Category: Door quilts

New Spring Door Quilt on Wood

Over the last 3 years I’ve been making assorted quilt blocks to decorate my front door. I started with actual fabric quilt blocks. They solved my dilemma of the small space between the door and the screen door that routinely smashed any wreathe I tried to hang on the front door. With 6 quilt blocks, I could change them out about every two months.

Unfortunately, after two months in the sun their color faded and by the second year, I was a little disappointed with using them. You can read more about my transition to painted quilt blocks on wood here: https://marykisner.com/lavender-inspired-quilt-block-on-wood/

The process of painting a quilt block on wood involves first painting a miniature of the chosen quilt block before starting on the full-size (12″ square) block. While the full-size blocks decorate my front door, one at a time, the miniatures are an interesting decoration for my mantle.

To make my new spring quilt block on wood, I first chose a pattern. I have used this same pattern several times…by changing the colors and their placement I was able to use the pattern below (called Fifty-Four Forty) that I made with patriotic colors and change it into the variation that almost looks like tulips!

I always start with sketching the design on a 3″ x 3″ canvas. That lets me see which lines should be erased so the pencil doesn’t show through the paint. Then, I’m careful when drawing on the wood so the pencil lines are faint and won’t show through.

Let the painting begin:

It takes several days to finish a project like this. The final step is to take clear acrylic spray and give it a nice weather-proof finish…all with waiting times between coats. Bert will attach magnets to the back that will stick to our metal front door. In the end, I’ll have a new spring door quilt and a new miniature for the mantle!

Autumn Door Quilt on Wood

This week I was determined to choose a new quilt block that I could paint on wood. I wanted something different and colorful for Autumn. I enjoyed painting my first two blocks and you can see them below. If you want to read how I made them, click on the link under each picture.

https://marykisner.com/new-patriotic-door-quilt-on-wood/
https://marykisner.com/summer-door-quilt-on-wood/

For the Autumn block I wanted something totally different. I pulled out my favorite book for ideas:

This book organizes quilt block designs by the grid they are based on:

And followed by pages and pages and pages of sample blocks! Thank goodness there is an index, by names, of all the patterns. I usually start by just browsing through the book. So many choices!

I ended up choosing this block:

This was based on a 4 x 4 grid.

Next to the picture was a number and the name was in the list to the left.

I really liked how different the block was and figured I could make the flower in orange, which would make me think of all the autumn flowers I see right now. I don’t think it matters that it’s called a “Lily”–I can call it anything I want!

Making the Sample Block

I like to start with a 3″ x 3″ tiny canvas. It helps me visualize the layout on a small scale. I don’t worry about making mistakes or erasing pencil marks. When I make this sample, I can decide if I like the colors I’ve chosen. It’s much easier to throw it away and start over if I need to.

I can see the extra internal lines are not necessary and distract from the pattern. I do like the orange and green.

Making the Full-Size Block

Step 1: I pulled out the 12″ x 12″ piece of 3/8″ plywood that Bert had cut out for me and sketched out the pattern with a pencil.

I did erase the internal lines because they will show through the white and orange paint.

Step 2: I flipped the wood over and painted the back and edges white just to protect the wood from the weather.

Step 3: I painted the first coat of orange and green. I can still see the internal lines so a second coat is necessary.

I used a fine point marker to outline the basic shapes. I like it!

Final Step: I will spray both sides of the block with a clear acrylic spray so it can handle the weather on the front door. Finally, Bert will attach magnets to the back so it will stick to the front door! Yea!

I think this block will be cheerful this fall and will show through the screen door well. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Summer Door Quilt on Wood

Now that we’re into summer, I can put away my first door quilt on wood. See how I made it at https://marykisner.com/new-patriotic-door-quilt-on-wood/.

The next one I chose has several names. In one book it’s called Blazing Star, and in another it has had 5 other names!

I guess I’ll go with Blazing Star or Flaming Star. It appealed to me in its simplicity and made me think of all the stars on a summer night!

Since I don’t have an actual pattern, it helped to have it identified as being on a template of a 4-patch quilt block.

Making the Small Sample Block

I have learned to always make a miniature block first so I can figure out the dimensions of the sections. Painting the block also helps me visualize the colors better before I actually start on the 12″ x 12″ block of wood.

This is a 3″ square miniature canvas. I marked it into smaller squares each 1/4″. On the larger block of wood, each 1/4″ will be equal to 1″.

