Friday, April 17, 2009

One more for Miss Effie

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Cathy Lafrenz, and I shared that here. Cathy and her husband Cliff have a pick-your-own flower farm in Scott County, Iowa. She has put together a fun blog called Miss Effie's Diary, and did I mention that she loves Barn Quilts. She has just posted pictures of her forth, called Dogtooth Violet, and she says that she may not be done yet. Stay tuned, or better yet... stop in at Miss Effie's Country Flowers and Garden Stuff



Monday, April 13, 2009

These past few days of Easter were wonderful for me. There was lots of special family time, but alas there were no Barn Quilts across the low country of South Carolina, yet! Returning home, I am still in the process of setting up my new computer. In the process of doing this, and looking for pictures of Barn Quilts on my old hard drive, I decided there is one more place to share some of the images that I have. When you have a chance, take a look at the Flickr.com Group called Quilted Barns. Currently there are 50 members and 312 Pictures. One of your favorites may be displayed already. If not, maybe you could share on Flickr, or e-mail me and I will be glad to post it here.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Be careful...

Fort Morgan, Colorado, is sunny and 65 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow they expect near blizzard conditions. If you can get out, stop by the Fort Morgan High School for the 7th Annual Spring Expo, formerly known as Morgan County Home & Garden Show. At 3:00 Saturday, Ann Iungerich is scheduled to make a presentation on how to make a barn quilt, using paint and plywood rather than fabric. The info I got says: Learn step-by-step how these delightful displays hanging throughout Morgan County are made. As best that I can tell, Fort Moragn is currently the Barn Quilt capital of the West.



They also recently posted this reminder on the Fort Morgan Area Arts Council blog

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Four more...

A few days ago, Suzi Parron (who is writting Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail with Donna Sue Groves), was kind enough to send me four web-sites that I had overlooked. I am adding these to the side-bar. Please visit these, if for no other reason than they have some pictures of real pretty Barn Quilts (and Barns).

The Town of Neversink, NY

Racine County, Wisconsin

Kankakee County, Illinois

Jefferson County, Tennessee

Please help me if you can, to make this list as complete as possible. The trail continues to grow. You can also chime in with your stories, opinions and questions on the social networking site: barnquilting.ning.com

Thanks Suzi

Impact Study...

There is always more to share... Being pressed for time myself, it is my hope to create enough interest here, so that you can easily follow up to some interesting site or sight. In this entry is a link to one of the more more official studies of the Ohio Quilt Barn Trail. Finished in 2008, this study is filled with insight, stories and a little history. This is a socio-economic geo-cultural study of the birth and growth of Quilt Barns as Art in Ohio. Funded by the Ohio Arts Council, this study was assembled by the folks at Ohio University's Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs. This is a publication that should be on the desk of every Barn Quilt organization. Of course you can also read it on-line, and even save it, and e-mail it to your friends and family.


Ohio Arts Council Quilt Barn Impact Study:
Understanding the Value of the Ohio Quilt Barn Trail
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I will include a few words from the study by Julie S. Henahan, Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Council in her Executive Director’s Message:


Quilt barn projects are homegrown and created through a grass roots process that is shared by the entire community. Perhaps what is most appealing about quilt barns is how the project uniquely blends the rural agricultural landscape and art form of quilting with a universal medium - paint.


This report provides an overview of the Ohio Quilt Barn Trail and looks beyond the purely artistic importance of quilt barns, highlighting their great value for the Appalachian region and their true potential in terms of the economic, social, and cultural strengthening of the region.


In my words, this is much larger than any regional descriptions, and it should be read. It's also got some great maps for those traveling in and around Ohio.