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    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

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How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt

April 24, 2018

Always committing to doing the things I say I’m going to do–in this case “barn quilt all the things”–I extended my collaboration with Buffalo-based designer Whitney Crispell of Local Color Quilts and made another totally crushworthy piece of outdoor art. Y’all! Still addicted to the quilts. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

How to design and make a barn quilt.

Last summer, I created a colorful design to produce a 50″ x 50″ modern barn quilt for DIY Network; the new one was a gift for mom for Mother’s Day (and I delivered it yesterday in advance of her seeing this post; it was a smash). The original barn quilt (def the OG, or OGBQ) has officially seen all 4 seasons–fall, winter 1, and winter 2 were especially perfecto–and I knew reusing paints from the OG palette would be nice for my parent’s house which is surrounded by trees and accessorized by gardens blossoming with every color in the rainbow.

The timing of the project also aligned perfectly with Bethany of Reality Daydream’s #WoodArtChallenge, and it’s so fun being part of the long list of talented bloggers who put their creative skills to work and designed their own square-shaped wooden artwork. See what others made at the bottom of this post.

Barn quilts are remarkably simple to make, and aside from a saw and a drill, all you’ll really need is patience and a few supplies:

  • 1x6x8 board
  • 18″x18″ piece of plywood
  • circular saw
  • ruler/tape measure
  • straight edge
  • pencil
  • (12) 3/4″ screws
  • paint samples
  • painter’s tape
  • paint brushes
  • polyurethane/weatherproofing
  • hanging hardware

The wood I used was white spruce harvested and planed from trees that fell on my parents’ property. Assuming you’re buying your own lumber, you can easily make a barn quilt the same size out of one 1x8x6-ft board. To determine the measurement of my square, I stacked three 1×8 boards side by side and measured them as 21.5″ wide. To match the height, I trimmed the three boards to be an even 21.5″ in length. Pushed together, they form a perfect square. Use a piece of plywood cut into an 18″x18″ square, and 3/4″ screws to assemble the barn quilt from the backside with no fewer than 4 screws hitting each board. Attach the hanging hardware after you’re done painting (you’ll want this baby to sit flush on the table, and not be wobbling all over):

How to attach plywood backing to your DIY barn quilt.

Whitney has a real eye for designing barn quilts, not just fabric quilts. The colors! Her refreshing take on heirloom quilting patterns! They’re familiar, while being completely reconcepted with consideration for modern design (and my love of the rainbow). I should point out that she’s available for hire if you want your own custom design too.

Local Color Quilts Barn Quilt Rainbow DIY Design

This particular design uses a 6×6 grid as a guide for painting, and dividing the face of your barn quilt into this same grid with light pencil lines is the first step to making this project easy. And please be smart and measure twice, mark once.

Barn quilt measurements in pencil to create a grid.

You’ll notice that I left a lot of natural wood exposed on this quilt. I prefer them that way because I think wood’s pretty, and this particular wood was thoughtfully preserved by my Dad himself, not just any ol’ 1×8 from the hardware store. Most traditional barn quilts are painted across the entire surface. If you want the entire surface painted, consider blanketing the boards with a solid coat of primer and white paint before marking your pencil grid lines and adding color.

Painting the detail, as I’ve eluded, is where you’ll need to muster all of your patience. To match Whitney’s color palette to specific paint colors, I used a paint app to match back to a certain brand. Most of the colors were close matches, and for a few colors that didn’t have an automatic match, I went and found paint chips from other brands. For each color, I bought a sample pot of tinted color for <$3.

Easy paint match colors on your phone with the Behr app.

Painter’s tape is the true workhorse in this project, and you should plan to use a lot of it. Fresh painter’s tape prevents the paint bleeding and helps to make nice, crisp lines. When you start, you’ll be working in various areas of the design, filling in colors on opposite areas where paint lines don’t collide.

Do several coats of paint in each space, and remove the tape before the paint has completely dried to get a sharp edge. You’ll need your first pass completely dry before you tape off and paint additional spaces, which is why this project takes a bit of time. This was my start, below, presenting as random colors with no rhyme or reason. Computer, camera, earbuds, ruler, dowel? lots of kids cups? doll bottle? check, check, check, etc.

Taping off areas for painting pattern on a barn quilt. Tape lines on a DIY barn quilt. How to design and make a barn quilt.

Finishing the paint on your barn quilt and removing the last pieces of tape is a really rewarding moment, so hang in there.

As for weatherproofing, I’m not convinced that a handpainted barn quilt wouldn’t look fantastic with a bit of natural weathering from wind and rain, but I did apply a coat of water-based poly to this piece so that my mom’s art would be a little more protected. If you’re looking for serious durability, consider coating your piece with a heavier-duty transparent weatherproofer, such as the weather seal you would apply to your deck. Remember to cover the cut edges of the boards with a good coat, too!