This took me a little while to figure out the angle for the star points in the background…as shown by all my pencil lines and erasures! That’s why I do this in pencil on a small one first!

And then I tested my color choices:

I started with the darkest color (that really is purple!), then yellow, and finally the gray background. Not very exciting but it reminded me of a night sky with all the stars out.

Making the Larger Block

With my shapes determined I shouldn’t have any pencil lines showing through the yellow paint.
First two colors.
Finished block…waiting for Bert to put the magnets on the back!
And of course, the yellow looks totally different in daylight! I like it!

It’s been fun to try this new kind of quilt block. Now I have a month or two to figure out what pattern to do next. I’m probably good until Labor Day now!

My miniatures are also reminding me what I’ve already done…my own little art gallery! Enjoy!

I may still do the two on the left on larger wood. So many patterns to choose from!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

New Patriotic Door Quilt on Wood

I finally finished my first attempt to make a door quilt on a piece of 12″ x 12″ plywood. I was determined to make this painting on wood that hopefully would maintain it’s bright colors. Fabric quilt blocks were my original solution to needing a door decoration that would fit in the flatter space between the front door and the screen door. Last year I managed to make six quilt blocks that solved the problem, but when I started pulling them out this year the colors had faded and looked pretty sad. (See https://marykisner.com/prepping-for-new-door-quilts/).

So, I had Bert cut two pieces of 12″ x 12″ plywood for me to play with (just in case it didn’t work, no point in having a bunch cut out!). First, I wanted to replace the fabric patriotic quilt block that was on the door right now:

This picture was taken when I first put it up last year…nice bright colors.

I first painted the block, both sides, with a base coat of white. When dry I sketched out the pattern and put a second coat of white paint on the corresponding white sections:

This looked pretty easy but I was re-learning how to use various brushes. Not as easy as I thought it would be!

Then I started with the red paint and filled in those sections. It took a second coat to get the solid color.

I’m certainly not as steady as I should be to do those straight lines!

Then I filled in the blue sections:

Now the dilemma…the original pattern had white stars on the blue squares. I did that with some fabric that had stars in the pattern and managed to get at least one white star centered in the block. However, how to do that with paint? After seeing how unsteady I was with a tiny brush, I did a quick run to JoAnn Fabric Store and picked up some embroidered appliques of stars. Perfect!

After finishing the block with a satin finish acrylic spray, I just glued the stars to the blue squares!

Funny how different light made the colors brighter!

The block sat on my old organ by the front door for a week until Bert had time to figure out how to hang it on the front door. It couldn’t be hung the way the fabric blocks were because we have a door knocker right in the middle. The fabric blocks just draped over that with no problem.

Bert finally had to put magnets on the back (the door is metal under the paint!).

Now the block has to sit below the door knocker.

Oh well…now to see if the paint fades over time. This block should be appropriate through the 4th of July holiday. I’ll have to think about whether it’s worth it to make more in wood. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Prepping For New Door Quilts

As you may know by now, most of my projects revolve around filling a need and making something practical and useful. If you’ve been following my posts about Door Quilts, you’ll know I have made six nice 12″ stand-alone fabric quilt blocks to hang on my front door. They lie flat and don’t get squished like a wreathe does between the front door and the screen door.

However, when I pulled out the Patriotic Door Quilt last month, I noticed it’s really faded from the sun. Here’s how it looked when new…

…and now it’s really bleached out from the sun:

Rather than make a bunch more fabric quilt blocks, I thought if I painted a quilt block on wood and coated it with an acrylic spray it would last better in the sun (kind of like the huge barn quilts you see across the country).

While I’m waiting for Bert to cut 12″ square boards for me, I thought I’d see if I could make miniature ones to satisfy my need to practice with paints. So, eventually, my fabric door quilts will evolve into wooden quilt blocks that will also hang on the front door and solve my problem just fine!

It’s been a long time since I painted anything. I’m not especially creative with paint, put I enjoyed playing with a few paints to make my garden stakes a few weeks ago (https://marykisner.com/final-garden-signs-for-2022/).

It helped that the pictures were tiny and didn’t need to be too detailed!

Twenty years ago, I spent hours painting small houses based on photographs. They were also not “creative” but instead were mostly straight lines and the photographs showed me shadows.

This is the house I grew up in, from an old photograph.
The camp was fun to paint because I could add the tiny outhouse!

