Barn Quilts

Did any of you see the fun, fun tutorial over at Lori Holt's blog about the cute block she designed:  a barn with a quilt block in the side?  She used leftover Farmer's wife blocks and put her barns on the back of her competed Farmer's Wife quilt.  Now she is having a sew-along with them.  I couldn't wait to try one out.  Luckily when I sorted through my orphan block stash, I found a good 6" block that would work.

 

Here it is!  I guess I took the photo at an angle--it really is a square block and not tapered.  Isn't it fun!  Now you may be thinking that I was supposed to be writing more about Midatlantic, but in fact, I am.  I had planned to share some of the goodies that I found at the vendor booths.  My favorite purchase was this:

 

 

A Barn Quilt.  These metal signs are normally put outside.  Some barns in the country have even larger, painted blocks on them.  They are really fun to watch for as you are driving.   Anyway, I've been wanting one for quite some time, but a patriotic one, of course, and there was this one, in red, fitting the bill perfectly.  I have it hanging on the end of my cutting island for now, until we get our "forever" house after my husband retires.  I think it is so funny/odd that both of these barn quilts came into my life in the same week.

 

I got quite a lot of fabric, as well, but it is put away.  The other cool thing I got was this seam ripper with a hand-carved wood handle.

They had many types of wood, and as you handled them all, they all felt a bit different in your hand.  I felt them all until this one seemed to "fit" my hand just right.  I thought it all seemed a lot like when Harry Potter got his wand and he tried all the different ones until the right one "chose him" as they say.  I'm not sure what species of wood this ripper is, but I'm sure it isn't holly.  I've even had the occaision to use it, and it really works nicely.

I hope you have a great day.  I'm still suffering with this dumb cold (possible acquired from handling all those rippers?) Yesterday I rested all day and emptied out the contents of my DVR.  Today I'm going to spend some time sewing.  Thanks for all the well-wishes!

JoAnne