ate up all of her black and white low volume fabric so I added in a fat-eighth left over from making her block.  I just love putting together a few extra goodies and making each package special for that month's queen bee.

Just this past week, Melanie just finished putting together all of the blocks she received and made into a finished quilt.  It turned out quite beautiful and you can go check it out in her Instagram feed if you wish.  I love how her color choices really played with the block and the repeating patter.  Simply gorgeous. 

Still Here

And just like I predicted, my time has been swallowed up by our move into our first home, an endless list of house projects, two busy busy little boys (including a trip to urgent care for stitches!), road trips, family visits, and just summer in general.

Unfortunately, writing on this blog falls kind of way down the list when it comes to prioritizing what things I want to and need to do.  Which is why it has now been 2 1/2 months since I last posted anything here.  geepers....I guess it has been a while.  Anyways, the move went well and the house is mostly unpacked and in order - or at least in the areas that count (don't go looking in the basement or garage).  And I've even managed to find most of my sewing stuff and figure out a set up that seems to be mostly working for me to sneak in some sewing here and there.
Hopefully I can work on posting a few catch up posts of the things I've been working on soon, but for now, I'm just enjoying our new home and time with my boys. :)