So here is my own journey with creating our first barn quilt. At one time we had two barns near the road but no more. So I decided to put up two barn quilt signs on my short fence near the road. I choose the designs with the help of a dear friend. We choose to do a bear claw pattern. Our county has lots of history and claims when Grant marched through during the Civil War that he said, "The town too beautiful to burn." You will find this block in Civil War quilts. Stories say the bear claw was a block used in the Underground Railroad. This makes a wonderful tale of how the Bear Paw quilt signaled escaping slaves that they needed to follow the tracks, perhaps to find water or shelter. Also, a bear has visited a deer feeder during the month of July for two years straight. Several bears have been spotted in our area. We also have some bear wooden cutouts near the quilt signs.
The star block is my patriotic block. Lots of my quilts have stars. I love star blocks.
My sweet husband constructed the signs and hung them. My talented daughter-in-law painted the signs. I had a great time watching the progress.
The sign is 4 x 4. Jaime first measured and measured and then used painters tape to section it off. I chose simple patterns for our first signs. As a side note--it was windy and chilly on the day we were painting.
Here she is painting in the blue sections with the help of our grandson, Jase.
Here is the bear claw
Our setup as she would work on one and then the other waiting for each to dry.
I have placed them at the bottom of my hill near the road--Spring and Winter photo.
Here the star--Spring and Winter photo
and the bear claw -- Spring and Winter
Thank you Sonny and Jaime!
