A summer barn quilt tour through Meagher County, Montana got me thinking there must be a kid-friendly way to do this in the classroom. With the help of my intensive intervention reading students, I figured out a process and presented it to teachers attending the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom state conference a few weeks ago. Here’s how we did it.
The women in White Sulphur Springs, Montana said they relied on Pinterest for patterns, so I stopped there first. I loaded up my Pinterest board with barn quilt patterns and photos and tips. I’m not a quilter myself so I was a bit intimidated, but, when one Pinterest poster mentioned the Ohio Star pattern is the simplest of all, I knew I had my pattern.
While cruising around Pinterest I noticed several patterns with color codes on them. Some had the colors written on each shape. Others used numbers to indicate the different colors.
The pattern I chose gave colors (navy blue, grey, and white) for a barn quilt three feet high and three feet wide, far too large for individual classroom projects. Since I wanted a painting one foot by one foot, I divided each section by three. Quilt patterns are not just one block. Those blocks are divided into nine smaller squares so each of those sections needed to be divided by three as well.
Standard barn quilts are eight feet by eight feet and are painted with outdoor paint (never indoor paint and not even indoor/outdoor paint) to withstand the weather, then coated with a clear varnish. If you’re planning to have your class create an actual outdoor barn quilt, I would suggest using water-based materials and proper safety gear, including gloves. Oil paint and its toxic cleaning materials should be ruled out. Barn quilt painters use rollers to apply paint to wood and fix small problem areas with smaller brushes.
Pinterest has several posts that explain how to create these paintings, including how to attach a hanger onto the back of the wood so it can attach to a structure without falling. The weight of an eight foot by eight-foot wooden painting requires a substantial device nailed to the back of the painting, preferably before painting starts. Check with your paint store on the type of varnish to use after painting. Some turn yellow when exposed to the outdoors.
Classroom barn quilts skip all of that. We used paper, tempera paints, and foam brushes.
I needed paper cut into one-foot by one-foot dimensions, and I didn’t want to have to cut it myself. A Michael’s saleswoman suggested scrapbook paper, which is already cut to that size. The cost almost scared me away: 79 cents per sheet, which adds up quickly when buying for a classroom. I always shop on those big sale days, though, and the saleswoman quietly pointed out the sales sign on that scrapbook paper: 20 cents each. At checkout, I showed my teacher identification card and received another 15 percent off everything. I chose heavier scrapbook paper, so the tempera paint wouldn’t cause the ends to curl up. I grabbed all the white paper, with no prints or embellishments on it. Outdoor barn quilts require a layer or two of white primer before the colored paint is applied. White paper eliminated the need for white “primer” tempera paint, reducing my project costs and students’ time on the project.
I bought tempera paint in assorted colors so students could paint whatever combination they desired. Each painting takes three or four colors. We saved plastic to-go containers to hold the paint. The kind that close is good for holding paint overnight. I filled a large pot with water and created a cleaning station for students to slosh the paint from their brushes. We laid newspapers out on desks and tables before students started painting.
This project can get a little costly if you don’t shop the sales and use your discounts. I checked around for teacher discounts before the conference so that I could share the information with participants. Michaels Stores offers teachers a 15 percent discount. All you must do is show your teacher identification card or credential at checkout. Michaels does not require you to sign up for anything. The Michaels representative even sent me a coupon to share with conference attendees.
Joanne Fabric and Craft Stores also offers a teacher discount, but representatives did not send me any information on it after multiple requests. A Home Depot representative said that the store does not offer teacher discounts, but they do have discounts for veterans. Lowe’s did not respond to a request for information on teacher discounts except to say the store only donates to certain charities. I e-mailed back to clarify I wasn’t asking for a donation and received no reply.
On the other hand, Red Ants Pants, a White Sulphur Springs-based business that creates work clothing for women, sent brochures and stickers and information on youth programs the Red Ants Pants Foundation sponsors. More on Red Ants Pants in a future blog post. It’s a great story.
Classroom Barn Quilts
Note: This project can be done in math class to teach geometry or proportions, English-Language Arts as a formative assessment of technical reading skills, in a social science class to accompany a lesson on cultures using quilts or American history, or an art class to teach anything from color theory to painting technique. The Ohio Star is a basic pattern to get started, but many, more complicated, designs exist. Google or search Pinterest for patterns.
Materials Needed:
- An assortment of tempera paints, enough that each student can have three different colors
- Several paintbrushes, some larger foam, others small tipped brushes.
- Heavier weight paper cut into a 12-inch by 12-inch square.
- Painters’ tape or craft tape that does not stick permanently to paper.
- Rulers
- Pencils
- Patterns copied off from Pinterest, one for each student
- Cleaning materials: newspapers to cover workspaces, water source to clean brushes, rags or paper towels to wipe up paint.
Directions:
- Students use rulers to measure and mark, in pencil, the edge of their paper on each side: four inches and eight inches. (The 12th inch is at the edge of the paper.)
- Students then draw straight vertical and horizontal lines to connect these marks. They should draw lightly so the marks don’t show through the paint.
- Next, follow the pattern to determine the starting and ending points for the diagonal lines. The lines must intersect precisely, or the painting will be off. Assume some students are going to need help with this while others will get it the first time around. My high school students had some trouble as did some of the teachers in my workshop. The high school students suggested adults do this step for younger children and having parent volunteers in the room to help older elementary students.
- After the precise lines are in place, students can choose three colors for their paintings. They need to write those colors down on their pattern before they start painting. In my case, the pattern already called for three colors: navy blue, gray, and white. We didn’t have all those colors and my students didn’t want those colors. I had them make a key for themselves before they started painting: navy blue = ______________; gray = _______________; white = _________________. You can link this to proportions in math or analogies in English if you want to go that far, but they need a key. Then they can pick their paint.
- Students should always start with the lightest color if possible. That way, when a color bleeds over or a small error is made, the darker color can cover the lighter color. Small tipped brushes can be used to cover small mistakes after everything has dried.
- Students use small pieces of tape to outline the shapes taking the first color. Some people like to rip off long stretches of tape and stick it across their paper. We found this was a bad idea because long pieces of tape are more difficult to line up with the pencil lines and more work to adjust if they aren’t lined up correctly. Short pieces are much easier to handle and less wasteful. I found many students, and some teachers wanted to skip the taping step because it’s a lot of work. Few people are steady enough to paint sharp lines freehand. The paintings almost always look better if they’ve been taped off first.
- Before students begin painting, check their work. The tape must lay down against the line, but on the outside edge of the line. Many students and teachers I worked with laid the tape along the inside of the line, but that covers up part of the painting area.
- When painting, students should paint over the edge of the tape rather than trying to paint up to the tape. This ensures a crisp line when the tape is removed. Only remove the tape after the paint has dried but try not to leave the tape on the painting overnight. The longer the tape stays on the paper, the more difficult it is to remove without ripping the top of the paper up with it. If this does happen, just paint over it.
- One color of paint should dry before retaping the paper and adding another color. Tempera paint often requires more than one coat to get that solid block of color common in outdoor barn quilts. Luckily, tempera dries quickly.
In my classroom, I interviewed each student and typed up an artist biography. The write-ups hang underneath the paintings.