Family Barn Quilt

The Zaitleys
by The Zaitleys
11 Materials
$100
3 Hours
Medium

Something you may not know about us…We are not married but are common-law partners. Though when we decided to start a family, we wanted to share a last name. But rather than one of us take the others’, we wanted to show our unity - a way for us to identify as our own family, separate from the families we grew up in. We were creating something new and wanted a new name to show that. So, after much thought we combined our respective last names and came up with the name Zaitley. We are now the Zaitleys and couldn’t be happier! But being a new family, we have very little history of our own.


One of our first trips together was to Prince Edward County. This was the first time we were introduced to the concept of Barn Quilts. It seemed every building we passed had one proudly on display. We learnt that they are made in the design that appeals to the creator, but also could be a representation of career or history. For us, we decided that best way to visually represent us was through are already established design esthetic.


So to start us out on our new path we decided to make a family barn quilt. So without further ado, here is how we made the Zaitley family Barn Quilt.

What you will need for this project: 

-      20” x 20” piece of wood

-      Around 70” of 1”x 2” wood

-      Measuring tape

-      Linseed oil, an old cloth 

-      Pencil

-      Stain – we used Provincial by Minwax

-      Clear drying craft glue

-      Acrylic paint – We used shades of gold

-      Icing coloring

-      Squeeze bottle for paint applications 

-      Chisel 

-      Mitre saw 

-      Wood glue

-      Sander

-      Air compressor 

-      Nail gun and nails 

We started out by drawing the design. We used a pencil and tape measure to mark 4 equal sections both horizontally and vertically, creating a 4x4 grid, with each square 5 inches wide. Having those square blocks gives it the consistency it needs to look like a quilt. Beyond that you can get creative and connect them any way you choose. We left some triangle, squares and diamonds to create this look. There are endless combinations you could choose from! 

This was our first attempt at using a chisel. It went very well, even though it make a huge mess and Abby cut her hands a lot.

Here’s a video showing how to chisel out the lines, but not ‘how to chisel’. Please don’t be like Abby and chisel towards your fingers, it isn’t safe! (only mild cuts resulted! No fingers lost)

We chiseled along all of the lines creating grooves in the wood according to our pattern.

Once chiseled and cleaned, we gave it a quick sanding and started to mix the color.

We wanted the design of our barn quilt to be a rose gold color. In an empty squeeze bottle we filled it with craft clear drying glue, acrylic gold paint, and a few drops of pink, yellow, and orange icing coloring.

We then slowly squeezed the paint into the grooves of the wood, moving very slowly as the icing coloring will stain the wood the second they touch. 

We left that to dry overnight. Once it was dried we gave the board a sanding. This was a good way to remove any stain that landed in the wrong place. After it looked cleaner, we applied linseed oil to the entire board to brighten the wood back up. 

Now to frame!

We cut 4 20” pieces of 1x2s at a 45 degree angle. This will allow them to fit snugly around the quilt and create a frame.

Once cut to size, we lightly sanded and stained the frame with Minwax Provincial so it would stand out and contrast the quilt (instead of looking like and extension of the quilt)

Once dried we used the nail gun to secure the frame in place around the barn quilt. 

And done!

Presenting the Zaitley family Barn Quilt 


Pop over to our blog to find out what we learnt from this project and what we would have done differently to make it easier for you!

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The Zaitleys
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 4 comments
  • Alice Alice on Oct 16, 2019

    It is lovely to see how happy and excited you are to be creating a new family, congratulations! Your barn quilt is well done and adds interest to your space, I bet it will be quite the conversation piece. Enjoy it!

  • Karen Morin Karen Morin on Jan 11, 2020

    Love this! I have two traditional barn quilts on my covered patio. I hadn’t thought of doing one for indoors. Thanks for the inspiration!

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