The idea to paint the favorite quilt square pattern of her mother on the family barn has lead to Donna Sue Groves becoming the unofficial leader in a grassroots art movement that now appears on over 900 barns in 16 states.

What was meant to be a simple tribute to the heritage of Nina Maxine Groves and her love of quilting has been adopted by rural communities as a way to honor the craft of quilt making and farming expressed through public art.  Many barns are part of  “quilt trails” that map over 20 barns per trail that sightseers can follow and enjoy.

The full story is below.  Low res images are attached.  I have plenty of high res images from several states.

(I am a freelance writer with over 400 articles in publication in 15 papers and magazines.)

Jim Winnerman

416 Conway Wold

St. Louis, MO 63141

314 434 3478

http://home.earthlink.net/~bawinnie/jim/index.html

Quilt barns add new colors to fall foliage

Donna Sue Groves of Adams County, Ohio had a noble idea. She wanted to paint her mother’s favorite quilt square, the snail’s trail, on their tobacco barn.  It was meant to be a meaningful tribute to Nina Maxine Groves’ heritage and the five generations of her family that have shared a love of quilting.

In 2001, friends volunteered to help bring the idea to reality, but the conversation turned instead to creating a trail of “quilt barns.”  Local farmers quickly endorsed the idea and donated space on their barns. The needed funds were raised, and soon the first of 20 different multicolored quilt patterns (there are usually 20 squares in a quilt) began appearing on Adams County barns like newly planted spring flowers. 

Now, over 900 quilt squares grace barns in 16 different states, and more are being painted every summer. Ohio, Iowa and Kentucky have over 250 in each state. Wherever they appear, most are the result of a county initiative that combines several quilt barns to form a trail like the 105-mile route created in Adams County. 

Groves traces the origin of her idea for a quilt barn to when she would sit next to her brother in the back seat of the family car on long road trips. To keep her children occupied, Mrs. Groves would award points for spotting different types of farm barns, and then she would explain the purpose of each style.  The colorful hex signs popular on barns in Pennsylvania were a bonus worth 50 points, she recalls.  “They were important because I always wanted to beat my brother,” she says.

Today her mother’s educational game has led to Groves becoming the de facto counselor to most quilt barn initiatives.  She travels the country to give guidance and encouragement to the burgeoning grassroots art project.  All she asks is that everyone understand the idea was to honor her mother.

The reason for the rapid acceptance of the concept is the same wholesome philosophy Groves envisioned at one time to be just a single tribute.  The squares not only honor the wife of every farmer where they appear, they also recognize the rural heritage that has been a part of the fabric of America since Colonial times. 

Roy Settle, with the Appalachia Resources Conservation and Development Council in northeast Tennessee, oversees 70 quilt barns covering six counties.  ”We have always seen the way a farmer crafts the landscape in the field,” he says.  “Now, quilt barns let us appreciate the artistry of the wife, and a quilt barn symbolically marries the two.”

Patterns used on a barn are selected for a variety of reasons.  In some counties the square represents a quilt that has historical significance to the family that owns the barn. The quilt pattern on the Dykes barn in Washington County, Tennessee, for example is from a quilt made by a Dykes relative about 1900.

Other patterns, like those along the three separate 50-mile loop trails in Athens County, Ohio, have been selected to represent a local historical tie.  A square on a late 1800 barn is the “corn and beans block” representing local produce that has always been sold at the county farmers market.

The barns are painted in a variety of manners.  Some communities hire local artists, and others are painted by clubs or high school art classes that seize the opportunity to volunteer to help create public art.  Frequently a business with a truck with a hoist donates the crew and equipment needed to place the square, which is usually painted on two 4x 8 sheets of outdoor plywood attached to a frame.

Quilt barn trail committees select farms based on a number of criteria, including the appearance of the farm. JoAnn May, a professional Ohio artist who has painted more than 20 of the barns, notices even the best-kept farm family uses the excuse of a soon-to-arrive quilt square to tidy up their property.  “There is a sense of excitement and anticipation,” she says. 

Other selection criteria include ease of visibility from the road and a safe place for cars to pull off and stop. Farmers are cautioned some people may walk onto the property for photographs even though this is discouraged on barn trail maps that ask for private property to be respected.

Once a square is in place, farmers continue to be diligent about keeping their property and the highway in front of their farm well maintained.  Settle says the attitude seems to be that “if the program is going to honor our family, we want our barn to look its best.”

The quilt barns are also having an economic benefit in addition to an increase in tourism that is bringing sightseers to rural communities where they would not normally venture. Most of the quilt trails wind through every small community in a county where cafes and stores are ready to welcome the influx of new visitors.

Bus tours of the barns are also becoming popular.  The Athens County quilt barn brochure lists the barns that are “bus friendly,” meaning there is space for a bus to pull off the road.  In Tennessee Settle helps arrange for bus tours to stop at several quilt barns when the owner is available to talk about the history of the farm.

Tennessee maps also list farms where locally grown produce is for sale, and the trail map directs visitors to other nearby rural businesses and historical sites that may otherwise be missed.

.Meanwhile, Groves downplays the impact of the multi-state clothesline of quilt squares she originated. They are each just “sprinkles on a big cupcake, “she says.  “Each county is its own ‘cupcake,’ and I am just glad this helps get sightseers into the farming communities where they can interact with local people and enjoy the beautiful countryside of our country.” 

Groves’ attitude may just be the biggest sprinkle of all.

If you go:

Phone numbers and Websites with quilt barn trail maps and photos include:

Northeast Ohio

http://www.harrisoncountyohio.org/community/quiltbarn.htm

740-942-2027

http://www.monroecountyohio.net/tourism/barns/

740-472-2188

Southeast Ohio

http://www.athensohio.com/whattodo/index.php?page=25&item=76

800 878 9767

Southwest Ohio

http://adamscountytravel.org/quiltbarns.html

937-544-5454

Southern Ohio

http://appalachiandiscovery.com/Quilt_Barn_Squares.htm

877-232-6764

North Tennessee

http://www.quilttrail.org/

423-753-4441 ext. 4

Photos of quilt barns listed by state and county

http://www.ohiobarns.com/otherbarns/quilt/quiltbarns.html

(Website only)

For information on starting a quilt barn trail and to see quilt barns in Iowa:

http://www.barnquilts.com/faq.html

(Website only)