The "Farmer's Daughter" Quilt Block

The “Farmer’s Daughter”

Paint has always been my medium of choice. I guess it all started back in 6th grade when I took a Toll Painting (yes, Toll Painting, very folksy/country style that no one seems to do much anymore) and just have enjoyed it since. I’m an acrylic kind of girl, never dabbled in oils and prefer painting things that don’t require a lot of detail…..so, 8 foot by 8 foot quilt squares fall into that category of “likes.”

Susan and I had been discussing doing on for Dad’s Tobacco barn for several years but just never really did anything about it. When we lived over in Richmond, KY, there seemed to be a lot of Barns with quilt squares and even a few more have popped up around home in the past few years.

Quilting is way to detailed for my attention span but my Aunt Brenda in California obviously find great pleasure in quilting because I am the proud recipient of several of her quilts. And I LOVE quilts, I just don’t have a lot of patience for doing them.

Aunt Brenda happened upon the quilting book called “The Farmer’s Wife Quilt” which is put together by Laurie Hird. You can find more about this book and quilt squares HERE on her blog. Basically she has incorporated letters that came into the “Farmer’s Wife” magazine in the early 1900’s I believe and then their corresponding quilt squares. Regardless, her book is a neat look back in history and to what it was like to be a farmer’s wife back then and provides you with 111 quilt squares to choose from and instructions on how to build your own sampler quilt in various sizes.

So, in thumbing through that book and looking at all the neat patterns, Susan and I landed on one called “Farmer’s Daughter.” How appropriate! Plus, as our first attempt at this, it didn’t look too daunting in design! So with that we were off to Lowe’s to get our supplies for our first ever quilt square.

I had an idea on what would be required to do this project, but a quick look by Susan on the internet confirmed my thoughts and we were off with a list in hand.

Supplies needed to build a Barn Quilt Square:

• 2 4X8 sheets of plywood. (we opted for the 19/32 thickness)
• Primer of choice, we used tinted Kilz
• Latex Outdoor paint in your choice of colors
• Clear Deck Weather Stain/Sealant
• Brushes/Rollers
• Painters Tape (low adhesive)
• Chalk Line
• Pencil
• Other paint supplies such as liners, etc.

Here we are on our way back from Lowe's with the bounty!



Here's some of the pictures of our progress and our finished project. Can't wait to get it up on Dad's barn! I'll give an update and new pictures once it's up on the barn. Dad says he wants to have the barn painted first, so who knows when it will be, but it's done regardless!

Now I have the desire to try to get Todd County to find places for each of the 110 other patterns in the book and have a "Farmer's Wife" Barn Quilt tour.......