Water-based polyurethane to seal and protect a handmade barn quilt design.

When all of the painting is wrapped and polyurethane’s dry, attach the hardware of your choice, or attach it directly to your structure using long lag bolts into studs. We used 5″ bolts to attach the 50″ quilt square to the studs through our barn’s siding (in the background of the below photo), but this piece is lightweight enough to hang off a strong D-ring, as tested when I staged it against a tree in our yard.

How to make a beautiful, handpainted barn quilt. DIY barn quilt with modern rainbow design.

To see more from the group of bloggers who joined the #WoodArtChallenge, poke at these links:

1. Reality Daydream
2. 100 Things 2 Do
3. House Becoming Home
4. Anika’s DIY Life
5. My Repurposed Life
6. 3×3 Custom
7. One Project Closer
9. Chatfield Court
10. Create & Babble
11.  Hazel & Gold
12. Jen Woodhouse
13. Sawdust 2 Stitches
14. Wood Work Life
15. Remodelaholic
16.  Evan & Katelyn
17. Jaime Costigio
18.  Pneumatic Addict
19.  Bower Power
20. Lazy Guy DIY 
21. My Love 2 Create
22. Addicted 2 DIY
23. Her ToolBelt
24. Shades of Blue
25. Ugly Duckling House
26. The DIY Village
27. DIY Huntress
28. Mr Fix It DIY

Creative handmade woodworking projects with unique DIY tutorials.

Embrace your inner rainbow with a custom barn quilt. Learn how to build and paint one for your own outdoor decor.

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Backyard  / Barn  / Decor  / DIY

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

24 Comments


Bethany Sy
April 24, 2018 at 10:09 am
Reply

I love your modern barn quilt! The colors are amazing! <3



    Emily
    April 24, 2018 at 11:31 am

    Thanks Bethany!!

Katie
April 24, 2018 at 12:21 pm
Reply

It turned out beautiful! I love the colors you chose.



    Emily
    April 25, 2018 at 7:46 am

    Thanks Katie!

gail
April 24, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Reply

Such a pretty project Emily. I love the colors and the design of your modern barn quilt project.

pinning!
gail



    Emily
    April 25, 2018 at 7:47 am

    Thanks Gail! That means a lot.

Anika
April 25, 2018 at 12:30 am
Reply

Love how pretty and colorful it turned out!



    Emily
    April 25, 2018 at 7:45 am

    Thanks Anika!

Jacque
April 25, 2018 at 12:32 am
Reply

Awesome barn quilt. What a cool app, I think I need this for some projects!



    Emily
    April 25, 2018 at 7:43 am

    It has been a surprisingly handy little app! I have no affiliation with the brand, and other paint brands may have similar apps to color match their palettes, but the app shown is by Behr.

Jeanie
April 25, 2018 at 6:45 am
Reply

I love the colors in your barn quilt – it’s beautiful!



    Emily
    April 25, 2018 at 7:44 am

    Thanks Jeanie! Whitney at Local Color Quilts does an *outstanding* job designing with color.

Jackie
July 4, 2019 at 9:35 am
Reply

What is the app used to actually design the quilt? I love How you have a digital version first to try out different colors



    Emily
    July 5, 2019 at 7:25 am

    What you see is a photo I’m referencing in the Behr app for color matching. The design and color assemblage was something uniquely designed by Whitney at Local Color Quilts, not using an app.

Susan
October 13, 2019 at 8:13 am
Reply

Emily,

I’m about to start on my own barn quilt for the first time. I see the biggest challenge as getting the design I want copied to the 2’ X 2’ board perfectly. Any tips for that? I love this barn quilt. A little advanced for my first try.



Nippon
December 19, 2019 at 12:45 am
Reply

Flashing Content!! Great, keep up.



Jan
January 18, 2020 at 9:24 am
Reply

Save yourself a lot of money on painter’s tape by cutting the tape lengthwise in half to double your tape. Especially on a small project like this.



    Emily
    February 20, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    Great hack!

Adah
March 29, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Reply

Do you have a preferred brand of weather sealant that you used? And they are beautiful



    Emily
    March 30, 2020 at 7:34 am

    Nope! No preference.

Keri
March 29, 2020 at 9:10 pm
Reply

Would you be willing to share your color codes for all of the beautiful colors you chose?



    Emily
    March 30, 2020 at 7:34 am

    I’m glad you like them, but encourage you to make yours original. I can’t share the codes.

Selina
April 6, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Reply

Do you use interior or exterior paint?



    Emily
    April 7, 2020 at 7:23 am

    Whatever you want! Mine is just made using sample paint (definitely interior) and it still looks fine after years of weather. Obviously, many factors, just as if you were choosing paint or stain or treatments for any outdoor area.

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