So, after making the garden stakes, I thought I’d try some miniature flowers:

This tiny canvas is 3″ x 4″

Even though I copied the daffodils from a photograph, I had to really struggle to get the petals turned right and getting the color right. Very frustrating. The point of painting was to do something fun, not frustrating! It seemed like I needed to paint something with straight lines. Quilt blocks would be perfect.

First Attempt

I started with a set of 3″ x 3″ square tiny canvases and some tiny easels to go with them. So cute!

This block is called Vermont Maple Leaf.

Adding the lines with a fine black marker seemed to help it look more finished.

Second Attempt

This block is called Fifty-four Forty or Fight. It’s the same block I made in fabric.
I must say it’s a challenge to get in those tiny points!
The fine black marker helped it feel finished.

While I’m waiting for my 12″ wood squares, I’ll experiment with tiny ones to see which patterns would look good on the front door! I must be nuts! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

A New Spring Door Quilt

With no computer available for three days, I reverted to my comfort zone…hand stitching while I watch Hallmark movies on TV. (See https://marykisner.com/computer-virus-tulips-and-snow/)

It took only a minute to decide what to make. My front door quilt needed to be replaced. It was nice and fresh last year and lasted two full months on the front door. When I put it up around the middle of March this year it was looking a little faded and by now it is definitely not inspiring!

The original spring door quilt.
After 3 1/2 months total on the front door…pretty faded! I was also ready for some bright colors!

First, I looked for a simple quilt block in my favorite book:

I found “Birds in the Air”, as shown above.

At the bottom of every page there is a list of exactly how many pieces of each template I will need to make the block. Most of the shapes I have used before, so all I had to do was sort through the bag of cut templates to find T10 and T15.

Next, I searched through my stash of cotton fabric, remembering that I needed to use a light color for the background so the block would show up on the dark front door. These colors looked bright and cheerful!

After cutting out all the pieces, I arranged them on the table to see if I liked the colors together.

In one day (and two Hallmark movies) I was able to hand stitch the block together.

Block ready to iron and add the borders.

I added a piece of lightweight batting between the block and the back fabric. I top stitched in the ditch on the major horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. Finally I added the border and binding.

Sure looks more colorful that the old quilt, don’t you think?

Now I have my computer back, so I can post these pictures! Yea! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Time to Bring Out the Spring Door Quilt

The door quilts I’ve made over the last year have served me well. They are easy to store, add some color to the front door and are a quick fix when the seasons change. Read about why I started making these door quilts at https://marykisner.com/a-year-of-door-quilts/.

I now have six so I can change them about every two months. I suspect by the end of this year I will need to add some new ones…I think the colors tend to fade from being exposed to the sunlight on the door. However, for this year I’ll just switch them out when it’s time.

I noticed I put up the yellow spring one on this exact date last year! So, I guess every two months I’m ready for a change. We’ve had a few warmer days of 40 to 50 degrees, but the weather is to change dramatically in the next few days. That taste of spring must trigger my need for a touch of color in my life.

I learned with my first two door quilts that because my door is a dark red, the decoration needs to be light. Thus, on the Christmas stocking the only thing that showed up at a distance was the cuff. However, on the Valentine one (against the green background) the heart showed up beautifully from a distance. See the difference?

So, since I decided to decorate with small quilt blocks, I chose a yellow background. This quilt pattern is called Dutchman’s Puzzle, Dutchman’s Wheel or sometimes Wild Goose Chase.

When seen from a distance, the shape really stands out. Take notice, Mr. Snowstorm…your days are numbered! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

A Year of Door Quilts

A year ago, about this time, I gave up trying to decorate my front door with seasonal wreaths. Anything I would put on the door that was thicker than an inch or two would get smashed between the door and the screen door that we leave on all year. After a month or so the wreath would look really smashed and bits and pieces would have dropped off, leaving assorted crumbs behind every time I opened the door.

Last Christmas, I decided to try something different. A small quilt based on a single quilt block could be decorative, season appropriate and still be flat. The first one I made was a Christmas stocking…based on the crazy quilt technique but without a lot of hand stitching. I used recycled neckties and ended up with this:

After a month, it still looked good and had not dropped any stuff between the doors. About every two months, I made seasonal quilt blocks to decorate the door.

The best thing about this project was how little space the whole pile took up, compared to 6+ door-sized wreaths. They fit into a large zip lock bag and was less than an inch thick! I could easily store the bag with my sewing supplies. Success!

