Home is where the heart is, and in 2022, my heart is in the barn! Barn Sweet Barn is my latest creative adventure with one of my new favorite Lori Holt cross stitch patterns, Flea Market Baskets! If you know anything about me, you know that I have a habit of taking my favorite cross stitch designs and putting my own special twist on them.
Barn Sweet Barn is as simple as it looks. All we are doing is taking the center block of the Flea Market Baskets Pattern, and cross stitching it in different colors each month for a total of 12 stars, for each month of the year. The center block is a gorgeous traditional quilt star, and I’m so excited to see all of the different ways we can stitch it in. PLUS, I’ve handpicked my favorite DMC floss colorways for each month!
This year-long stitch along is perfect for a beginner cross stitcher. It’s a cross stitch project that everyone can join! Please join me in 2022 as I start stitching along for the Barn Sweet Barn Stitch Along.
Supplies
- Flea Market Baskets Cross Stitch Pattern by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet with It’s Sew Emma
- 10 Count Buttermilk Vintage Cloth by Lori Holt for Zweigart (You will need a total of 3 of packages of cloth for a total of 12 Barn Sweet Barn Stars)
- Called for DMC floss (make sure to bookmark this blog to see each new floss change for each month!)
If you’re stitching on 10 Count like me, then I recommend stitching with 4 floss strands and using a 24 size needle. I’m going to be stitching with 4 strands as well, and I’ll be using the loop method!
You can find all of the supplies you’ll need on the Barn Sweet Barn Stitch Along Page.
Finishing
One aspect of this stitch along that I’m most excited about is the DIY cross stitch finishing project! We are using the Wooden Barn from 141 Design Company, staining it with Classic Grey Wood Stain, and then we’re making the cross stitch piece and the trimmings interchangeable using a magnetic mount on the board. On the first Monday of each month, we will update this blog with the coordinating DMC floss and fabric SKU’s for the month.
You’ll only need a handful of supplies to complete the cross stitch finishing:
- Wooden Barn from 141 Design Company
- Wood Stain – Classic Grey
- One Bee Cross Stitch Fat Quarter Bundle
- Magnets from your local craft store or hardware store.
Now you can display pretty cross stitch decor for your home (all year round!). If you’re looking for more cross stitch finishing inspiration, I recommend checking out the Fat Quarter Shop FlossTube for some fun video tutorials!
The stitch count of Barn Sweet Barn is 43w x 43h! You’ll want to make sure to leave a 2 to 3-inch border around your stitches when you cut your cross stitch cloth for Barn Sweet Barn.
You can find all of the finishing supplies you’ll need on the Barn Sweet Barn Stitch Along Page.
My Barn Sweet Barn Variation
You have lots of finishing options with this stitch along – you can either DIY one cross stitch finish for the whole year, OR if you want to finish yours like me, you can make 12 houses for every month of the year, with a new Star Block for each!
Instead of FFO’ing one barn for the whole year and interchanging the center – I’m going to take a different wooden house every month and finish it with my new Barn Sweet Barn cross stitch design. By the end of the year, I’ll have 12 little houses with 12 different cross stitch versions of Barn Sweet Barn!
And instead of cross stitching on 10 Count Buttermilk, I’ll be stitching on 10 Count Daisy!
My Barn Sweet Barn Floss Changes
The original colors of the Star Block are from the Flea Market Baskets Cross Stitch Pattern. On the first of each month, we will be posting a new DMC colorway featuring 5 new skeins. January is up first, with 5 pretty skeins of blue floss!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Join me!
We’re stitching Barn Sweet Barn throughout 2022, so you can choose your stitching pace. I hope you all can stitch with me, and remember, it’s never too late to join us for some stitchy fun in the barnyard!
Share with #BarnSweetBarnSAL
You’ll also want to keep up with us on Facebook and Instagram at @fqsxstitch. You can share your stitching progress with the hashtag #BarnSweetBarnSAL, and be sure to tag us so we can see and share your work!
Happy Stitching!
37 comments
Love the colors!
Love the colors,can’t wait to start this one.
Love, love, love this design idea! Thank you for another superb inspiration, Kimberly and team. :0)
This is such a fun, quick and easy piece and will make a great statement in my farmhouse. It will fit right in with all of my decor and I’ve ALWAYS wanted to make a barn quilt block to hang on my house.
Can I use 14 count or will that make it too small? Love this design idea.
You definitely can use 14 Count if that’s what you’re most comfortable stitching with! Your stitched area will be 3 in wide X 3 in high, so you’ll need to cut your fabric 10 in wide X 10 in high.
