If you’re not familiar with barn quilts then let me clue you in. First of all, barn quilts are NOT made of fabric! A barn quilt is actually a large piece of painted wood, metal or some other material that looks like a single quilt block and decorates the side of a barn. You can see them in just about every state in the U.S.
According to Wikipedia, “A quilt trail is a series of painted wood or metal hung or freestanding quilt squares installed along a route emphasizing significant architecture and/or aesthetic landscapes. Currently, North America has 46 quilt trails: 43 in the United States and three in Canada.”
According to an article on the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, “According to legend, a safe house along the Underground Railroad was often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code so that by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could know the area’s immediate dangers or even where to head next. Bow Tie = Dress in disguise to appear of higher status; Bear Paw = Follow an animal trail through the mountains to find water and food; Log Cabin = Seek shelter now, the people here are safe to speak with.”
My outdoor quilt isn’t on a clothesline to send a message nor does it have any historical back story, it was only created to look cool. It measures 48″ square and is on white aluminum sign material and it’s attached to the barn with screws.
As some of you may know, my full-time job is as an advertising professional (I have been for more than 30 years). I previously had several full-time graphic designers as staff members and I had one of them match a pattern I found online to create the vector art files needed for the project. The original plan was to cut the pieces on my own Silhouette but I was unable to due to width limitations on my cutter. It’s a good thing I couldn’t cut them at home because assembling them was quite the undertaking in and of itself! I sent the vector art to a local sign company (Mary and Gary at M&G Signs in Nixa are truly awesome) and they cut the outdoor grade vinyl pieces for me. I also bought the aluminum from them.
My part was assembling the individual vinyl pieces onto the aluminum background. Thankfully, the pieces could be repositioned because there was a tremendous challenge getting them to line up precisely and correctly. I think it would have taken me about 75% less time had I drawn the pattern onto wood and then painted the segments. Oh, well—live and learn. If even one piece of vinyl is 1/16″ off at the center then the next row out is 1/8″ off then the next row is 1/4″ off…you get the gist, I’m sure. Standing very close you can see where some pieces had to overlap to make it work (due to my assembly skills and not because the vinyl was cut incorrectly). It did turn out great in the end and most will say it looks perfect if standing more than about 6′ away.
If you’d like to see hundreds more barn quilt examples just do a Google search for “barn quilt images” and you’ll be in for a treat.
Read the full article about underground quilt codes HERE.
