This was installed today at the Tru Bilt Buildings dealer in Marion, IL.  He has another in his showroom!

  Interesting enough, neither of these is the style of a quilt. The tree is on a cabinet panel sample that a friend gave to me. That worked out well. The second poster (?)/panel was a traditional design that I bought a Harley Davidson sticker to take over the space.  Colors might be changed some day.

 This is a Barn Quilt in custom colors with a purchased decal ( www.JandJDesign studio.com ) on 3mm aluminum laminate.  24"x24".  Should please a few people!

  Sales is a complicated process... I quit my day-job in 1989 (plant manager at $65000/year) to go into sales... cold turkey. In a good year I cleared $100,000, but it took time. If you don't want to study sales, you're going to limit how much you can earn.  And, it's not about being a used car (stereotype) sales guy.  It's about listening, learning and fulfilling. You will create, from time to time, a Barn Quilt that will sell itself. People just cant write a check fast enough. You need to add 50% to the price tag and count your blessings, but that's rare. This is my best seller.  The colors inspire motion and create feelings.  All sales are emotional. If they are in love with the item they will write a check.  If they aren't in love with it you couldn't give it to them. Selling well comes from being able to create that emotion in a person.  That's done with questions, not with talking.  "Where could you see this around your property?"  "

  What's wrong with this picture?  #1, everything is drying out at the same rate.  One of my art paint cans says the surface will be too dry to retouch in 28 seconds... I thing it's more like 18... You go back to the first corner you started to paint one minute ago and if you touch it with a brush you will find that your brush will leave marks that disturb the already dry finish. Keep in mind, your brushes are drying that fast also. The black brush in this picture was used 3 minutes ago. How hard will it be to clean that paint out?  The small paint can in the middle is drying as we speak. The large can is drying just as fast and you are going to be disapointed next time you open it. I set this up as an illustration for several reasons.  #1, don't paint from large cans.  Transfer some paint to a much smaller container and close that big one up for next month.  When the smaller container gets about one quarter used, add some Flotrol to improve the paint performance and stretc

  This post is about getting sharper points on stars and spikes.  I have a very small brush to use in tight spaces like corners and tips of stars.  Small or not, the brush holds too much paint in a tiny drop on the tip and nothing tiny can be painted without a round corner. This is also a problem where things merge into the center... See following photo: That photo also shows effect of paint buildup along the edges of taped lines.  Most people have suggested applying thinner coats of paint, but I haven't gotten good at that, yet... I also have tried to move away from taped lines (which look pretty mechanical) to freehand, usually guided by a line scored with a sharp knife.  To me it creates a more natural hand-painted appearance. Knife cuts to create shapes.  The red grease pencil was to remind me which line I was working on. Now, to split the difference (in a manner of speaking) I'm applying tape the points and corners and cutting the tape to match the object.  I'll still

 Well... they aren't just for barns anymore! Why not add some color to the porch where you enjoy your coffee in the morning? Or add color and mood to your happy hour place?? How much color do you see on the front of your house?   Add a welcoming mood to any entrance. Your fence could be for privacy, but it can host colorful art! In the house BQ's can be everywhere! Shoot me a note or call to share ideas on how this hand-made hand painted art can bring life to your space!

  Here's a barn quilt, ready to ship, with a french cleat attached and the remaining mounting supplies taped to the back of the painting. This is the 6" French cleat epoxied to the back of the barn quilt. French cleats come in many different sizes and styles from Amazon.

 Green on Green 1.1, a remake of earlier quilt. 24"x24" on 3mm aluminum.

 This has been a busy week, with two shows and painting.  I'm also adding photos and commentary to the blog. Click on Barn Quilts on Barns or Barn Quilts on Porches to see ideas on how you could display your Barn Quilt at your place! Delivered This week: Sold last week:

One of my quilts, which I sold this weekend (!), was a fairly simple design.  I started today by laying it out again to get the dimensions and angles for a 24" version.  Everything points at a center line or a corner.  Figuring it out the second time went well... I even found an error in my original piece that I can fix today... go figure. This time I'm going to use a new painting sequence.  Starting with the yellow (lightest color) I'm going to paint past the lines with no tape.  Then I'll proceed in darker colors while, again, painting across the lines except along the yellow.  This to reduce the paint buildup along taped edges between cells.  That's hard to avoid when painting everything against taped edges. I've tried sanding those edges down, but that's extra work and doesn't always succeed. More to follow.  

 

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDMLujBwgTS6TaxPA Click Read More if link doesn't work. Click to see the full collection.

  This one is going to a nearby barn owner over the weekend!  48" square.  Came out nice!

 Here's what's on the agenda for the next few weeks: November 13th & 14th - John A Logan Autumn Fest -  Marion IL, at the Oasis Mall (Formerly Star Center Mall) November 16 (Tuesday)  4:00pm - 9:00 pm.  Carterville Community Center. December 2nd, 3rd and 4th - Southern Illinois University Holiday Craft Fair -  SIU Student Center.