What a great idea to keep our stitchy fingers nimble. I just finished Jan. Can’t wait for the next colors in Mar. I might try 14 ct just to see how it looks. I have been stitching in hand & I agree with you, Kimberly. Using the Morgan hoop keeps the right tension. I found 10 ct to be alittle loose for stitching in hand. Is there a 5 inch Morgan hoop?. My fingers r shorter than yours & sometimes I had to keep moving the hoop in order reach my stitch properly. Love all your spins on projects. Thx so much!
Hi Cris! The March colors are out now and we are glad you’re excited. As for your question about the hoops. There is a 5″ Morgan Hoop here’s the link: https://www.fatquartershop.com/5-inch-quilting-hoop?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=sal-barn-sweet-barn-announcement
It will make it smaller. Are you going to use the larger wooden barn?
Like the pattern and colors but NOT liking the 10 count fabric….too loose, goosey for me. May finish my first one on the 10 count but after that moving on to 14 count fabric. It is just more manageable and less stressful for me. Dell
Is there going to be a Farm Sweet Farm sew along? I could have sworn I read somewhere that we would have an opportunity to do this with quilt blocks too.
Hi Jacquie! There’s going to be a Farm Life Stitch Along, and we are releasing the information for that this coming Wednesday! Subscribe to the Jolly Jabber so you get the email notification. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this interesting information I never expect this from you. Keep going
I’d love it if you could post all the colors for the Barn, Sweet Barn stitch along so I can find them ahead of time and be all set for the entire project.
DMC 517 — no results. Hmmm………..Misprint? Thanks!
It’s in stock now. Please try again https://www.fatquartershop.com/dmc-517-wedgewood-6-strand-embroidery-floss
What would 20 count look like, equal to 10 count?
Jan- It does exist, as I have it in my collection. It is a dark Wedgewood color. Very pretty! Now to add this to my ever growing list of cross stitch projects! How fun! I have almost finished the center of my Flea Market Baskets project. I don’t know if I can do January’s in time for the end of the month. I guess I could do February’s. I am enjoying stitching this pattern.
Thanks, Kristina. Good luck on your stitching!
What a great idea ! Love the colors.
Could someone tell me the measurements of both the finished cross stitch piece and the fabric covered piece for Barn Sweet Barn. Also did you use batting on the cross stitched piece to make it puffy?
Hi Deb!
We left ¼” margin on each side when finishing the cross stitch piece so it will finish around 4.75” x 4.75”. We went ½” bigger on each side for the fabric covered piece so it will finish around 5.75” x 5.75”. We only used batting on the cross stitch piece, not the fabric covered piece.
Hope this helps!
I need help on assembling the finished product. I’ve never finished cross stitch projects as DIY…just professional framers $$$$ Please tell me where to find directions on how to assemble the cross stitch, fabric backing piece, and then attach to barn/house frame.
Hi Laura!
While we don’t have a video specifically for finishing barn sweet barn, we do have a cross stitch playlist that could be a good and helpful resource for you.
You can find it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DI-q_LmnmY&list=PLPwfsUojVe-d4LR2umfKCJWVFsCthV0f1
Also, we have a video on our channel where Priscilla and Chelsea finished with magnets that you might like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f02BW0iHSrc
I guess I should have asked if all 10 count fabric is this soft and stretchy….thoughts?
All 10 count is soft and stretchy. Hope this helps!
Are the houses still available at Target? They don’t have them at the Target near me.
Hi Jane, it really depends on your Target and what’s in stock there. We found ours locally, but you never know.
Has anyone stitched the dotted border pattern from Flea Market Basket that’s around the center, on the monthy Barn Sweet Barn chart? I am thinking to do that but not sure which color floss should I use. The darkest one?
Faye, do you use Facebook? You might enjoy our Kimberly’s Stitch Squad group. We love to talk about cross stitch and quilting there! 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/groups/kimberlystitchsquad
What day does the new color for the barns come out?
Hi Charlotte, the next color and update will be out in early March.
Hi again Charlotte, I just wanted to let you know the March color is up now!
Stupid me I thought the pattern was in the Flea Market book so I bought it. Turns out it’s a separate pattern. Argh! But I really love to have displays to change out every month/season, so I will just forge ahead. It is really pretty and a great idea.
The post was really nice and amazing to read. Thanks a lot for sharing it!
Is it possible to get a list of all the colors for the year, so I can buy the ones I’m missing now?
Hi Deb, unfortunately, we can’t give you a list of all the colors in advance. Barn Sweet Barn is designed for everyone to receive the color announcements at the same time, so we can all be excited about them and stitch along together. March colors are out now and we look forward to you seeing the next set in April!