So now, I’m starting over with the Christmas stocking. I may feel like making more blocks as the year goes on to add variety but I can stop wasting my money and my patience with wreaths.

If you would like to see how each of these were made, scroll down on my Welcome page and search for the Door Quilts category. The articles will be there with the most recent one at the top.

If you would like to see a list of the first 100 articles I’ve posted, take a minute to subscribe to my website (also on the Welcome page) and I will email you a PDF of my first 100 postings with active links to each article. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Fall Door Quilt

Our weather is finally feeling like Fall…good thing, it arrives tomorrow, September 22.

That means I finally got motivated to change up the decoration on my front door. For those of you new to my blogging adventure, I’ve had trouble finding a wreathe for my front door that was skinny enough to not get smashed by the screen door. Last Christmas I gave up and decided to make appropriate small quilts to hang on the door. They stayed flat and didn’t get smashed. Success!

Here are the ones I’ve done this year so far:

If you would like to read about each one, check the index on the Welcome page and scroll to Door Quilts. They should all appear there in order…just scroll down to the article you’re looking for.

I did notice the colors of the blocks faded after two months on the front door, so next year I can just make a different block if I want.

This Fall door quilt was a challenge because I didn’t have a single piece of orange fabric in my stash. Obviously, I have not used orange at all for a long time. To the rescue…JoAnn Fabrics and their “fat quarters” so I could have a few. I also spent time trying to be creative, something like a crazy quilt, but obviously I ended up with a simple star pattern:

This pattern is called a Sawtooth Star in one book:

However, when I looked up that name in another book, these two blocks showed up:

The one on the left is named, “Saw Toothed Star”; the one on the right is called, “Free Trade”. Go figure!

If you notice, the arrangement of triangles and squares is similar to mine, except the central block is solid.

Oh well, I hand-pieced the block and then machine quilted around the pieces. They are not my favorite colors, but I guess they work for Halloween. I may have to do another one for November and then I can use the Christmas Stocking from last year in December.

Actually, I don’t think this block looks too bad on the front door! Enjoy!

Please comment, or email me directly if you have questions at marykisner@comcast.net.

Late Summer Door Quilt

Time for my Patriotic Door Quilt to retire! The colors in the fabric were starting to fade. The block I chose for August and September is called Grandmother’s Pride (sometimes called Courthouse Square).

Here are the four previous door quilts lined up, beginning with the Christmas stocking made from recycled neckties. (See earlier postings for each of these blocks.)

Given the parameters I’ve set for myself…a single quilt block with borders about 12″ to 14″ square, with the outer color being lighter so it will show up on our dark red door…I usually start with Marsha McCloskey’s BLOCK PARTY book…a mix and match book of 9″ blocks.

I love the way the pages of instructions are laid out and I have many of the templates already cut. Each page has a color picture of a finished block, a diagram showing the straight of the grain for each piece, step-by-step how to assemble the pieces, alternate color choices and how many of each template to cut.

All the templates are diagrammed in the back of the book. All I have to do is lay clear template plastic over the template I want, trace the lines and cut out the template.

Since I usually plan to hand stitch the pieces, I need the stitching line marked not the cutting line. Then I draw around the template onto the back of the fabric and cut each one out, leaving about 1/4″ to 3/8″ seam allowance. It doesn’t matter if I’m exacting in cutting…the stitching line is what matters. So, I trace the inner line of the template.

I have made many of the blocks in this book, so I have many of the templates already cut out. All I have to do is dump them out on the table and sort through to find the ones I need.

The block I’m making needed only three templates, as indicated on the box of instructions at the bottom of the page. The shapes in the diagram refer to the diagram at the top of the page, which shows the straight grain of the fabric with arrows. You can see on the chart below, Template T5 will be used to make 4 of Shape A. They also give instructions if you are using a Rotary Cutter.

Now that I know I will need 4 different colors, and I know I’m aiming for colors of the season…late summer greens and a splash of color, I head to my bins of fabric. I have found I tend to look for fabric by color, not size of the piece. Most of the fabric I have is cotton and is washed right after I buy it.

In the “Green” bin I found these choices:

This is how I arranged the pieces:

Next, I tried out some strips to see what I liked for the border:

I’m pleased with how the finished block shows up on the door!

So, my door is decorated for the next two months. Around the beginning of October, I’ll find orange fabric to make something for Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving. Such fun! Enjoy!

If you have comments or questions, email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.