Vintage Inspired Mini Wood Barn Quilts

I'm sharing how I turned a piece of scrap wood into a set of miniature barn quilts that are so cute hanging on the wall!
DIY wood barn quilts


Hanging quilts on the wall is certainly nothing new! These wood stenciled quilts are a fun addition to this large wall in my sunroom.

The sunroom reveal is coming, I promise! I'm still waiting on a couple items to come in the mail to give it that finishing touch! Thank you for your patience!

Update: you can view our Sunroom Reveal here!


In the meantime, I'll share a project or two that I completed for our sunroom, like these DIY wood barn quilts.

I spotted this wood quilt in a magazine recently...and got all kinds of ideas!

inspiration

I absolutely love it in red, so perfect for Christmas, but I decided to make my wood quilts in black and white so they'd work in my home all year long.

This project is similar to the giant barn quilt I made for my in-laws last year, only on a much smaller scale = easier to do!

Here's a rare look from the sunroom all the way to the front door! This space looks completely different now that we have farmhouse floors installed here!

wood barn quilts on the wall | diy beautify blog

We have these large openings on either side of the fireplace in both our living room and sunroom. The rooms share a fireplace, and while I'm keeping the brick on the sunroom side red, I recently gave the other side a much-needed update! You can see my painted fireplace here.

Ok, back to the openings. While I was painting this room, I realized that these two spots were prime decorating real estate! When I mentioned it to Mr DIY he said something like, "Are you going to cover up every single wall in the house?"

What's that darling? Of course I am! (he should totally know me by now!)

I do need to mention that while he's a little skeptical of my hare-brained ideas at first, he usually, almost always comes on board once he sees the completed project! And in fact he recently told me how much he loves our home and how bright and open it is.

So. Momma's always right, right? 😉 And I remain the "despot of our oikos" (something I took away from a marriage conference long, long ago). If you have no clue what it means, look it up! It's there, I promise!

Sorry...rabbit trail ramblings today!

Let's make some wood quilts, shall we?

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR WOOD QUILTS


supplies
Not all supplies are pictured

HOW TO MAKE MINI WOOD BARN QUILTS

If you read the supply list, you'll see that I made my own one-time-use stencils out of card stock. I created them in PicMonkey, uploaded them into my Silhouette machine and cut them to the size I needed.

Obviously I'm aware that not everyone owns their own die-cut machine (although you really should!). In this case you can cut them out by hand using a ruler and an exacto knife (more time consuming but definitely do-able as they're all straight lines). This is how I used to make all my own stencils before I caved and bought my Silhouette.

I'll share more tips about using card stock stencils as we get further into this tutorial.

STEP ONE: PREP YOUR WOOD

Determine the size you want your square(s) and cut them.

Sand well using a palm sander or sandpaper.

Paint with two coats of base color.

Sand again once dry to distress top and edges (see images below)

I was going for a worn, vintage look with these quilt blocks! I used the edges of the sander to hit the wood in a few spots, removing the paint right down to the wood. If you want to keep them modern and new, don't distress.
prep the wood

STEP TWO: PAINT STENCILS

Tape stencil onto wood block, centering.

Note: if you're using card stock stencils, add a little rolled sticky tape to the corners as they tend to want to lift up once you get paint on the paper!

Also, paper stencils are less forgiving! Try not to roll over an area more than once or twice!

Pour a little paint onto a paper plate.

Line another paper plate with paper towels, about 4 towels thick.

Roll the paint on and then roll over the paper towels several times to remove most of the paint. Now you're ready to take it to your stencil!

Once you're happy with it, remove stencil immediately (tweezers are perfect for pulling up sections you've taped).

Note: if you're using card stock, you will very likely have a little bleed through. Dampen a paper towel and immediately wipe up the excess as best you can.
paint the stencil

STEP THREE: DISTRESS QUILT BLOCKS

Once the paint is good and dry, you can using the sander to distress. As you can see, I was going for heavy distressing. Sanding is also great for removing some paint that escaped the edges of your stencil!

beautifully distressed

Look at that vintage-y looking goodness right there! It looks like my wood barn quilts have been around since granny was a baby!

This project is a great way to create something with a sense of history (without the large price tag that accompanies real vintage or antique items!) If you loved this project, I would appreciate it if you would PIN THIS IMAGE! It helps my project get seen by more eyes! Thank you.paint these wood barn quilts today! | www.diybeautify.com

You can finish off with a wax or poly top coat, but since mine are on the wall and won't be touched, I didn't bother.

diy wood barn quilts

Do you have a wall where you could see a wood barn quilt (or two) hanging? Or maybe you have a quilt- lover on your Christmas list?!

Let me know if you try this project!


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Comments

  1. These are so cute, Cindy! I love how they turned out! Once things slow down for me, I'd love to try this project.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Michele, they are a fun and inexpensive project with unlimited possibilities!!

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