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But today's post isn't about quilts themselves. It's about quilt barns. Quilt barns are barns that have a quilt square (usually hand-painted) on them. The movement began when Donna Sue Groves and her mother moved to a farm in Ohio that had an ugly barn on it. Groves suggested to her mother that they should paint a quilt square on it to dress it up. Then she got the community involved, and soon there were 20 barns with quilts on them, the beginning of what became the American Quilt Barn Trail. Today there are 27 states and 2 Canadian provinces that have quilt barn trails, and tourists seek them out.
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| Image by Atelier Teee |
For more on the quilt barn movement, visit American Quilt Barns. Or this blog has many absolutely gorgeous images of quilt barns. The author (coincidentally, because I just stumbled on this site 5 minutes ago) authored a soon to be released book on the history of the movement.
I love how something so simple and yet satisfying can grow into a movement that preserves pieces of history and provides joy as you drive down the road.
Happy virtual quilt barn touring!
Myrna
I'm a 'useful' sort of person, so if you combine that with great beauty I'm ecstatic. Just amazing. So clever & talented.
ReplyDeleteWith so many of these around, you'd think I would have seen a few, but in fact I've only seen one. I must not be spending enough time in rural areas. Also, when I was looking for Creative Commons images of these, I saw a school that had a quilt square on it. I wonder if the idea is expanding. Barns seem more fitting, but I can see why people who aren't farmers but love history or quilting would want to join in the fun.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.... Never heard of nor seen them before.
ReplyDeleteMethinks that my scrapbooking is like that, as I started with magnetic photo albums ... then I moved those pictures and various items (like invitations, newspaper articles, etc.) into acid-free scrapbooks ... and now I use my scrapbooking supplies to decorate presents and envelopes to match, as well as decorating handmade cards (with my own poetry) for special occasions.
It's amazing how you can take one idea and incorporate it into other areas.
Elaine, I hadn't heard of them until about a year ago, either (probably on another blog. Maybe Chickens in the Road). And I think you're right. Ideas evolve and grow.
ReplyDeleteI love finding quilt barns. My novel, "Grow Old With Me," is the first in a series I plan to write about various aspects of quilting and the quilt barns. I attended the Quilt Trail Gathering in Ohio this spring where painters from across the US came to discuss the trails and show off their quilted barns. It was a thrill to see the first quilt barn and meet Donna Sue Groves.
ReplyDeleteMy website has many pictures of quilt barns my husband and I have seen during my research and our travels. East TN and Western NC have several hundred along the back roads. I think there are 23 states with a quilt barn trail now.
Melinda, that sounds exciting! I love that the quilt barns are keeping pieces of history alive.
ReplyDelete