Barn Quilts

Donna Sue Groves, Manchester, Ohio, had an idea in 2001. To spruce up an abandoned tobacco barn on her family’s property, the barn became her canvas to paint a colorful quilt square to honor her mother, an accomplished quilter.

Before long, the idea of barn quilts became a way to entice traffic off a busy four-lane highway and to the small towns and country roads in the economically depressed area of southern Ohio. Organizers used old, weathered barns for the painted quilts. The Ohio Arts Council encouraged local artists to paint the traditional quilt patterns on the barns, similar to the way barns were once painted with company logos and advertising slogans. This was the beginning of an arts-based tourist attraction that spread to other communities and eventually other states.

Soon, the Quilts of Appalachia covered a multi-state region and designated the route as the Appalachia Quilt Trail. Currently, more than 400 quilt squares can be found in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Grundy County was the first county in Iowa to take on the project. It began in 2003 as a way to attract visitors off of Highway 20. And it worked! The colorful quilts attract a steady stream of visitors and bus tours following the county’s “Quilt Loop.” Along the way, they often stop for lunch or visit the local shops of the small county towns.

Area quilters choose the patterns. School students, 4-H members, and other youth and adult volunteers paint the blocks. In Grundy County, the local electric company uses their trucks and lifts to mount the blocks on the barns.

The typical barn quilt is 8 ft x 8 ft. There are 13 counties in Iowa with quilts on display. Currently, there is a total of over 290 blocks. No, I didn’t see them all!