Churn Dash Farmers Quilt

I found this beautiful piece of farm print fabric so many years ago and have been trying to figure out what to do with it.  I new I wanted to fussy-cut the barns out and go from there, and a few months ago during some downtime on another project I finally decided what to do. It feels so good when finally decide.

I chose the churn dash pattern because it felt very farm-ish to me. I found out later it has another name; something like the 'barn door', which totally fits! I was super excited to hear that!

Man, that sun is bright!

I started off making the giant churn dash in red and quickly realized I wasn't going to have enough of the farm print to complete all the blocks, which is why I switched to the smaller blocks.

I thought about leaving the big one out, but felt like it belonged in the quilt. It breaks up the pattern and gives the quilt a twist from the traditional blocks-in-a-row look.

I got to practice my template quilting again, which if getting better and better. For the larger block, I had to improvise and free-hand the pattern to match but be on a bigger scale. Worked really well and fits right in with the others. I used a thread I had leftover from my grandmothers collection, which is actually a heavier weight because it's an embroidery thread. I have to admit I like the thicker look! I would like to use this weight again; need to do some investigative work.

I had some fun with the border. I wanted the quilting on the border to match the quilting on the blocks, so I used one corner of the pattern over and over again to create to swoops.  I am SUPER happy with how it turned out! Looks really cool, and on a side note would make a great border pattern for a valentines quilt with a little bit of a heart look.

As for the binding, I wanted to hand-bind this one and use one of the labels to date and sign the quilt. The only downfall to that is there is no official name on the quilt.  That's okay, though. The date is necessary (I can never remember), but the rest is for fun. I need to make my labels a little darker; they are a bit hard to see.

Oh, I almost forgot about the backing! I found this on the sale rack at the LQS and fell in love! Such a sweet clamshell-like pattern.  My favorite is the little barn and the ducks swimming in the pond. Perfect fabric for a backing. I wish I could remember the name, but I totally blanked on keeping that information.

I can see this gracing the crib of a beautiful baby someday (I don't know who, but some baby). Until then I get to enjoy my finished product. I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finished Friday. Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!