Barn Block Comes to Life

I brought my barn block to life today!  It measures in at 16″ x 16″ so it took a little longer to put together than I thought.

I love it!  I thought I would share a little tutorial on how I made it.  It’s pretty easy but there are lots of pieces and lots of HSTs!

Here’s what you need:

2 7/8″ squares

16 white

2 each of red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple & pink

2 1/2″ squares

3 each of orange, green, blue & pink

2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ rectangles

8 white

1 each red, yellow, turquoise & purple

The first step is make all the HSTs.  Pair each white 2 7/8″ square with one colored 2 7/8″ square.  Then make the HSTs using your preferred method.  I used stitching lines by Marin & Colusa because I prefer them over drawing lines on my blocks.

And I love to save time by chain stitching my squares.  I sew down one side on each square creating a train of blocks.  Then I flip the train around and sew down the other side.

All finished making HSTs!

Now it’s time to put the block together.  Because this square is so big, I broke it up into 9 sections.

I sewed each section together. Then I put together sections 1, 2 & 3 as row 1 ~ sections 4, 5 & 6 as row 2 ~ sections 7, 8 & 9 as row 3.

Here’s section 9 before it was sewn together.

Here’s section 4 before it was sewn together.

Here’s a look at the rows before I put them all together.  Almost finished!

All done!  I did use a 1/4″ seam and I pressed all my seams open.  I think that helps with the bulk of HST seams.  I didn’t give fabric requirements because this works well with scraps.  If I make a whole quilt I’ll pass on how much fabric I used.  I just didn’t feel like doing the calculations yet.  {I know…I’m lazy!}

Now I guess I need to make some more and make a quilt.  My dad already ordered 20 more blocks so I can make him a quilt.  What a goober!

I’m sure I’ve probably left something out.  Don’t hesitate to email or comment if you have questions.  Overall, this is an easy block.  It’s just time consuming with all the pieces.