The Dartmouth Grange has begun a community project encouraging the hanging of barn quilts. Its aim is to pay tribute to our long and rich agricultural heritage while simultaneously creating a unique public art project that everyone can enjoy.
What is a Barn Quilt?
Barn quilts are decorative quilt block squares painted on wood and mounted on the fronts or sides of:
Barns
Agricultural Buildings
Garden Sheds
Grange Halls
Schools
Businesses
Homes
Barn quilts are sometimes hung indoors.
Barn quilts as an art form visually and emotionally capture the elements of home traditions, comfort and times past. Inspiration for barn quilt designs comes directly from the traditional patchwork quilts that adorn our beds and walls, all of which are truly art created in the home.
A great appeal of barn quilts is due to their unique handcrafted qualities and their inherent expression of individual style. Barn quilts are made one at a time, fashioned with the ideas and preferences of their makers. They are a welcome change from mass produced decoration and cookie cutter style.
Barn quilts tell the story of the site where they hang. Quilt block patterns are often selected for their personal or historic significance for the land and buildings, the farm and farm family.
Make Your Own Barn Quilt
A step by step process enables you to make a barn quilt yourself. Search online for websites and videos with helpful instructions about creating a barn quilt from scratch. Check our Resource List below.
Barn quilts are usually square in shape and range in size from 1-foot square to 8-foot square with all sizes in between. Sometimes barn quilts are not painted onto plywood but are instead painted directly onto the outside wall of the barn or building.
Designs can be inspired by traditional quilt block designs or they can be completely original. Most barn quilts are made up of simple geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and triangles, making them easy to create. For ideas, refer to quilt books or search for quilt block patterns online. They are usually painted using vibrant solid colors so they are easy to see from afar.
Resource List
The following Youtube video shows the basic steps of painting a barn quilt.
Paint A Barn Quilt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vf7K8Z8ihw
The next two links have a lot of information about making 8’ x 8’ barn quilts. This information can be easily adapted to the making of a smaller size barn quilt, working with only one piece of plywood.
Hammond Barn Quilt Trail
Guidelines For Creating Barn Quilts
Columbia County Barn Quilt Instructions
https://columbia.extension.wisc.edu/files/2018/08/BQ-Instructions-Columbia-County.pdf
Dartmouth Grange Fundraiser
A fundraiser for our Grange is offering material for making your own barn quilt, or the option of buying one ready-made.
Download a copy of the Price List & Order Form at the bottom of this page. It has complete details about all of the choices.
Mail the completed form with a check made payable to the Dartmouth Grange to the address shown here.
Dartmouth Grange No. 162
1133 Fisher Road
Dartmouth, MA 02747
Make-Your-Own Options
Medium Density Overlay Plywood (MDO)
This sign-quality plywood product is superior to ordinary plywood. It is much more long-lasting and has a smooth surface making it easy to paint. It is more expensive than regular plywood and is only available at stores in size 4’ x 8’ sheets.
The Dartmouth Grange is offering MDO plywood in several pre-cut sizes, unprimed or primed, at a reasonable cost. Pieces are cut, sanded and filled with wood putty in sizes 1’ x 1’, 2' x 2’ and 4’ x 4’.
Buy Ready-Made Options
Finished Barn Quilts
Ready-made, one-of-a-kind barn quilts, handmade by Grange members are available to buy in different sizes. All are made with high quality materials and pride in workmanship. Authenticity is confirmed by a label with a number and date on the back of each barn quilt. The Grange will never make two that are exactly alike.
Finished barn quilts that are currently available are displayed right here with their size and price shown. If you see one that you would like to purchase, contact us using the directions shown on the Price List & Order Form, and send the order form with your payment to us right away. We will contact you promptly to make arrangements for pick-up. We do not ship barn quilts.
Finished Barn Quilts
Please Make Note of Actual Sizes.
Peace & Plenty 1' x 1' $45
Square & Compass 1' x 1' $45
Corn & Beans 2' x 2' $110
Custom Designed Barn Quilts
Another choice for a ready-made barn quilt is for Grange members to help you find a quilt block design that is right for you, or help you design one. Your barn quilt will be handmade by Grange members and it will have a label of authenticity with a number and date on the back. More information about this option is shown on the Price List & Order Form.
Another choice for a ready-made barn quilt is for Grange members to help you find a quilt block design that is right for you, or help you design one. Your barn quilt will be handmade by Grange members and it will have a label of authenticity with a number and date on the back. More information about this option is shown on the Price List & Order Form.
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