Prepare a Board for a Painted Barn Quilt

A barn quilt pattern is only as good as the surface it is painted on. This guide covers board choice and preparation before you transfer any Barn Quilt Workshop pattern onto it.

Choosing a board

Use a flat board suitable for where the finished panel will live. Confirm its actual dimensions before you print your pattern files, since the printed outline is generated to the exact width you select in the planner, not to a board size we assume.

Priming and painting the whole board

Prime and paint the front, the edges, and the back of the board, using a primer and paint system suited to your board's material and to where the panel will be kept, indoors or outside. Let each coat dry for the time stated on its own product label before moving to the next step; drying times vary by product and by weather, so there is no single number that applies to every board and paint.

A flat, even surface before transfer

Once primed, the surface should be flat and evenly covered, with no rough patches that would distort the pattern lines when you transfer them. Once the board is ready, move on to printing your pattern and transferring the outline, then taping and painting one color at a time. For a first project end to end, see how to paint your first barn quilt.